Today I'm angry about.....

[Lord Kangana]

It must have worked, anyway.

[Gooner Girl]

It must have worked, anyway.

Chucked it down here at last! My ducks were happy (except ones suddenly got a poorly leg so so more expense at the vets tomorrow )

[Lord Kangana]

Do you ever eat your ducks?

[William the White]

Do you ever eat your ducks?

I don't quite know why, but I'm laughing at this...

[Lord Kangana]

Its very good for you Duck. Mostly mono-unsaturated fat. And have you seen the price of Foie Gras these days? Makes sense to grow your own.

[Gooner Girl]

Do you ever eat your ducks?

I don't quite know why, but I'm laughing at this...

Well you shouldn't be!!! He's not funny!

No, they have names. You can't eat anything thats named! The boy is Thierry (Kolo disappeared and probably got eaten by a fox though i prefer to think he lives on the village pond now) and the girls are Lily and Rosie. They lay me fantastic eggs!

I lost a chicken the other day too and only have 2 left now

[Lord Kangana]

Well if you're going to give them to foxes you might as well.

[Gooner Girl]

Well if you're going to give them to foxes you might as well.

The chicken didn't get eaten, it just decided (whilst my poor brother was house sitting) that it had enough of life. RIP poor Bluebell.

And getting back to the topic in hand, today i am still angry about battery farming. I met thebish through chicken rescues and have seen first hand the state of how battery chickens live. Heres one of my current ex batts when i got her




and here she is now.



Battery chicken farmers- should all be locked in a cage no bigger then themselves

[Lord Kangana]

I agree.

Looks good enough to eat that chicken now, good work.

[Gooner Girl]

I agree.

Looks good enough to eat that chicken now, good work.

You're being very naughty this evening LK... Tsk!

[William the White]

I think you should tell us more about chicken rescue...

Which I do realise is different from chicken reclaim...

[Gooner Girl]

I think you should tell us more about chicken rescue...

Which I do realise is different from chicken reclaim...

Surprised Bish hasn't already!

thebish and I work as volunteers for the Essex branch of the British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT - http://www.bhwt.org.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) On a rescue day we will go to a battery farm and rescue from the cages anything between 300-600 hens. The farmers let the BHWT know when they want to get rid of the hens and the BHWT pay the farmers £1 per bird (far more then they would get if they sold them on as chinese or dog/cat food)

The birds are normally only about 16 months old but will have lived in a space the size of an A4 piece of paper for all their life. They are still quite young but past their egg laying 'peak' (if you're a farmer and have 3000 hens that go from laying 7 eggs a week to 6 eggs a week you can see the profit margin dipping - so they get rid and start with a new lot)

After we have pulled the birds from the cages, we put them in crates, load them into a van and take them back to the 'base' - the co-ordinators big garden in Essex. There we get them out of the crates, give them a health check, clip their nails (which have grown far to long because they are on wire netting rather then solid floor in the cages) and give them food and water. In the afternoon the new owners that have registered their interest come along and take home between 2-50 plus chickens, mostly to live as pets in the back garden (chicken keeping being the fastest growing hobby in England) they pay the BHWT a donation of a minimum £1 per hen. some chickens come out looking ok, some are more 'oven ready' 9like the photo i posted) it largely depends on the farm, some have health problems but most are ok (they won't lay eggs if they are poorly so is in the farmers interests to feed them well, give them the right jabs etc) the issue with battery farming is just how much of their natural behaviour is surpressed. They have no nesting box to lay an egg in, nowhere to dustbath, they have never seen sunlight or grass before in their lives - yet on a sunny rescue day, within minutes of getting out of the crates onto the grass you can see some of them sunbathing already, lying with their wings out.

Most people buy free range eggs these days - or if they don't they are heartless, stingy gits but where the majority of battery eggs go is 'hidden egg' in quiche, cake etc...

Anyway, here are some of thebishs rescue photos if you're interested. Am sure he won't mind me sharing them with you

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 8d6d646ddb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lord Kangana]

Several million battery eggs get accidentally mislabeled as free range each year.

If you were a cynic, you might wonder how accidental it is.

[Gooner Girl]

Several million battery eggs get accidentally mislabelled as free range each year.

If you were a cynic, you might wonder how accidental it is.

Thats why you need to keep your own chickens LK! Then you KNOW your eggs are free range (and they taste WAY better too!)

[CAPSLOCK]

Nice breasts

[Gooner Girl]

Nice breasts

You're obsessed!

[LiOC]

Most people buy free range eggs these days - or if they don't they are heartless, stingy gits but where the majority of battery eggs go is 'hidden egg' in quiche, cake etc...

Do they have to put any sort of notification on the box if it's battery farmed? Will any using free range say so? Any good brands that do so that you know of?

Always buy free range eggs but never think about them in things, just wondering if I could check.

[bobo the clown]

I agree.

Looks good enough to eat that chicken now, good work.

... b-hell girl. They'll have to pluck it now before they cook it !!

[Gooner Girl]

Most people buy free range eggs these days - or if they don't they are heartless, stingy gits but where the majority of battery eggs go is 'hidden egg' in quiche, cake etc...

Do they have to put any sort of notification on the box if it's battery farmed? Will any using free range say so? Any good brands that do so that you know of?

Always buy free range eggs but never think about them in things, just wondering if I could check.

Normally if it doesn't SAY free range it isn't. They don't have to put them as battery farmed and usually if they do have free range egg in them they say so. Theres a list somewhere i will try and find for you but i know Hellmans mayo is now free range as is Mr Kipling cakes, cadburys creme eggs, sainsburys taste the difference range and anything organic has to be.

If you're interested in knowing where your food comes from, this might be of interest to you.

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/your_food/default.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gooner Girl]

I agree.

Looks good enough to eat that chicken now, good work.

... b-hell girl. They'll have to pluck it now before they cook it !!

Haha! You're not a country lad are you Bobo? If you tried to eat a 16 month old chicken that has been bred for laying eggs you'd probably end up vomiting your dinner back up. It wouldn't taste good!