[babypoogle]

Or whatever the programme was called.  Having had to return my beloved Gracie from whence s/he came (for those that haven't read the "My Girls - HELP!!" thread - "Gracie" turned out to be "Gary" and had to be returned to the breeder due to council restrictions on  keeping cockerals  :cry: ) I decided that I would like to rescue a few battery hens, having had pangs of guilt for not following this course of action in the first place.

I've been on the website but, due to the huge response to the programme, they are inundated with enquiries!  I'll be lucky to get a response wihtin 48 hours.

Obviously I am delighted that so much interest has been generated and chooks will be given new homes - but it means I have a long wait for my chooks!!

Grr.

Poogle x

[John]

I'm really pleased to see the benefits of Jamie and Hugh FW having the courage to shout out on the subject. I hope Jamie's contract with Sainsbury is renewed - it would be disgusting if they didn't because of his comments.

According to press reports, he gets over a million from that - sort of makes people saying they can't afford an extra pound to buy broiler chickens humanely reared look a bit sad.

Although you can rescue a few hens - it's about time our politicians changed the rules so all farmers can keep chickens commercially as they would really prefer to without unfair competition from cruel keepers and foreign countries who have little concept of animal cruelty.

If you visit compassion in world farming (see the top of the page) you'll see they have already got some changes into law - all animals deserve humane treatment.

Our ability to give that and to understand cruelty is what makes us human.

[ck2day]

Unfortunately our beloved Govt will do nothing. It is up to the consumer to put their foot down and say we are not happy with battery and caged hens. The only way we can do this is not to buy them! Unfortunately this would only affect the English farmer, the likes of the big supermarkets would soon swop their suppliers from the UK to the continent if they couldn't buy cheap mass produced chickens from within the UK. In some ways we, as consumers, have been the chickens worst enemy (also includes any mass produced meat) as up to a short while ago not many of us queried where our sunday lunch came from. In addition, if it had that "Buy one get one free" label on it, it made it even better.  I for one will never again buy battery eggs and mass produced anything, but then I am only one out of millions of people in the UK.

As for people saying they cannot afford another pound or two for a free range chicken, I have to wonder how many of them smoke (at around £5 for a packet of 20) and spend several nights each week down the pub!

Long live Jamie O and Hugh FW !!!

[John]

Well I smoke - roll me own - and we live very frugally but we never buy battery eggs and no longer buy broiler chicken. I didn't think about that or the content of 'ready meals' until Jamie Oliver. and HFW

It's tough for many people though - the cost of food has fallen in real terms but rent and mortgages have zoomed up as a proportion of income. We're no better off.

I can see now why ethical producers must have felt they were on a hiding to nothing. People see a lump of meat and don't realise the difference between intensive and humane systems so they think the humane farmer is ripping them off.

I know I did. Hey, we all live and learn!

[poultrygeist]

Likewise John.

By the same token, I've no idea how cattle or pigs are kept in large commercial farms. As far as I know they're not as bad off as poultry but it would be good to see some proggies about it. Good or bad.

The supermarkets are starting to respond to public demands due only to the power of the pound. If we stop buying cheap they won't stock it.

All been said before I know but never hurts to reinforce the message.

[John]

Totally agree - I'm sorry to say the public (me included) have the memory of a goldfish so keep the momentum going.

There's some information on battery hens in the link below - be warned, it's not fun.

http://www.downthelane.net/battery.html

Richard's been campaigning on this since 2001

[babypoogle]

If Jamie has the same effect on battery farming as he did on dodo school dinners, I'd say battery farming has had its day. Love him or loath him but he gets results.

To adopt a chook do i have to go through a charity?  Can't I just go to a farm and say "Gis a chicken"?.

Poogle x

[John]

I think you need to go through the charity. The farms are probably a bit nervous about people turning up - if only for biosecurity reasons.

[Snap Dragon]

Where does this £1 or £2 a chicken come from?

My local Tesco sell whole chickens for £3.87 and organic ones for £10.98! :shock:

Paying an extra £7 for a chicken is not going to persuede people to buy organic or free range or whatever they want to label it as.

2 chicken fillets:
Tesco Value - £2.81
Tesco Healthy Living - £3.82
Tesco Organic - £8.11
Tesco Finest Free Range - £13.49  :shock:  :shock: (for 2 fillets - that's disgusting!!!)

If I bought a whole chicken a week, that would add nearly an extra £30 on my monthly food bill which could be much better spent.

As much as I hate to admit it - family has to come before conscience!

[poultrygeist]

That sounds a lot more than our local Tesco. We have a big Asda too so that might keep prices down.

I'll make a note next time we go. I know they had notices up saying that due to the demand of Jamie and H-FW's proggies they were struggling to meet demand. Prices should come down once the suppliers can pick up production.
That's assuming the demand continues at present rates. There should be a happy medium somewhere which allows people to afford to buy almost as often as they do without taking out a mortgage.

Watch this space and I'll update when I can.

[Snap Dragon]

I got these prices from Tesco Online - the Tesco actually in our town hardly does any free range chicken, even if you could afford to buy it!

I hope that prices come down soon as it gives the impression that the free range farmers are making a quick buck while all the hype is going on!

Maybe when I get the lottie up and running this year I can use the veg money I save on some free range chicken instead.  

[babypoogle]

I can't find the "£1 more" chicken either.  I'm happy to pay more for humane chicken but the price difference is HUGE at our Tesco (and note, Tesco are refusing to stop stocking the intensive farmed chicken or battery eggs as "customers deserve the choice").  Hence we have switched to Quorn.  

Re: battery hens - I didn't think my idea was viable, really, especially after the Jamie programme.  They're probably on the alert for hate attacks now - even though the farmer is merely pandering to the consumers whim.

[John]

There are various grades as I understand it - so very open to correction here.

Better than battery or mass broiler there is an RSPCA standard where they are still kept indoors but in less crowded conditions with toys to play with.
Then we have free range, where they are allowed to roam and finally organic.

Organic is dearest and arguably no better or worse from a welfare viewpoint than free range.

That's where I get my £1 difference from - RSPCA standards versus standard.

Please note - there are other stores than Tesco For a while at least....

[GrannieAnnie]

for anyone in Kent, near Sevenoaks, my friend takes me to Polhill garden centre every year when I go down to see her.  Its brilliant!  They have a big butchers in there, its like a farmers market, and lots of the meat the butchers sell come from their owns farms.

We were there at the weekend, and I was looking at the free range chickens.  Not a bad size either, priced up between £5.95 and £6.95.  they were selling well too!  And apparently at Christmas they sell their own turkeys, and a lot of the pork is their own.  Okay, other meat wasn't cheap, but my friend loves it, she buys it all the time!  I wasn't coming back here til yesterday, otherwise I would have had some of the chooks, they looked really nice!!!!!

And no, I'm not on commission!!!!! lol

[slowef]

If you can buy better quality "happy" meat in smaller quantities and make it go further with meat stretching recipes