That chicken programme, on at 9 tonight, hugh someone...

[charliecat]

3p a chicken the supermarkets pay

I agree Wisteria completely.

My children have been to local farms on open days and realise that meat doesn't come from a packet with the Tesco's label on it.

Its all about educating the next generation.

allmytime - it's the Ross Cobb - they grow from 0 to 60lb in 5 seconds .

The sad thing is, Hughs intensive chicken farm is a haven in comparison to footage I've seen from elsewhere. His birds aren't pecking at each other let alone reaching cannibal status. Laying battery hens are even worse.

I think Hayley is an absolute godsend btw - people can clearly see that she has no argument and could be eating other meats which will still work in the programmes favour. And I think she probably can cook well enough to be knocking out chilli, shepherds pie, sausage & mash etc without having her cheap chicken as a weekly fixture.

I'm not concerned that my children don't know where their meat comes from - I know they do as last year (actually it's 2008 now isn't it - so it's nearly 2yrs ago now) on holiday they (unbeknown to me until afterwards) witnessed a chicken being caught, killed, plucked and then cooked........and then tucked into it a few hours later!

judging from the clip just on tv, i really don't think people do give a * about chickens.

And what do we think of the supermarket bosses? I'm sure they hoped they'd duck the issue by outrunning the TV programmes deadlines but instead have been made to look greedy and disinterested in animal welfare.

But more than that, they look completely incompetent. I think (hope) they have badly misjudged this campaign, which coming hard on the heels of Jamie's school dinners success should have the board members questioning their CEOs abilities.

SEA - I think people are just too far removed from farming and meat production these days. In many areas of the country there are no or very few local producers. Butchers no longer display whole animals in the window (they were always full of split pig carcasses when I was a child). Supermarket food is nice and clean - it's difficult to even get giblets.

And as we know, those who farm battery chickens won't let anyone visit - with good reason, too much exposure and their business will suffer.

Agree norksbride-they look greedy and incompetent but I guess we all knew that anyway really.
I will be interested in tonights programme as I live not far from Axminster-from the snippets of programme already shown,looks like Hugh gets some negative vibes in the town as he opens his shop-I really hope he doesn't have very expensive organic chickens for sale in there (£12-£15 a bird variety)hmmmm.I've yet to pop in....

It makes me very cross when ppl do actually see progs like this (another one on BBC3 atm showing the slaughtering process too) and weep over the slaughter albeit while tucking into their chicken nuggets or other vile meat...
Agree with norks-ppl dont like to think of anything like slaughter or food production-they like it all clean and shut away.

I don't think enough ppl will refuse to buy intensively farmed meats tbh.

ooh posh, where do you live? My Godmother lives in Shute so I was keeping my eyes peeled for her last night.

I think norks is right; children (and adults to a degree) seem to be almost protected from the reality of what they're eating! I was told off for telling my children exactly what they were eating by a family friend once - along the lines of "oh they'll never eat meat if you tell them they're eating a 'moo-cow'" I think I told her that A) my children know exactly which animal they're eating at all times and that they are referred to as cows, no moo required!

We were never protected as she says, butchers displayed their wares honestly and openly - bring it back I say!

What makes me so mad is that if anyone kept a pet in conditions such as those, with cannibalism, feather pulling, hens dying and being trampled on (or worse, used as nests in battery cages ) then they would have the pet confiscated and a lifetime ban on keeping animals. But if you are an intensive farmer it is legal. Such double standards.

I am polishing my halo, have just posted a separate thread, boasting of having just made home made ice cream, using our own hens' eggs!

I'm in Ilminster wist...about 11 miles from Axminster,I'm defo not in the prog ha. Hugh used to be seen buying meat in our butchers in here,we are v. lucky down here I guess.

sounds luuurvely tortoise...

Yes you are, my family live in North Devon now (we used to be in N Cornwall) and my uncle and aunt have a smallholding just outside Tedburn St Mary, I'm trying to get them to save me a pig, sheep and cow for my freezer!

Sounds fab wist,we yearn for a small holding-its a lovely fantasy anyway sadly not enough pennies in our pockets.Somerset has a fantasic foodie feel (we border Devon/Dorset),I'm lucky enough to live 4 miles from a Organic farm shop which sells anything you could ever need

In all honesty, I'm not broken hearted by the battery chicken thing. There are things that wind me up, and this wasn't one of them.

However we are on a very tight budget, and when I buy a chicken, it gets roasted, then the meat gets picked off for curries and pies, and then I boil the carcass for stock and make soup.

Cheap, non free-range chicken doesn't taste of anything in comparison to free-range, and I'm quite convinced there isn't as much goodness nutrient-wise in them. So, IMO, it's actually false economy to buy the crappy chicken, because you might as well just not bother.

Thought Hugh was going a bit OTT because he had to kill 2 chickens.

I don't think he was crying over the killing of 2 chickens-it was probably more likely the idea of himself adding to the 45 million chickens that are killed or die during intensive farming (and those are the ones which don't end up being eaten!!!)

Food for thought indeed.

He'd probably had to kill a few more we hadn't seen. The footage might have got a bit dull with Hugh wringing his 15th chicken's neck.

He'd probably had to kill a few more we hadn't seen. The footage might have got a bit dull with Hugh wringing his 15th chicken's neck.

Sorry if this has already been asked, but is there any info about how many he has to cull daily in the free range shed compared to in the battery shed? I'm sure it will be fewer, but would be interested to know the actuals.

I was waiting for that info Franke but if it was given, I missed it.

We're raising chicks this spring (only about 50 not 1600!) so I'll be able to see how many I need to cull - our chickens are free-range & organic.

Well done t/shell - did you only use yolks? If so, have you made meringues as well? And can I come and join you for pudding?

I have to say I thought it was a bit wasteful that the dead ones were dropped in the bin. If we loose a bird I chuck it in the undergrowth (away from the run) so something else can eat it. Or is that bin waiting for collection for the pet food industry as I suspect thats what happens in reality. As for the small one he didn't cull I think he should just have added it to his home flock where it wouldn't have mattered.

allmytime - I thought that about the small birds, I wonder if he did sneak a few out to his Landrover to take home. (I would have!)

I'm looking forward to seeing how Jamie gets on with this, I think he has a much wider appeal. Hugh's accent makes it far too easy for him to be dismissed as 'just a posh bloke' - hence all the remarks about 'well he can afford organic meat'.

allmytime, I read an article in the Times in which he says the culled birds do go to other industries as feed e.g. maggot farms

DofNorks - I didn't make meringues, as was really short of time, but will next time. So we did throw the whites away (terrible I know!).