To show you what your free range egg providers really look like?

[StridTheKiller]

That's all. Rescued a dozen ladies this weekend, ex-free range chicken farm hens. The photo shows the rest. Vile trade.

A question, which may strike people as stupid, as I don't eat meat at all, so have never looked into welfare for meat:

Is eating decent or high welfare meat kinder than eating eggs?

I don't think it is. I know what it's like to be on barely minimum wage and scraping things together. As I've said, sometimes I can't afford to buy good meat. That doesn't mean I have to buy cheap meat and support this kind of barbarity. It means I go without for a short while and eat something else.

We are so blind to our privilege in this country in that we have so, so much choice when it comes to food options. If cheap poor welfare meat was the absolute only food available to me, of course I'd eat it. But when I can make e.g. lentil bolognese instead, or a vegan curry, why would I support treating animals like that?

Impossible to answer without knowing which egg farm and which pig farm you're thinking of.

Some egg producers are very high welfare, most are poor.

Thank you OP this is a slap in the face I really needed. I buy 12 'free range' eggs a week from Lidl for less than 3 quid - I already suspected they couldn't manage to keep the costs so low and give the hens a halfway decent life. Had my blinkers on.

I have also been closing my brain off to the notion of male chick mass culls which I'm sure must be standard practice in these mass production centres.

I'm vegetarian and absolutely love my eggs, would really struggle to cut them out of my diet. Eat a lot of vegan meals too but fed up with a lack of variety. Would love to know if there is a way to buy eggs ethically 🥴 is pet chickens the only way to go?

My comment stands.
You might be able to choose different options, some people cannot (for a whole host of reasons) or have children with food issues etc.
Each to their own.

Most animals are are kept well and healthy by responsible owners, whether pets or farmed. Your chooks obviously haven’t been kept well, but that’s no reason to condemn every poultry farmer.

(Factory farming in battery cages is quite rightly banned in the UK. Manufacturers of cheap processed food have to import cheap eggs/powdered egg.)

I’m in Scotland, so fortunate to have access to extensively reared pasture-fed meat, and also wild venison and game. My family are unable to tolerate eggs or dairy so I don’t buy anything containing either. But I do think organic (properly certified organic) means higher welfare as well as feeding.

@KeinLiebeslied54321

This!

A lot of people go hungry to bed.

Easy to say "go vegan". It's isn't cheap either unless you eat the same 4 vegetables. Which isn't healthy.

With the prevalence of online shopping, you don't even need direct access to a large supermarket to have the kind of choices that billions around the world could only dream of.

I'm not trying to guilt trip anyone. Someone suggested they were doing their best when they weren't and that's fine. Each to their own but don't then try to pretend that you care about the animals. Most people really don't care about the animals but will pretend they do when the topic comes up. Eat what you like but own it, don't be a hypocrite and pretend you care about the animals.

Right, but what's that got to do with those struggling during a COL crisis?

Online shopping and supermarkets do exist, but some people still have very little money to actually buy from these and so need to make their money stretch further.
Please just accept that it's not as simple as you initially thought, instead of assuming every one can make the same choices you do.

Tbh a lot of peopke 2024 are forced to care about how to get food on the table. We don't talk about that. I am quite sure a lot of peopke would choose the most chicken friendly eggs if they could afford it.

You are judging (and probably guilt tripping) - if someone says they feel they are doing 'their best' then it's really not up to you to tell them that it isn't 'their best' because it wouldn't be 'your best'.
If we studied your life hard enough we could probably find something you are a hypocrite about too - it's almost impossible not to be, unless we almost opt out of modern life.

Is killing a human who had a nice life better than killing a human who didn't?

Exactly.
Some folk are really naive if they think that everyone has the luxury of putting welfare at the top of their priorities when shopping.

We can legally kill animals for meat.
We can not legally kill humans for meat.
Your comment is not valid for this discussion.

Eating eggs when you don't have to isn't doing your best to care for chickens though is it? Even the poster admitted that themselves.

If people feel guilty then that's on them. I'm not trying to make them feel guilty.

I am
Moving soon so I will have some space outside. How much space do you need to keep chickens?

Is anyone willing to give me an overview of this from personal experience as I think after reading this if I can I am going to get some rescues

We can legally do a lot of things, it doesn't make it morally right.

What about dogs then? In some countries it's legal to eat dogs. Would people feel better about family pets who'd lived a good life being killed for their meat over dogs raised in poor condition?

I choose to eat eggs.
I didn't say I did my best to care for chickens.
I don't feel guilty.

You see it differently, clearly, but I honestly don't care what you think of me or others who do the same as me.

As already stated, you do you, each to their own.

I'll enjoy my poached eggs on toast for lunch. You enjoy whatever you decide to have.

This is quite a useable guide from Ethical Consumer website.
"We recommend you stop buying or reduce the number of eggs you eat and try and buy organic eggs when you do.
Look for local, small-scale organic egg farmers where you can see for yourself, or find out, the conditions the hens are kept in.
For more mainstream shops, we recommend the following organic brands that are Soil Association certified: Riverford, Clarence Court Organic Leghorn Whites, and Stonegate Estate.
The best supermarket own-brand is Waitrose Duchy organic eggs which are the only supermarket eggs that are Soil Association certified."
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/eggs
This thread has given me the push I need to be more picky about the eggs I buy - I'm lucky enough that I can afford it, so I'm resolving to do better and stick to better organic brands rather than generic free range which I knew in my heart wasn't good enough. My local bakery also stocks a small organic provider which they use to make their cakes, so I'll try them.
Thanks OP.

You may care deeply about animals but it is less obvious that you care deeply about people. It is a luxury position to stand in judgment over people who may simply be making the best choice they are capable of in difficult circumstances. If people are struggling financially cheap food isn’t a choice it’s an inevitability.

Morals are highly subjective.
You don't see eating meat as morally right for you.
I personally don't like the taste of a lot of meats, so only eat certain ones, it's up to others do decide which animals they will choose to eat, home or abroad (obviously falling in with the guidelines of what is legal within each country).

I just saw that too. Will see if any of those are available. DH does have a Waitrose near his office.

100%. You do you. At least you admit you don't care.

There are lots of posters on this thread pretending to care and asking about organic eggs etc when the truth is if they really cared they just wouldn't eat eggs at all. But they think it looks good to at least pretend. Like, just admit you don't care about chickens. It's cool.