Allotments 4 All
Produce => Kept Animals => Topic started by: paulinems on January 11, 2008, 09:22:25
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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
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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
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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 ;)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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....
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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
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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
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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!
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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.
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I have to agree with Sean and Gunnerbee, i recently went to HFW shop in Axminster the prices were extortianate and most of it you could buy else where. my hubby and I are both fairly well paid but when we have ourselves and the 3 children for a meal there is no way we could afford organic or whatever chicken, the youngest 12 a boy eats an adult size portion and the daughter 15 eats more then me. whilst i totally agree with the principles some of us just cant afford to have those principles. As i said we earn quite well but by the time we pay maintenance to both childrens houses it doesnt leave us millions to live on, if they bring the prices down i will certainly change
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i have a love/hate thing for whittingstall, all he is basically is a rich little snob that lived in the city and fancied a bit of the good life, we have a huge farm shop near us called daylesford organic, all the city weekenders go their and it is a complete and utter rip-off, when i go there its just to have a laugh!! at the stuff i can make for pence!!! i lettuce covered in dirt for £1.75!!! ouch lol.
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I dont understand why Sean & gunnerbee attack Hugh when the point of the program was about chicken animal cruelty. Most people could afford spending more on free range - they just won't and don't care about the suffering inflicted on animals.
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of course i care, but all im saying is that free range is too expensive, if i didnt care, the rescue hens in my garden would be minced up by now!!
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I buy free range chickens from Tesco and they are about £6, about the same price as a piece of beef or pork. I make it do for two meals though and there are three adults in our house. Once we have taken the meat off for the roast, I stew the rest up and make a casserole.
At no time did Hugh attempt to sell his own produce during the series. The whole point was to enlighten the public as to the cruelty behind intensive chicken farms. Personally I would rather be a vegetarian than to eat the meat from chickens that have lived in such cramped conditions, never seeing the light of day and having parts of their bodies burnt by the ammonia in the litter which is not changed during their short lives.
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I watched all 3 programs, Hugh should have said how much he sold chickens for in his shop, most people on camera said between £18 and £22 for one, he said that they werent that much but didnt say what they were.
As for the well fare of the chickens yes its better to have free range, but as Hayley on the programme showed if you cant afford free range then you buy the 2 for 1. I thought that the kebab shop hit it right on the button when he said why care about chickens when there are africans starving.
What gets up alot of peoples noses is that its always the millionaires showing us what we should and shouldnt do. If they were on low incomes then they wouldnt buy the dear meat.
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I watched most of the programmes - I had to stop at a few points because I found it too upsetting. I shall certainly make sure I buy free range chickens from now on. I intend using our local butcher who always seem to have plump chicken breasts for sale. Certainly makes you wonder what we are all eating nowadays. No wonder you get men with boobs, its all the hormones that is pumped into meat. Our Food industry is needing a right good shake up.
:-X
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hi rw i have been watching hugh closely for the past couple of 3 years and the man is no more than a publisity seeker , as to him offering produce he went to his shop showed you round the shop what more does he have to do put the stuff in a basket for you , what was the point of going to his shop to show you the nice prodcue he sells come on people the guy ain't in it for the chickens at all look deeper if he was why not sell his free range cheaper hmmmmmm , tescos do it for £6 so why can't hugh oh yes bigger over heads i think not , i feel hugh is trying to side swipe everyone , i would love to buy free range i do buy free range eggs and i eat pork and chicken and fish but if my wife and i brought free range meat we would never eat , i am disabled on very very tight budget , i grow most of our vegs as i like to think i know where it came from , i want a bit of land to live on and have animals run free if i could , now to the point of hugh and me attacking him it is not an attack just the facts , do you think hugh is fair priced in his shop well maybe you need to check out the many pies hugh has a finger in , i just think he is pulling the wool over peoples eyes with the oh look how badly they are treated , i don't see him doing it for pigs or cows or horses going to the Continent for meat no it is chickens because they are cuteand fluffy and we all eat it , just take a deeper look at these so call carers i like him to but he is just doing what the rest do jumping on a band wagon if they are so bothered give me a few hundred thousand to start a free range farm for chickens and have lovely little chickens run free , let them put there money where there mouth is i am sure someone somewhere will tell them about this site , hugh or jamie take the challenge give me the funds to start a free range chicken farm and veg growing to and you get to keep the money made lol i bet i never hear from them lol.
well sorry to rant just something i feel these fools need to stop shouting about and do something
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Havnt seen any FREE courses at River Cottage HQ for people on low income thinking about allotment management or poultry rearing. Says it all really.
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Its fair enough all these comments about Hugh, Jamie etc... but are'nt you all missing the point - forget them and what there motives maybe, the fact is that chickens are treated badly.. you may think its all publicity for the celebs, it probably is, but surley everyone agrees that the way cheap chickens are produced is not acceptable...
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Freedom foods & free range chickens are often not that much better off than battery hens. The only way you can be sure of the conditions chickens are raised in is if you can see the farm or you rear them yourself.
I recently posted a bit about the conditions free range & freedom foods chickens are raised in in this thread.
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,36986.msg368441.html#msg368441
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We had free range chickens when I was little, before batteries were invented. They probably had taste (I don't remember), and they doubtless had a better life. They were a Christmas treat.
What we need here is an acceptable compromise; one the one hand we've got foodies promoting something for people to whom the extra money doesn't matter. At the other end, we've got chickens raised in unacceptable conditions. Surely it's possible to give the birds better conditions while at the same time keeping prices at a level where chicken remains affordable.
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Its fair enough all these comments about Hugh, Jamie etc... but are'nt you all missing the point - forget them and what there motives maybe, the fact is that chickens are treated badly.. you may think its all publicity for the celebs, it probably is, but surley everyone agrees that the way cheap chickens are produced is not acceptable...
Yes I agree that cheap chickens are reared badly, but while most people want cheap food then thats how they will be reared.
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Food is currently too cheap, I agree. But let's not go back to the days when people got rickets or TB because they couldn't afford a decent diet!
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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!
I don't think the price will come down,as the demand for free range go's up so will the price.And how long before corners are cut to produce more free range chicken,i mean as long as they can stroll round the exercise yard will it matter how many you put in the flock they will......well... just have to walk round the same way.
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Its fair enough all these comments about Hugh, Jamie etc... but are'nt you all missing the point - forget them and what there motives maybe, the fact is that chickens are treated badly.. you may think its all publicity for the celebs, it probably is, but surley everyone agrees that the way cheap chickens are produced is not acceptable...
Yes I agree that cheap chickens are reared badly, but while most people want cheap food then thats how they will be reared.
The thing is that people want everything cheap nowadays - so we all have more money to spend on other things, holidays, games consoles, lcd tv's - Its a shame that we have to be cruel to living animals to help acheive this...nowadays i think we have really forgetten the value of things.
I wonder - If intensively farmed veal, horse along with Foie gras and Whale steaks were on 2 for one at tesco's - how many people whould cash in...
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How can anyone here stand up and say £6 for a chicken is expensive. Thats 2 pints of beer.
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Sean - surely we don't need to be cruel to animals that we are going to eat -whether we be rich or poor. It makes not a jot of difference.
If you feed your family/friends on chicken breasts - yes obviously it will cost you loads of money - but there is an alternative - if you buy whole chickens you can feed as many people with a lot less chicken. And you can have some left over to make soups and other delicacies.
But I don't agree that "poor" people shouldn't care less about animal welfare rather than getting loads of cheap meat. You presumably grow your own veggies - so become vegetarian if you can't afford meat!!
Old Bird
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I only have a small garden but am seriously thinking of the viability of keeping a couple of hens!
Louise
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I have written to the Council today asking for permission for 10 chooks!! Wish me luck!
I have got the space for them up the lottie - but the Council are annoyed with me for my polytunnel debacle so may not let me have them!
I used to keep them when I lived in Worthing - right in the Town too - but that wasn't an allotment.
Fingers and toes crossed!
Old Bird
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How can anyone here stand up and say £6 for a chicken is expensive. That's 2 pints of beer.
Or the cost of nappies,so yes £6 is expensive.
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Havnt seen any FREE courses at River Cottage HQ for people on low income thinking about allotment management or poultry rearing. Says it all really.
Why should anyone do free courses at River Cottage HQ or anyone else for that matter for people on low incomes or even high incomes? Gunnerbee when do you turn up for work for free?
I feel sorry for people that have low earning potential but do you really think free cooking courses at River Cottage HQ will make an iota of difference to them?
Some people earn a lot of money for doing very little - so - that is their good fortune I really don't think we should knock other people - just because they earn more than you or I!
I am happy earning just below the national average - It isn't money that makes me happy - it is friendship - interesting hobbies - my dogs - my lottie and my wonderful son that makes me happy - so long as I have enough to live reasonably comfortably - Life is good!
Old Bird
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Luckily, we're in a position that we're able to afford to make the change to free range, and after watching the programmes we probably will. We're even thinking about getting chickens for food - the in laws supply the free range eggs so we might go for the male chicks.
However, I think the attitude towards the likes of Hayley (?) and others who have budgetary issues is all a bit high and mighty. A couple of years ago it was all about getting people to get away from the likes of turkey twizzlers, chicken nuggets, potato smilies etc. Now the focus is on people that are on low incomes but are giving their children roast chicken dinners, but not the right sort of chicken.
I'm loath to criticise people like Hugh and Jamie who I genuinely believe are passionate about getting people to eat better. However, there are somewhat detached from the reality of millions of people, and unfortunately I think that showed to some degree.
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Well put Macy,it's OK to have principies,it's just sometimes affording them.
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Lots of valid points about HFW's programmes,which I was unable to watch due to work commitments!
I would have thought the best way to bring the supermarkets to order would be if no-one and I mean no-one bought any poultry from them for perhaps a month, then watch the panic set in.
When I was told of the programmes I went onto youtube and wished I had'nt I never realised that Australia send live animals to the middle east for slaughter by ship,now that is barbaric! I know some of you will go looking for it on youtube but be warned,you'll wish you had'nt too
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Funny isn't it how the government bans fox hunting because its cruel but does nothing about the way some farm animals are kept. But then again they don't have to worry about paying out £6 per bird do they!.
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Can somebody enlighten an old timer as to the current cost of a takeaway chicken and chips please?
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Haven't been able to get free range chicken in our sainsbury's at all this week. I'd like to think it's because everyone has bought them but I'm not so sure. Wouldn't you think they'd have got extra stock in after these programmes?
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Can somebody enlighten an old timer as to the current cost of a takeaway chicken and chips please?
At Mc Donald's about the price of a pint.
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Kfc- Around £2.80 for 2 pieces and chips
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Good luck 'Old Bird' in your request to keep chooks on your lottie - I hope it all works out.
Not sure that everyone will like my opinion, but here it is!!!!!!
I am very fortunate in being healthy, motivated, (and despite having children) enthusiastic enough to work full time. Despite this I would not describe myself as 'well - off' - but I am also able to make the choice between buying freerange or intensively raised chicken (ie as previously suggested - rather than eating a whole chicken for one meal, make it stretch to two etc.). Prior to the programmes I was a little ignorant of the practices of the chicken industry - so if Hugh has only one convert then it is me and my family.
I appreciate that Hugh is not the 'poor land farmer' that is portrayed in the various tv series, but that is beside the point - the question that is not answered anywhere is this.............
.........if intensive farmers get paid 3p per chicken.....and the chickens sell for £2.50...........what do freerange or organic farmers get paid per bird?????????????? The difference??? (similar marketing costs?) somehow I doubt it. Any ideas?????
Feedback welcome - with kind regards
Ann
PS I kept freerange chickens until very recently....I found them highly intelligent and clever!!!
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.........if intensive farmers get paid 3p per chicken....
They don't get paid 3p per chicken, they make 3p per chicken. there's a big difference.
The cost of rearing the better birds is greater hence a bigger charge all round.
Virtually everyone reading these posts grows their own veg yet if the costs are calculated properly nobody saves money. - We grow for quality not to save on the veg budget so why not buy quality meat and cut back on waste. Nearly everything not eaten should be recycled: No, not in the £60 digester, in the next meal.
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Re sean,
your not on your own here,i agree with you. In the mail on sunday was a reply from a chicken farmer re the programe, it seems the crew spent a few days filming on his farm and not one minute was used for the programe,
Maybe it didnt fit in with their preconcieved, biased ideas.
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Haven't been able to get free range chicken in our sainsbury's at all this week. I'd like to think it's because everyone has bought them but I'm not so sure. Wouldn't you think they'd have got extra stock in after these programmes?
we noticed a huge amount of the cheap chicken in Morrisons, huge piles of it sitting in the refrigerated meat cabinet. hopefully because no one wanted to touch it with a barge pole. no noticeable difference in the amount of freedom/free range/organic/welfare chicken on the shelf though.
the other problem that situation creates is more waste: if no one's buying the chicken already on the shelves, what happens to it? presumably it just gets binned?
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Re sean,
your not on your own here,i agree with you. In the mail on sunday was a reply from a chicken farmer re the programe, it seems the crew spent a few days filming on his farm and not one minute was used for the programe,
Maybe it didnt fit in with their preconcieved, biased ideas.
It's no different from other programmes who film more than they require.
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In my opinion they are treat as a commodity .. With little regard for welfare..
I was surprised no mention of what may have been in the food or water the chickens are fed to keep them alive (disease free) in such intensive conditions and get them table ready in such a short time ,,
I think If we took the biggest of the normal breeds of chuck and put a few on our lotties, fed them normal cerial based food etc , We would be a lot longer getting them to table ready size than these were .. Maybe by 3 or 4 months .
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The cost of rearing the better birds is greater hence a bigger charge all round.
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£2.50 to £6-8.00 is not a bigger charge all round but a bloody rip off!. I agree that the practise of raising chickens intensively is wrong and something as to be done.In the past free range was produced as a high quality produce for a niche market, if you wont the masses to buy it, then a way of producing it more cheaply will have to be found.
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I don't think £6-8 is much to spend on a chicken. Personally I have bought only freerange chickens for the past couple of years, despite being on LT sick leave and living on benefits. For me, I would rather pay more and eat meat less often. We had a chicken on Sunday, it fed three of us. We then had it for lunch the next day, had it for dinner last night, and I will use the stock to make a risotto for dinner tonight. That £8 has therefore given us a fair few meals! The amount of chicken eat has increased so much over the last few years, partly because it is so cheap. For me meat is a treat, not something that we can afford to eat every day.
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chlodonnay
Well said! Yes you can live well eat meat that is reared naturally and you don't need to have pots of money to do so.
I think a fair bit of the problem is lack of knowledge I mean as in How to cook!!
Unfortunately there is a generation of people who only know how to buy ready made meals, or easy stuff ie like chicken breasts, steak, fish fingers which just need very basic culinary skills to turn out something half decent. The supermarkets can be criticised for supplying these easy quick fixes but they are only satisfying demand from the consumer and making money into the bargain.
Your chicken chlodonnay fed 3 people 3/4 meals - that is pretty good - plus you have used up the whole bird so no wastage and if you divide the cost of the chicken into how many meals it provided - it ends up being pretty reasonable. As you say - you don't need a huge quantity of meat to enjoy a meal.
I am now nearly 80% vegetarian and only eat meat once or twice a week. My health has improved and I have lost weight - back to the weight I was in my late teens/twenties - I am now late 50's (Walking my two new big dogs also helps!!) I am fitter than most of my twenty something workmates - both men and women - and much of it is down to my lottie and my veggie diet.
I am trying to teach the younger people at work (all professional solicitors/secretaries/accountants) how to make good wholesome soup, veggie dishes etc. (one of them didn't know what a raw beetroot looked like! Can you imagine that?)
They always enjoy what I cook for them - the cost being minimal. I think education is the way forward!
Enough of my ranting!
Old Bird!!
;D
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Exactly my feelings, 'Old Bird'.
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What do you mean Purple Sprouting - "enought of my ranting"!!!
Old Bird
;D
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Our Tescos in Bournemouth have not had free range chickens for two weeks now and have now started offering intensively raised birds for £1.99. Bit mean of them to start a price war don't you think..
Follow the escapades at http://www.chickenout.tv/
Jitterbug
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that's the way Tesco's have always operated. When I was a kid, the first one in Oxford opened right next door to a local supermarket chain, Butler's, which had three shops. They undercut them till they went out of business, took over their premises, then put the prices up.
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Does anyone have any knowledge of barn reared chickens. Our local co-op is selling them under the name of Elmwood chicken. Their policy is that they are hormone free & only given anti biotics when needed.
We used to be able to buy 2 free range chickens which were hormone free for £5.75 but they now have gone over to barn rearing.
Janet.
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Hi I don't know too much about the barn rearing method but I know that it is marginally kinder than the other way! The Co-op is quite good though on animal welfare issues.
But at the end of the day only the organic way is the most natural and kindest for these birds!
Old Bird
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As far as I know, barn rearing is NOT free-range. All it guarantees is that the birds are kept in barn! Possibly with slightly more space, and possibly windows for natural light instead of artificial lighting, and possibly with things to play with, but still no access to the great outdoors. So I'd say the free-range chooks you used to buy are much better in the welfar stakes than barn-reared.
Cheers,
Rob ;)
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We get our chicken from Waitrose
http://www.waitrose.com/food/productranges/poultry/chicken.aspx
There are however other options
Well Hung Meat - http://www.wellhungmeat.com/poultry.php
Delivered to your Door
Our Organic Chickens are reared at Stream Farm in Somerset and Otter Valley in Honiton, Devon. Like all of our meat, our Chickens improve through the hanging process. The chickens are reared in a free-range habitat and like the turkeys we have at Christmas, they will be cold eviscerated (gutted) and dry plucked. Prepare for a taste sensation, unlike any mass produced product!
Clerkes Farm - http://www.clerkesgeese.com/
Delivered to your door used by Heston Blumenthal :)
But there are lots of small companies out there that fill the gap the supermarkets leave
http://www.higherhacknell.co.uk/?cPath=27&page=1&sort=1a&gclid=CM61n6m_wZECFQOIMAod2EA7Tg
http://www.aubreyallen.co.uk/catalog/4?ppcseid=4123&ppcsekeyword=free+range+chicken&mmtctg=413055943&mmtcmp=18944443&mmtmt=2&mmtgglcnt=0&mmtadid=1336336603
Cam
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Just copies this from the Channel 4 website - it's the Co-Op's answers to Jamie Oliver's Fowl Dinners questionnaire:
Jamie's Fowl Dinners
The facts about the shops you shop in
Contents: Asda and Co-operative, Marks and Spencer and Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose. Date Published: 11/01/2008 The following supermarkets were asked these questions, see their responses below (in alphabetical order).
Question 1
What are your different ranges of fresh whole chicken and pieces?
Question 2
Please outline the welfare conditions of the chickens in these different ranges (ACP standard, Freedom Food, Free-range, Organic etc.), what breed are the birds? At what age are they slaughtered? What is the stocking density at which they are kept?
Co-operative
Answer 1
In September 2007 the Co-operative replaced standard fresh whole chickens with chickens reared to the higher welfare Elmwood standard. From March 2008, this higher welfare standard will be extended to all Co-operative fresh chicken.
The Co-operative also sells British Freedom Food Free Range chickens under its Truly Irresistible label and British Organic chicken.
Answer 2
A dedicated group of British and Northern Irish farmers have been selected to rear chickens to our higher welfare Elmwood standard, exclusively for the Co-operative.
The chickens are housed in naturally ventilated and sunlit barns to give a fresher, brighter more comfortable environment (In excess of Freedom Food standards). The chickens are given 30% more space than standard chickens to allow them to move around (The same amount of space as required for Freedom Food and Organic standards). (This is plain wrong - basic Soil Association standars for organinc poultry production stipulates the birds MUST be free-range - rob)
Each barn is furnished with straw bales, perches and pecking objects to keep the birds stimulated (The same as required for Freedom Food).
Our chickens grow slower through the use of a naturally balanced, high cereal vegetarian diet. Our chickens will never be given antibiotics unless they are ill and visited by a vet.
Our chickens will never be fed growth promoters or digestive enhancers designed to increase weight gain. Our chickens have six hours of darkness each day to allow them to rest. 50% more than standard chickens (The same as required for Freedom Food).
The age at which they are slaughtered ranges from 40 to 50 days, depending on the size of chicken needed.
The Freedom Food Free Range and Organic are the generic standards used by everybody."
Cheers,
Rob ;)
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I have seen first hand a chicken factory, and it not nice. My husband and I both work with two kids, and run our shopping on a tight budget so I cannot afford to buy organic chickens. I make sure we have a roast once a week, and the only reason I can do this is by buying two chickens for 5.50, otherwise we would no have a good sunday meal. I try to be organic as possible by growing as many veg as I can before I got my allotment, but somethings are just to expensive for normal working class. I appriciated that if we all stopped buying farm chicken the price would go down on the organic ones, but chicken is the only real meat I eat, and I love it, so until the shopping markets start either dropping prices or doing good specials I will have to stick to the farm birds.
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Isn't free range the more important welfare aspect rather than organic? And free range is about half the price of organic, though higher than battery.
(Mind you when lamb chops are £16 per kilo (the farmer gets £1.20) a 2 kilo chicken for a tenner doesn't seem such bad value)
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If i could afford it I would go all free range as no animal deserves to live like what I saw on telly, but unless I win the lottery all I can afford right now is farmed chickens, lets hope the supermarkets have a change in price
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People have been treating chicken almost like a throw away item. I know people that buy the ready cooked chickens and pick and the breast and throw the rest away or worse still buy one as a little treat for the cat!!!! I'm not made of money but dont think £6 is unreasonable compared to other sunday joints such as beef or lamb. What infuriates me more is people on television classed as being on so called low incomes and in the background are always ashtrays full of cigarettes (almost £6 per packet) and a few empty larger cans! when the price of either of those items increases it doesnt seem to cause such uproar they just seem to find the extra pennies for them! ???
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The breast is the least interesting bit; I don't understand why people think it's special. the leg has more flavour, and doesn't dry out. The best way I've found of making breast palatable, apart from smothering it with chilli, is to roast the thing upside-down. It doesn't look quite so pretty, but the juices flow down into the breast making it nice and moist, with a distintly different texture.
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Hugh's push on free range chickens has somewhat petered out dont you think!?
Im a massive fan and havent touched anything but freerange/organic since seeing his and Jamie Olivers programmes.
An article in one of the british papers calculated that approx 10million freerange birds had been bought as a result.
Just thinking that they should come out boxing a second time and keep it in the public eye.
What ya think??
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I got a newsletter by email yesterday and I think they are showing the programmes again (or an update, I'm not sure) over Easter. Have a look at the website.
http://www.chickenout.tv/ (http://www.chickenout.tv/)
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Ok try and change peoples view even supermarkets but its the govement rules that need changing for any effect.
DEFRA is the body if you have more than 50 birds you have to be registered and they are ment to check up on breeders / farmers.
I think the 3ft per bird rule applies, but this is calculated by the lenght of barn X width X the height.
Now I dont know many hens that would jump say 6ft in the air to spread their wings?
So I think the rule of floor space only this would mean fewer birds on the ground and more space for them to move around.
As for the amonia burns there are powerders that can be sprinkled onto wood shavings to neutreise them or have them cleaned out regular by law?
The death rate would decrease and more birds would live to the slaughter date if better looked after.
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Chickens are rainforest birds. They are wild in Malaysia where I come from and yes they can jump/part fly six foot into the air . They roost in trees. They wander everywhere and the home birds we do keep are part wild too, only not so skinny. They bring off their own young. I think the reason they're so expensive to keep in the UK and in Europe is that the chickens you get here are so far from the original version that there is no other way to raise them other then farmed/antibiotics/all the rest of the nonsense. My gran kept them in her backyard and other then chuck some maize at them she left them to forage. They may have been around in the UK a long time but they are not natural to this country. Do people not know this?
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I remember chickens living at least semi-wild (the traditional meaning of 'free-range') when was a kid; the farmer provided shelter and a little food, and they scratched around for themselves. We used to find nests in the hedges regularly. It's only in the last generation we've had these overbred battery hens. I've seen traditional varieties get six feet up many times, but I don't know whether the modern ones still do.
We used to cage them in with a three-foot mesh fence, and only the occasional one got over as they don't fly much. When they do, you can tell they're really making an effort. Is it the same with Malaysian ones? Where is it you come from, by the way? My mother grew up in Rangoon.
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Having kept chickens once, I would be very suprised if the chickens knew what was going on. Those two twats who have jumped aboard another bandwagon, have been banned from my telly. Hugh Whateverstall, is this the same goon that cooked and ate a womans placenta. As for Jamie Lagerlout, what's in those sausages he feeds to the cabbies?
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If the farmer only makes 3pence per chicken and he keeps say 2000 in a shed he makes £60 for a shed full.
If the farmer keeps 200 chickens in a shed and makes 30pence per chicken that’s £60 for a shed full.
100 chickens 60 pence a chicken £60 a shed full plus 1900 chickens worth of feed etc saved.
So why does a free range bird cost more than the extra 57pence?
Am I oversimplifying or is someone overcharging?