With free range eggs you can't control what they eat as they pick at the dirt and such. The eggs don't turn out as nice. There is a local organic chicken farm that does a great job of being humane to the birds and feeding them organic. Check them out!

http://www.rockweldfarm.com/

yes - agree with 106jarrett above - eggs fresh from the henhouse for me! The other plus is it is giving my 10 year old son his first enterprise experience AND he is in profit after 4 months. Way to go.....

Couldn't agree more, eggs from your own girls are the best. Of course not everyone can keep chickens (and nor should they) so the only choice is to buy free-range.

Having said that, I wouldn't buy them from a supermarket as most are still produced by huge companies who still put profit before welfare. I used to live in sight of a huge operation where there where free range chickens right alongside gigantic barns for the not so lucky. The same trucks (with a lovely picture on the side of the 'owners' with a girl under each arm) would turn up to collect eggs from both. There were as many lorries transporting new layers in too as even free range chickens have a very short 'useful' life. What do you imagine happens to them when their time is up? There's no retirement home for old layers! There were a lot of tipper trucks leaving that farm too with a smell you would never forget if you'd experienced it. My last girl was still laying on and off at 9.
I'm lucky to live in a rural area and I can buy my eggs from a couple of sources at the side of the road where I can actually see where the girls are living. If people really care about where their food comes from they should be prepared to make a bit more of a effort in sourcing it.

Having worked in the egg industry I have seen all varieties of egg production first hand and can honestly say that the key issue isn't whether to choose free-range or caged, but to ensure that the eggs you buy have the British lion standard to ensure welfare standards have been met. However, that's not to say buying from local farm shops, etc don't meet the same standard too.

If I had to buy, it would be free range organic, but from somewhere I could actually view the chickens. However, I keep 2 girls who keep me in yummy delicious eggs and are great fun to watch, especially when they perch on the patio with their beaks pressed right up against the window!

I would love to keep chickens but sadly that is not possible in my current home. I always buy free range and often organic and try to buy locally sourced eggs from reliable producers. I also only ever eat free range chicken (which means its off the menu at most restaurants) and wherever possible RSPCA approved British meat, again preferably from local suppliers. I was shocked to discover some of the 'fudging' on meat labelling ie outdoor bred/reared not necessarily meaning what you might expect. They certainly don't make it easy for you to make ethical choices when shopping.

Ethical nightmare. I have always bought free range. Horrified by a short documentary film showing new chicks being sorted by sex and the male chicks killed by being macerated (chopped up by a machine) I looked into welfare standards in the egg industry. Turns out the RSPCA standards allow this way of killing chicks. Well, sorry, how would you like to be killed by being chopped up by a machine? One minute we're featuring these little fluffy birds on Easter cards, the next minute... Free range doesn't mean free from cruelty. I can only agree with previous posts: if you can't keep your own chickens, buy eggs from somewhere local and small where you can find out for yourself what is involved in their production.
Here's a link to more information on this subject. http://www.peta.org.uk/blog/why-does-no-one-in-the-uk-want-to-do-this-40000year-job/

Due to all that is happening with our food I have gone vegetarian. It terrified me when meat was DNA'd and there were 2 samples that were not recognised. I have also been horrified by proven pictures and videos of how animals are treated in what I thought were civilised countries. These are on the "PETA" website. Also, be aware of the TTIP which is being underhandedly introduced into our country. Scared.

I actually went to visit the chicken farm where I get my eggs and chicken in the country 3 hours north east of Melbourne (Australia). It was so lovely - the chickens were certainly ranging freely with acres of land at their disposal and big sheds in which they could keep warm. It was so nice to see and definitely put my mind at ease. I highly recommend a trip to your chicken farm! :)

Free range ORGANIC eggs is what I buy.

Whilst many of the comments so far are true - we all like eggs with deep orange yolks and a good flavour, if you are one of the contented rural middle class then spare a thought for the struggling urban working class who would get no eggs at all were it not for the "factory farmed" cage or barn poultry units. Also, spare a thought for the back-yard chicken which is open to infection every day of its life with Salmonella, Campylobacter, Mycobacteria and the many gut parasites contracted from their friendly "mates", the sparrow, the starling etc which share their food. The barn and cage bird is relatively disease free compared with your "girls" pecking away in the garden. The organic poultry farmer has even more headaches when it comes to keeping his unit organic and if management alone doesn't keep his flock healthy and productive he can't turn to the usual medicines to prevent or treat disease in his chickens - potential cruelty raises its head!

So, just don't even think of the chicken's problems or feeding the teeming millions. Just scoff the yummy delicious eggs that your "girls" provide and thank the Lord you're not one of the country's poor - perish the thought!

I ticked 'other' as I wouldn't consider eggs from anywhere but my own girls. If that isn't an option for you, then it has to be free range organic.

My father has taken up raising chickens, which he enjoys immensely. He takes them out daily to "range about". I must say that I can really tell the difference between fresh eggs and store-bought! The yolks are creamier and they seem to be more flavourful. Here's a pic of the coop all dressed up for Christmas.

To Joewoods. For your information, Organic farmers do treat sick animals and diseased plants but with ethical/organic solutions.

Free range organic of course and ideally from the farmers market :)

Always always always organic for me

joewoods1690 I really don't know know where to start in addressing the points you've raised but you certainly made me laugh, that's for sure, not least with your assumption that everybody that has a chicken or two in their back garden must be "middle class" and live in the country. I consider myself working class through and through albeit that 'class' itself is surely an outmoded concept today. We no longer doff our caps at the gentry and they no longer thrash their servants!
Yes, I live in the country but chickens are kept in many suburban gardens and still thrive.
One of my chickens lived to be over ten years of age, happy and healthy almost until the end, and laying almost all that time too. The reason was simple, she was extremely well cared for, cleaned out regularly, and free range ALL DAY EVERY DAY. She had to share her garden with lots of birds, other wild animals and at times, rats but it was down to us to manage all these things so she could have the good life she did.
Wether chickens are farmed on a commercial scale or part of a small domestic flock, their needs are the same. There are plenty of poor chickens squeezed into tiny runs in back gardens that are never let out but the owners think this means they're doing a great job and then wonder why the chickens don't lay and then succumb to sickness or disease pretty quickly!
Personally, I had chickens, not so much for the eggs, I saw those as a bonus but just for the pleasure of having them, much like my cats and dogs. They gave me years of joy and lived happy, productive lies unlike the poor souls who spend their short existence in pain and fear, pumped full of drugs ("relatively disease free?") never seeing daylight or feeling the sun on their backs just so the "struggling urban class" (ha!) can have a watery, pale tasteless egg for their breakfast once in a while.
If I couldn't 'afford' to buy free range/organic eggs then I'd rather not eat them at all. Even the "poor" can make that choice. I don't want any creature to suffer just to put a meal on my table and that includes meat.
Your views are outdated, anachronistic and downright insulting.
Say hello to Comrade Corbyn when you see him.....

To Beswick63: I suppose when you get ill yourself you rush off for a homeopathic/ethical/organic remedy or do you, by any chance, visit your friendly GP who prescribes a drug which has been tested in animals and fully trialled in humans before it is used to save your life and keep you alive? Do you not think that your pet or food animals deserve at least as good a treatment as you do?

To Chalkandbell: Condescension wedded to ignorance never make a very attractive combination. Your long diatribe was not laughable, just sad. On the basis of keeping one pet hen, it is not sensible to sneer at those who have spent a lifetime in animal health. Nor is it wise to sneer at the less well off of this or any other country because they can't afford the food that you eat. Your sentiments would be welcomed neither by Corbyn nor "our Dave" nor indeed by either of our Archbishops.

I am afraid you have just ruined your own argument Joe since factory farmed chickens are, by anyone's standards, kept in absolutely inhumane conditions. The drugs they are pumped full of have nothing to do with their welfare but everything to do with profit. Given the choice the majority of us would take our chances in the 'backyard,' infections and all, over a cramped cage where movement is impossible and they have to remove your teeth and nails in order to prevent you from killing others in an effort to gain some space. Even the so called 'barn' chickens can be subject to hideous living conditions, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is not overly squeamish and has hunted, slaughtered his own livestock and eaten roadkill, but he was still reduced to tears by the chicken 'farm' he visited.

Hi everyone, it's great that this discussion has generated so many comments and that you are passionate about the topic, but please remember to respect your fellow Houzzers. We all have different opinions and that's fine, however, Houzz should be a positive community, so please bear that in mind when you post. Thank you!

Gerry, I don't think I have ruined my argument, though I don't think I have defined it very well either. Fearnley-Whittingstall must have visited a particularly bad unit and these do exist and they would upset me just the same. I have seen units which have been neglected for economic reasons, resulting in deaths and chickens being so contaminated that they were unfit for consumption. The system we have in the UK ensures that these units are soon detected and unless the owner makes rapid changes he will be prosecuted and if necessary, stopped from keeping livestock. These are few and far between however and the very large majority of units are well run. Welfare legislation in Europe changes continually, e.g. in giving laying hens in cages more space and banning the tethering of sows. Although this discussion is about poultry, about 40% of the pigs in England are now outdoor at least for some of their life. Residues in meat and the type of drugs used are also closely defined in law and routinely tested for. We have about 60 million people in this country, soon to rise to 70 million and it is a very big problem feeding them while at the same time producing the food in a safe and humane way. It can't be done on the principles of the pet hen or the back yard poultry. The smug attitude of some people owes more to the "I'm alright Jack" approach to life than the caring and thoughtful approach which is needed.

Joewoods1690. If I'm sad, what does that make you? You believe factory farming is a lovely perfect world where the naughty cruel farmers are weeded out and given a smacked wrist. Yeah, right! And what's more condescending than dividing the country into have and have nots as you have done? You should also re-read what I wrote. Where did I say I only had one hen? You're making a heck of a lot of assumptions about my circumstances and at no point did I "sneer" at the less fortunate. Being less well off does not go hand in hand with eating badly. People choose to spend their money in whatever way they see fit. I've had good times and bad in my life but at no point did I end up eating rubbish like barn eggs.
Have a nice day.

Thank you for your reply Joe, which does clarify your position. I think we can both agree that providing good quality, affordable food is important and although I care about animal welfare, I also care about people and their welfare. The various campaigns regarding farming conditions (including food waste) are changing people's attitudes and, if we can afford to, many of us are trying to ensure that the food we eat has been produced responsibly. I only eat British pork for the reasons you mentioned, and if I can understand the rather complex labelling, from pigs that have lived outside for at least some of their life. I am by no means wealthy, I run my own business and haven't even paid myself the minimum wage for quite some time! However I accept that there are plenty of people in real poverty who can not afford to be so selective. I think the issue here is that you seem to have assumed that people who keep their own chickens are all rather complacent and at least ignorant of, if not indifferent to, the wider issues concerning food production, which is perhaps a little unfair?

Gerry, yes, you may well be right and I may be a little hard on the hobby chicken keepers. However, some of them don't seem to live in the real world of food production if their wild statements are anything to go by. The "welfare lobby" fulfils a very useful function by keeping pressure on the government to keep reviewing management standards. This is very apparent in the UK where, I believe, whilst we are not perfect, we do have a good balance between high production and welfare of the animal. Our farmers frequently complain that the standards they have to meet are higher than those observed on the continent. Apart from our own burgeoning population, India and China have about 2.5 billion people to feed - not easy and they don't want to be living on just rice and nut roasts.I have nothing at all against organic food whether it be bread or meat and it often tastes so much better. However, it is expensive and difficult to produce in quantity. For example, if someone is able to produce a grass which, like legumes, can fix nitrogen, then we will, if you pardon the phrase, "be on the pig's back" to some degree. Until then we must struggle on. Food security is important for every country. Post World War II it was the policy of our government to be self sufficient in food and we more or less achieved that by the end of the century. We could discard this policy and import a lot of meat from Brazil and Argentina, both of which countries can finish beef in the great outdoors (on grass). However, this would destroy our own beef industry and leave us very vulnerable. Like the title of a book by the late Enoch Powell - no easy answers!

You make some very interesting points Joe, I think/hope I am a realist which is probably why I don't make a particular point of eating 'organic'. I agree that the standards of welfare in the UK are higher but there is always room for improvement and, as you say, the welfare lobby is important for highlighting abuse and suggesting improvements as well as maintaining the existing standards. I think the growing concerns over food waste will impact on this argument since it is ludicrous that, even in this country let alone elsewhere in the world, people are going hungry while farmers are going bankrupt because they can not sell imperfect vegetables (who are these people who refuse to buy wonky carrots, I've never met one) and supermarkets are binning mountains of perfectly edible food every day. My eldest daughter managed to eat like royalty from the free food she 'liberated' from Waitrose's bins when she first left home, sadly their answer to this was to start locking the bins...

Gerry, I agree entirely. Maybe the only course is to separate ourselves from government by Brussels - but then we are venturing into very murky waters which next year may clarify - if Dave keeps his promise!

Joe, whole new can of worms being opened there! As someone who is not exactly a founder member of Dave's fan club I won't be holding my breath :D

Our chooks live in a run in the day, and a house at night, with 2 ducks. They free range at weekends when we tie up our Jack Russells, one of which has killed one of our ducks. Christmas Day in Australia, we had lunch outside in the backyard, all our animals gathered around for titbits. I can tell you, poultry like cranberry sauce!

2015 HOUZZER YEARBOOK

https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/launch-of-houzzer-2015-yearbook-dsvw-vd~3573073

hope some folks volunteer for the Edit Committee next year.