Poor chooks even they are in lockdown
4 Likes
Oh dear, thatâs sad
Will we know which eggs are from hens that are usually kept in free range conditions, but are now indoors and those farms that always use barns?
Iâd rather support the farms that are normally free range
3 Likes
We havenât had any proper free range eggs in my area of North Yorkshire since all poultry had to go into âflockdownâ in November 2021.
We are in an Avian Influenza Protection Zone - there has been a lot of culling in this area - even people with very small numbers of hens, kept as pets or for just a few eggs for family and friends, like the neighbour I usually get my eggs from, have to keep their birds indoors and follow strict biosecurity measures for anything or anyone entering / leaving the premises.
Itâs a horrible time for poultry and poultry keepers.
1 Like
On a farming subject I saw an interview with a farmer last week who was saying that he wasnât able to plant some fields and hence heâs reducing some crops such as potatoes for next year due to the increase in price of fuel and fertiliser needed. Tough times on the farms!
Free-range, barn and battery:
Both âbarnâ and âfree rangeâ eggs meet the RSPCAâs welfare standards, because the hens that lay them have freedom and space to move around, along with perches for roosting and nest boxes.
The difference is that for barn hens, this all happens inside, whereas free-range hens can access to the outside through âpopholesâ - although bird flu restrictions have put a stop to this.
The RSPCA says consumers buy more boxes of free range and barn eggs than those from caged hens, which are also known as âbatteryâ hens.
However, the charity says a large proportion of eggs used as ingredients in products like mayonnaise, cakes and sandwiches are still from hens kept in cages.
It says battery cages provide less than the size of an A4 piece of paper of space per bird and have limited facilities for perching, nesting and scratching and do not meet its welfare standards.
The charity says about 35% of egg-laying hens are still kept in cages.
Ban the batteries ⊠
1 Like
What a shame.
My sis keeps a small group of free range hens up in Northumberland - they have a hen house in a paddock next to her house - they share it with a couple of goats she rescued.
They are shut up for the night, to save them from the foxes, but are free to roam the paddock all day.
Her hens all come from a charity that saves battery/caged hens from slaughter when they reach a certain age and the large commercial battery hen companies would have sent them for slaughter.
When the hens first arrive at my sisterâs, they are a sorry sight - with huge bald patches where they have been pecked by neighbouring hens, packed so tightly together they are all so stressed.
When the hens first arrive, they churn out masses of eggs because of the false regime they have been subjected to.
It takes them a while to learn how to act like hens in a natural environment, so feeding and care has to be changed very gradually to give them time to adjust.
It is wonderful to see them gradually change and start to get their feathers back and look like healthy, happy hens - it is well worth saving battery hens destined for slaughter because it not only gives them a good number of years in happy retirement, they also reward you with fresh eggs for breakfast.
5 Likes
The thing is chickens are suposed to be indoors now to halt the spread of avian flu .
1 Like
Yes, sorry, I went off at a tangent there, at the mention of battery hens.
As I understand it, there are different Avian Flu Protection zone levels depending on levels of risk but across UK as a minimum now, poultry has to be either kept inside or kept under netted runs, in a way which prevents poultry coming into contact with wild birds.
My sisterâs husband has constructed runs from the hen house across the the paddock with wood and wire mesh, so their hens are secure but not cooped up all day.
2 Likes
That is correct Boot so any run would have to be made of fine netting to prevent wild.p birds getting in
1 Like
Yes, as Muddy says, sadly this is true at the moment.
As for the âbattery cagesâ, the old, tiny cramped ones were made illegal 10 years ago, around 2012. The current ones are far from ideal, but they are more spacious than the old ones used to be, and also have perches so they can roost off the floor. Still far from ideal though, and the thought of those poor birds never seeing sunshine in their lives is very sad.
The only slight âgoodâ thing is, these birds are pensioned off at a very young age and can still have a few good years left to enjoy life and their freedom in the right hands.
Regarding the free range ban at the mo, as has been said, it began today, but hopefully is only temporary. Once these outbreaks of the disease abate, the birds should be allowed out again.
I did wonder whether the retailers will drop egg prices now they are not free range, as they are always more expensive, but I bet that is too much to hope for. 
One of the supermarkets here rashly said they were going to only stock free range eggs by 2018 - didnât happen. A big egg producer then decided to turn his production to free range. About a month later avian flu was detected in his flock so all had to be destroyed as well as all the birds from surrounding farms.
There are several problems with free range eggs, Avian Flu being only one of them. How on earth are we going to feed everybody if there is not intensive agriculture? The other problem is the definition of âfree rangeâ.
Personally I buy cage eggs.
Apparently birds should not be let outside again until 3 months after the last outbreak of this disease.
1 Like
Itâs a âFlockdownâ - poor hens!
2 Likes