Topic: Hughes chicken run

[paulinems]

Did anyone watch  Hughes chicken run program this week . I thought it was horrid all them poor chickens all in shed together, i will never eat a supermarket chicken again poor things :( :(never was to keen on eating it its butchers ones from now on if can find a butcher. prob farmers market would be best
Pauline

[prink13]

Pauline, I saw some of it, quite horrible!!

As a veggie, I haven't eaten any chicken for 20 years, but if that's how they keep the chickens for eating, what about those for eggs!
I mean, I only buy free range eggs for use at home, (when my girls aren't laying), but what about eggs in pre-made food which I buy? I dread to think what the girls laying those eggs have been through - why doesn't the government ban both these cruel and unnecessary practice


Kathi

[robkb]

I saw it. Was preaching to the converted in my case (haven't eaten anything but organic chooks and eggs for ages), but it seems to be rattling the supermarkets - GOOD!

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[RosieMcPosie]

i watched it too .
i'm a veggie and never have bought eggs which aren't free range and organic.. it was very emotional though, and you could see that hugh really belived what he was doing. can i just say- good on sainsbury's for showing that video! i thought it was quite a good move for a big supermarket group. let's hope others follow suit eh.

i think one of the problems is that most people who eat cheap chickens don't realise what brilliant creatures they are. so funny, friendly and beautiful.

[Paulines7]

I watched all three of Hugh F W's programmes this week and I will only ever buy free range chicken again.  I now know what the red patches are on prepared chickens' legs and wings in the supermarket.  For those that didn't watch it, they are ammonia burns from the litter which is also full of faeces as it is not changed during the life of a chicken.   :o

I have heard or read somewhere in the last day or so that the Government intends getting rid of these cruel, barbaric practices, so HFW's effort has not been in vain.  We also received a letter from Sainsbury who intend changing their production methods.  They plan to stop using eggs from caged birds by 2010!  Why the wait!  Maybe they have contracts with the farmers.   :(

Jamie Oliver has a programme tonight "Jamie's Fowl Dinners" (Ch4 9pm) and is a back up to Hugh's Chicken Run.

[Barnowl]

Having read HF_W's book 'Meat', we have been on free range for some time.

I hope they'll do something about pigs next.

They're the most intelligent animal we eat  (in the UK) and intensive farming here, though more particularly in mainland Europe, is horrible.

[Froglegs]

I can go into a supermarket and buy a chicken for £2.50, the same size free range bird would put me back £6.00. The only way to get more people to buy free range is to get the price down.

[caroline7758]

I watched all three programmes and thought it was well done. Asking the Hayleys of this world to buy free range on a low income is just not realistic at the moment.The theory is that the bigger the demand for free range, the more the price will come down, but it's going to take a while!

[Baccy Man]

There was a discussion a while ago about free range & freedom foods aongst other things.
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=36986.msg368441#msg368441

[kt.]

I did not get to see any of them due to work. Thought they might be on Channel 4 "On Demand" TV but to no avail. Though there are some clips of the programs on the Channel 4 website. I will watch the Jamie Oliver one tonight.

[paulinems]

i had forgot about Jamie oliver i will watch it tonight
They didnt even get a chance to lay eggs poor things, i dont now how Hugh even bared to keep them in that shed i think i would have let them out
at least all of our girls have a good life i dont now if i would even be able to eat any of them
still supose thats how it is i remember my Nanny when i was a little girl outside her front door plucking hers for xmas.
my girls exeded themselves today dispight that they were soaking weet with the rain today they left me 6 eggs
Pauline

[northener]

Watched the Jamie programme last night it was a real eye opener. Never realised the little male chicks were killed like that. You could'nt call the surviving chicks lucky they were on them conveyors like a tin of beans or tomatoes. It made me feel good about keeping mine. Its free range or nothing for us.

[louise stella]

I've loved these programmes - but it amazes me that people are still so ignorant as to how their food is reared. 

I'm veggie anyway and only buy organic free range eggs - but that still makes me part of the supply and demand "problem" doesn't it?  As regards the culling of male baby chicks!!!

I only have a small garden but am seriously thinking of the viability of keeping a couple of hens!

Louise

[keef]

Watched the Jamie programme last night it was a real eye opener. Never realised the little male chicks were killed like that. You could'nt call the surviving chicks lucky they were on them conveyors like a tin of beans or tomatoes. It made me feel good about keeping mine. Its free range or nothing for us.

Yes all very serious - until they unveiled the pet viper..then it just became a freak show.

[Jeannine]

Another point, I went into tescos on the way home from work on Wednesday to buy  properley reared chicken and they had nothing but the regular ones. I was good I didn't buy one(new year thing) I guess Tescos is the wrong place to go XX Jeannine

[Trevor_D]

My father used to keep chickens. (Quite a few folk did during & after the war.) I suppose they'd be called Barn chickens now, as he had a large shed & chicken run, but they also had access to part of the garden.

Then, when I was at college, the father of one of my friends was one of the very first battery-hen farmers. He showed us proudly all through the 'system'. It was nauseating! The noise & stench were incredible. And he only had 2 or 3 chickens per cage, quite spacious by most modern standards. I vowed then that I would never knowingly eat a battery chicken or egg.

My daughter-in-law keeps chickens in her garden. And at the allotment, one of our plot-holders has a small flock which are totally free-range, spending their days pecking through a small orchard. It looks good, feels good, and the eggs are out of this world! They make cakes & pasta that look and taste like nothing you've ever experienced!

I know where my vote goes! Never buy food from a supermarket....

[paulinems]

I am glad i have my girls ,i just dont get anouth eggs for demand at moment everone wants them ,hubby complains if we dont have any to eat ourselves,he he .
I when to get a chicken for dinner tomorrow but the ones in Sainsburys just said british so i didnt bother,
Pauline

[sean]

ok people it might make me unpopular but here it is i have read alot about hugh and all i can see is a man on a get rich out of others , he says one thing and does not try to help look at the prices for his stuff talk about rip off , if the guy was really looking to help then why not help get the prices down not just keep harping on the guy to me is not worth my time i use to be a big big hugh fan i had all his dvd's and books and he is just trying to make a name for himself and getting free publisity , check what they said in the program about hughs shop and hugh himself rip off was one term oh well shoot me down but i dislike him , he shouts the odds but does s * d all to change it just hype the prices up there is no way it costs £18 for a free range bird the production of producing a free range to a shed reared bird is higher i would accept but not by the amounts they want to charge , i can tell you why i call it a rip off i am wheat free and lactose free look in sainsburys or any supermarket at wheat free yes rip off there as well , they know you can't have the wheat biccies and kids love a biccy so parents have to get the wheat free . hugh is doing the same he is playing on peoples emotions to get rich you don't see him cutting his prices NOPE and nor will you just think on that
ok thanks for reading and look forward to getting shot down
lol
happy planting all

[gunnerbee]

Not good watching those programmes the horrible sights, but HFW and JO can go around preaching to anyone to buy organic, when they are probably richer than all of us put  together on this allotment forum!!!
people by cheap chicken and meat because thats all they can afford, for instance if i wanted to make a chicken breast for tea we would all eat one each, add that up when there is 6 people in the family, would cost me between 12/15 quid for the meat alone!

[keef]

Not good watching those programmes the horrible sights, but HFW and JO can go around preaching to anyone to buy organic, when they are probably richer than all of us put  together on this allotment forum!!!
people by cheap chicken and meat because thats all they can afford, for instance if i wanted to make a chicken breast for tea we would all eat one each, add that up when there is 6 people in the family, would cost me between 12/15 quid for the meat alone!

At the moment maybe, but if people stopped buying normal chicken, and bought more free range then the prices would come down.. If you cant afford it at the moment, well eat it less often or eat something else - its not much of a sacrifice to make considering how poorly chickens are treated.

I agree about all these celeb chefs having $$'s and a big motive behind them - but the point being made is valid in my opinion.