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Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crunchymama192
cage free just means they are not in cages. It doesnt mean they are treated well or are healthy. They are crammed in a space the same size, there are just no cages. Free range/free roaming are better, that means they have a little bit of space to roam. But still not much better. The Free-Range Myth
I am not saying dont eat eggs, I eat eggs every day. I am just saying that if you truly want healthy chickens and good eggs you will have to raise them yourself. I still buy free range but plan on being able to raise my own someday.
Yes, they may have been allowed out once and back into confined areas. I have six in a fenced area but that is for their protection from the hawks, my dog and my quick to complain neighbor (we all have one). But they are given wild greens, oatmeal/grits/yogurt, nutritional herbs and parasite cleanse on a regular basis and quality time where i go out there a pet and talk to them...call me crazzy. Most say the yoke are thick from my girls but I don't realize it because I've been eating them for a couple of years now.
I don't think the eggs are better, plus, but range free chickens are, the only problem is, chickens should not run free if you have any other animals, b/c their droppings can cause all kinds of problems in other animals....they really should be kept in an enclosed area....like the picture....but I remember as a kid, chickens had so so much more flavor, when they were range free....
I knew an old bachelor that raised ....free range....ducks.
Every early morning as I drove past his place, I would see them out in the grass in the lowland and they would be running because feathers were flying from the one that was fighting a losing battle with a fox.
I'll bet by butcher time, he didn't even have 1/3 of those ducks left.
He should have butchered and ate the foxes.
They were nice and fat.
A lot of cities are now allowing folks to raise a few hens in their backyard. Even if you can't raise them yourself, perhaps you could go in with a neighbor and subsidize their raising of chickens in exchange for eggs? We have three Brown Danish Leghorns in the backyard. They have a small house that is movable to different areas of the yard and they are very productive layers. If you are able to raise a few hens, here's a chart to help choose the variety which works for you: Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart Personally, I'd recommend the Rhode Island Reds if you want a nice docile calm hen that is productive in laying a lot of eggs. The leghorns are great layers but flighty and not really good pets.
As for buying free range eggs, you'll pretty much have to find someone who raises the chickens themselves. Almost any commercial egg facility will have way too many hens in one place. Perhaps an inquiry on Craig's List will find someone near you with extra eggs from their chickens?
Does anyone have any tips/suggestions on how to choose eggs that are from chickens that truly live cage-free? I make an effort to buy the type that say cage free, but I don't know if that label really means anything (ie false advertising).
Look in your grocery for eggs from vegetarian fed, cage free and free roaming chickens.
My only prob with buying local eggs from people is that most people around here feed their chickens GMO corn
This is very helpful. I actually found a brand that my local WF carries. I don't mind paying more for eggs from happier birds, but having your own chickens or driving out to farms is just not realistic for a lot of people.
There are smaller bantam breeds of chickens that are easier to keep compared to large egg layers - and half the size. A few of these small hens can be kept in town easily.
it is not at all hard to trap foxes that "think" that the hole at the base of your fence is free access to your fowl. :-)
This guy had no fences.
They were truly------cage free-------and fence free
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