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.

I am not sure your point tbh.
Some people won't be able to afford the better eggs, even in Lidl or Aldi.
I am not that familiar with Aldi (none here) but I know that Lidl, like every other supermarket, has basic, standard and deluxe ranges.

I am not sure if your comment is ironic or not, but people can struggle to afford food even if they have been brought up well and know what a lentil (or even varieties of lentil) are.

Learning the absolute horrors of the egg industry is what made me go vegan, I can’t believe I was an ‘ethical’ vegetarian for so long! Unfortunately it’s not possible to purchase eggs (or dairy) ethically. What happens to male chicks is bone chilling.

Chickens are so cool as well, they’ve got real little personalities! So sad to see what they go through.

Totally understandable and I completely accept that there are people with complex dietary needs who can't eat e.g. pulses. Well done for doing the best you can in the circumstances and among all the misinformation out there. A lot of people just don't give it any thought at all.

I try to be pragmatic rather than dogmatic in my beliefs - evidenced by the fact I have an incredibly fussy toddler DC who does eat dairy, as otherwise there would be too many nutritional gaps in their diet at present. So I do understand - you can only do what you can do!

In the UK, barn raised hens have lower minimum standards of care than free range (who must have access to outside) and organic has a higher standard still.

Barn raised hens as a whole are worse off than free range.

I think being pragmatic is the key to this @BlueFlint

I know it's pricey but if people attempted to change their shopping habits, even occasionally, it would send a big message to producers to improve their welfare or there'll be no sales.

Imagine if everyone in the UK just bought organic eggs only for 2 weeks (or something). The industry would get a strong message.

Don't all chickens molt?

According to some posters, eating any eggs isn't ethical.
According to some posters, some eggs are better than others, in terms of treatment of chickens.
According to some posters, many folk cannot afford to buy organic eggs because they are on a budget.
What is correct? All of this and none of this. We can all only do what works for us, and what our budget allows, but we shouldn't be telling others what to do.

Tbf there are many many trusted free range egg farms where they truly are free range and chickens are well cared for

We have kept hens for years now. We buy ex bats from a so called free range farmer. We buy 3 or 4 a time from him and normally 1 dies either on the way home or over night, they're in such poor condition.
But the happy feeling we get when we watch them run out onto grass and can forage freely is fantastic.
I never understand how these farmers can call themselves free range or how the RSPCA approve it

Even if that’s the case, what about the male chicks?

Unless you are raising these animals yourself, you have very little control about how your food was treated.

It's not stupid and it's very open minded to pose the question.

I think it depends on your view of suffering. You need to consider the life of the animal (such as tail docking vs munching grass) plus the end of life experience and whether it is a worthwhile life.

Controversially, I wouldnt consider dairy products to be vegetarian as they cannot exist without breeding a cow and putting the calf into the system (female) or killing the male calf. In order for people to have cow milk, a cow must be lactating, therefore continually bred from, so to me, it's not vegetarian because an animal is being slaughtered, even if the flesh is not the product the person is consuming directly.

I dont eat meat but that is due to a number of reasons - animal welfare, antibiotic resistance concerns, social reasons (the pasture could be better used and the grains fed to animals better used to feed people) plus climate concerns.

There is a lot to consider! But even cutting down significantly, without calling yourself vegetarian or vegan will reduce the quantity of suffering/improve environmental impact, even if you dont choose a higher priced or higher welfare option.

You dont have to be perfect to do your bit. Millions of well intentioned, imperfect choices lead to a greater outcome than one perfect vegan if you see what I mean so dont feel overwhelmed or like you need to make perfect choices all of the time. Every but helps :)

I buy quite expensive eggs because I love eggs and used to have my own chickens, whose eggs were of course so lovely and fresh. Must admit though I buy on flavour grounds rather than ethical considerations, but hopefully more expensive means better feed and conditions.

Food/life is already so expensive though for a lot of people. I wouldn't judge anyone.

See this is a problem - I'd very much like to believe this is true. I'm sure if you get your eggs from Bob, the farmer up the road with a little free range flock, you can know exactly what the welfare situation is of those hens and it's likely to be much better than industry standard.

The enormous intensive mega farms are not going to be high welfare.

Do you know how to find out if supermarket eggs come from these trusted free range farms that you speak of? Not being facetious, I genuinely don't know myself and am curious. Given how many eggs we eat in this country, I find it notable that I can't actually recall seeing... well... actually, ANY "nice" looking free range chicken farms about, with the meadows full of happy hens etc. This may just be the part of the country I live in, but I'd always assumed it was because most hens were sadly in the big "barns" (warehouses) that I do see dotted about...

Ok, in the real world.....

I take your point entirely. I do buy my eggs from my friends free-range hens that are roaming freely around their place but i don't know either how you know the welfare from larger producers

Food for zoo animals. Why do you ask?

Thanks for this. I do get fed up with being preached at. Went to a comedy night recently, one comic made a joke that it was 9 whole minutes before he mentioned he was vegan. He's not wrong. I hear 'vegan' and I'm gone.

I don’t eat them and was living in the real world last time I checked

Yes, to varying degrees.

I thought there hadn't been any commercial genuinely free range egg production for a couple of years because of avian flu. Eggs can currently be sold as free range even if the birds have been kept inside so they aren't exposed to transmission of avian flu from wild birds. https://www.freerangeinfo.com/ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england#latest-situation

At other times, I think the only way to buy eggs laid by birds that are free to roam is to go to a farm where you can see the chickens, and buy them there. You're never going to get food of high quality and high ethical standards from a supermarket, regardless of what the label says.

Yes, unless you know the farm and farmer and that they are treated better.

Aw bless her. We used to rescue ex batts when I was a kid, I can't believe birds are still having to go through this for the sake of cheap eggs.

But what if you re framed things and thought about what the chickens might want. If everything wasn't just about what people want? If animals were able to have value that wasn't because you could eat them or their eggs/milk.

It's hypocritical to say you should do what works for you when that involves sacrifices made other living beings.

Free range hens at the bottom of the pecking order often look like this, sadly .

And "free range" still can mean thousands of hens in sheds, it's just they have access to the fields outside in daylight.

But what often happens is the top hens hang around outside near the popholes, and the lower ranking hens can't get out.

Soil Association Organic certified have the best standards, lowest stocking density in the flock and most space inside and out, as well as fewer chemicals and better food.

Or ideally, keep a few of your own hens, and lavish love on them, hens are fabulous and their eggs are so tasty!