Caged chicken eggs

Always free range. It doesn't mean the hens live permanently outdoors but rather they have the option of being out during the day, then they are returned to a barn at night for safety. Caging a bird that is designed to potter about, scratch in the dirt, have dust baths etc is simply cruel. Doesn't surprise me that there's not much taste difference. It is, after all, just an egg.

Free-range, organic, 'happy', environmentally-enriched farm eggs.

It's not a matter of tastiness, it's a welfare issue. And one that should concern everyone. There's very little guaranteed to wind me up so much as seeing people in Tesco buying crap eggs.

The taste probably not a great deal of difference but the colour of the yolk is usually more vibrant in free range eggs. There was a new European regulation which resulted in the requirement to increase the size of cages which has had an effect on the price (increase) of products containing egg.

Why would they taste any different? It's the egg you're eating, not the chicken. I absolutely think that caged eggs should be banned, it's the most unnecessary thing. Have a look on you tube at videos of the poor hens being squashed into those cages and see if you can still buy them with that on your conscience just to save 50p or whatever the cost is.

My mum has her own chickens, there is an absolute different in taste to shop bought eggs (regardless of their origin). They even make my baking taste different.

I've not heard about cruelty to the caged chickens... I just thought they were in cages instead of being able to run free?

Presume it's mentally cruel?

Is being stuck in a cage not cruel? Suppressing all their natural instincts? Lack of sunlight? Not to mention lack of space?

Err no. Look at any battery hen after a few months. Most will have urine burns to the back of their legs (if caged, they can't go elsewhere to do their business) and lots develop deformities. They can also be de-beaked to prevent them pecking at themselves or at hens in next door cages.

A simpler answer to your question is, if I put you in a cage so you can't run free, but still feed you, am I being cruel, or am I being fair?

And that's not a cruelty issue in itself? If it happened to tigers or elephants, you'd be outraged.

But if the complete lack if freedom to behave like chickens wasn't enough...

In cages, packed together, stacked high, sh*tting on each other (and all the cages below them), infection only held off with massive doses of prophylactic antibiotics, dead animals not removed quickly.

Google for images. Do you know what a 'chicken cage' looks like?

I'm quite surprised you haven't heard how the practice of caged hens is cruel, Han. Not meant in a bad way - I just thought everyone knew because of how much it has been in the news over the years.

I would never buy eggs from caged hens. I also try, as much as possible, to use the local suppliers in the supermarket. I'm not sure how much of a difference this actually makes and I'm probably just falling for an obvious marketing ploy but hey ho!

Didn't realise this was going to be a pick at Han thread. I wasn't trying to look stupid. If I don't look it up how am I meant to know? I assumed there were laws against things like cruelty to animals. I am not a news watcher or reader so wouldn't know. Didn't realise we lived in a world where things like that would happen to an animal, and I especially didn't know shops would support that kind of thing.

Oh my god that is absolutely terrible how do they get de-beaked? Wtf.

No one was picking on you. I was genuinely surprised you hadn't heard about it but as I said, I didn't mean it in a bad way at all.

I don't think anyone is trying to pick on you. I agree with Kharv that it's the kind of issue that has had a lot of coverage (and rightly so) that it is surprising you haven't heard about it. I really wouldn't assume that supermarkets will always have the best interests of animals at heart and I'd bear this in mind when choosing meat as well, I'd never buy value chicken for example.

I just feel like a terrible person now for eating a caged egg and for being unaware of what was happening to the chickens. I honestly had no idea.

Agree with Kharv and Footlong.

Jamie Oliver done a huge campaign (doesn't he always ?) a few years back, and it's highly publicised on the news, I did think it was common knowledge. I buy free range wherever possible, all of M&S own brand products are free range, including mayonnaise, pasta, cakes, etc.

On the taste factor, I was at a relatives house a while back and they had bought battery eggs. I made scrambled eggs in the morning, the exact same way I do most mornings, and they were runny, pale and tasteless...do I have to say that I can definitely taste the difference.

No one's picking on you. With all due respect, it doesn't take a lot more than common sense to realise that a box of eggs stating 'from caged hens' is not going to contain eggs from a very happy hen.

And it's not just hens, it's battery farming in general.

I have to say that the whole terminology they use on packets is very misleading, so I dont blame you han for being confused.

I shamefully was embarrassed to find that there was no farm called 'Oakham' supplying M&S with all their chickens... Its just a brand name ploy.

I try and buy local eggs, fortunately there are a few shops locally which sell them, Budgen and Co-op are good for this, plus its approximately the same price as supermarkets (non basic ones). No sign of our local eggs in Sainsburys though so maybe try and look at smaller shops for eggs.

I think this thread is a reminder that we should all look carefully at labels and think about what we are buying!

Always buy free range, I would never buy caged hen eggs. I get annoyed when I see people buying them.

All that 'farm' labelling that supermarkets do is just a name, there is no farm. I saw a programme about it, it was saying how you could be paying money thinking your sausages, (or fish) were from some nice farm where as actually they were from one of 200 farms and the name was made up to sell the product. I'd never buy value meat, mind.

I buy James Potter eggs from Asda. Seems real, I think!

http://www.jamespottereggs.co.uk/eggs.asp

Yet another thing that I will need to take lessons in when the time comes. We dream of having our own chickens, and we plan to once we move abroad - are they relatively easy to keep or very high maintenance?

I'm quite lucky that I live in the country where every other person has chickens, I can't actually remember last time I brought them from a shop. Is also cheaper as well, the girl I get them off charges 80p for a 1/2 dozen.

I make a proper effort to buy well reared meat, was drummed into me from a young age about caged hens, cramped turkeys etc

Really want scrambled eggs now!

It angers me how deliberately misleading labels are surrounding the provenance of ingredients. That said, I can't see how anything described as 'caged' can possibly be a good choice.

Free range all the way, I refuse to buy eggs from chickens that have just been squashed in a cage.

Pretty easy to keep happy: they need a chicken coop wee house with perches to sleep and a nesting box to lay. They will happily walk around a secure garden digging up you plants all day. If you don't want the garden wrecked you can pen off an area.

The coop needs cleaning out (not sure how often) and they get fed a scoop of food a day, but get other stuff from scraping about. My mum also feeds them pasta because they are spoilt! They don't need any vet attention really if they are healthy.

Wah! We were thinking more like 4, 6 max!

I saw a programme a while a go on Channel 4 that Hugh What'shisname did that absolutely shocked me. I mean, I didn't like the idea of battery hens before as it must be horrible to be in a cage rather than able to walk about, but it really shocked me. If I recall rightly, the chickens on there weren't even in cages! Just one huge room with thousands of chickens crammed in. Horrible, evil stuff

I always buy free range eggs. Its disguting how they are treated. I watched the programme Jimmys Farm, that had some awful bits in it showing how animals are treated.

Jo - what do you do with 15 eggs a day?!

My mum struggled to use 5 a day - and that was sharing with the neighbours!

I saw that too Nursey. It was shocking! Birds crawling over dead caucuses. We get our eggs locally next to H work. Free range double yolk ones. TBH I don't even like the though of eggs. But I'm ever increasingly contemplating being a vegetarian but that's a whole other story.

Han is only 19 (I think), all the big Chicken campaigns that I remember happened a few years back, not something all teenagers would notice.

I watched a PETA clip when I was 13 never touched meat again and all meat/eggs H buys have to have to come from free range organic loved to death sources.