Free-range eggs unavailable in Britain from Monday

[rebrascora]

I could never go vegan & I tried vegetarianism and failed. However I won't buy meat or animal products that involve any unnecessary cruelty (battery/barn eggs, veal etc). No eggs/chicken for me for a while then...

If you have been eating eggs and chicken since November then your sudden boycott of them now doesn't make sense. Those chickens have all been incarcerated since Nov. It is just a government loophole which allows the producers to continue to market them as Free Range for 3 months after the restrictions are brought in. Is it better to continue to support those free range producers who are doing their best for chicken welfare but restricted by government legislation at the moment or now boycott them. Those hens will continue to lay eggs, so they would be wasted if everyone stopped eating them for this reason and the free range producers would likely go out of business... which is why they get a 3 month dispensation to continue to sell them as free range, when they are not free ranging.
I feel horrendous keeping my girls locked up, especially when the weather has been so gorgeous. I would hate to think that the people I give my girls' eggs to (I don't sell), felt like you and refused to eat them because I am following the legal requirement to keep them in.
Just a moral dilemma for you to ponder! These things are not always as clear cut as you might hope. It is peak egg production time, due to it being that time of year. You can't stop them laying eggs, it is their natural cycle.... short of starving them, and that would be cruel. Please reconsider supporting your regular free range producers even though they can no longer sell as free range. Hopefully the restrictions will be lifted soon and the hens will be able to out on the pasture once again..... till next year 🙄

 

[Robin]

I could never go vegan & I tried vegetarianism and failed. However I won't buy meat or animal products that involve any unnecessary cruelty (battery/barn eggs, veal etc). No eggs/chicken for me for a while then...

If you read the interview with the poultry farmer in the original article quoted at the top of this thread, he makes the point that he is doing his best to keep his birds happy and interested, and give them as natural a life as possible, even though they can’t go outdoors.

 

[Wheelz]

If you read the interview with the poultry farmer in the original article quoted at the top of this thread, he makes the point that he is doing his best to keep his birds happy and interested, and give them as natural a life as possible, even though they can’t go outdoors.

I don't believe him though. I'm a cynical old git & I believe people will say anything to keep selling their product.

 

[Wheelz]

If you have been eating eggs and chicken since November then your sudden boycott of them now doesn't make sense. Those chickens have all been incarcerated since Nov. It is just a government loophole which allows the producers to continue to market them as Free Range for 3 months after the restrictions are brought in. Is it better to continue to support those free range producers who are doing their best for chicken welfare but restricted by government legislation at the moment or now boycott them. Those hens will continue to lay eggs, so they would be wasted if everyone stopped eating them for this reason and the free range producers would likely go out of business... which is why they get a 3 month dispensation to continue to sell them as free range, when they are not free ranging.
I feel horrendous keeping my girls locked up, especially when the weather has been so gorgeous. I would hate to think that the people I give my girls' eggs to (I don't sell), felt like you and refused to eat them because I am following the legal requirement to keep them in.
Just a moral dilemma for you to ponder! These things are not always as clear cut as you might hope. It is peak egg production time, due to it being that time of year. You can't stop them laying eggs, it is their natural cycle.... short of starving them, and that would be cruel. Please reconsider supporting your regular free range producers even though they can no longer sell as free range. Hopefully the restrictions will be lifted soon and the hens will be able to out on the pasture once again..... till next year 🙄

You have to do what you have to do, I understand that. I'm just a cynical old git. I don't think you're being intentionally cruel, no way. But I don't believe the farmer in the link either. Obviously bird owners have to follow the law, I understand that, but do you really think those who sell in bulk are going to go the extra mile to make the chicken's lives better?
People like yourself who aren't bulk sellers most likely care a lot more for their chickens. And why not? I've befriended many a chicken when out on picnics.

 

[nonethewiser]

I could never go vegan & I tried vegetarianism and failed. However I won't buy meat or animal products that involve any unnecessary cruelty (battery/barn eggs, veal etc). No eggs/chicken for me for a while then...

Couldn't go meat free either, do have occasional days where meat is off menu.