Free range has never meant free from cruelty, unfortunately.
Not defending the practice – but hasn’t free range just always meant “not caged”?
Oh well that’s poor, but easily rectified, right?
Gather a panel of animal welfare experts, as well as assessing best practices globally, and draft a new definition.
Oh, wait, no, for a moment there I was in fantasy land where we’re governed by competent people who care about things.
If “outside” is a big open space with no cover, they might not even _want_ to go outside. Chickens are domesticated red junglefowl, they prefer to be under some sort of cover.
It’s why mixed use of space is a good idea: use a free range chicken field for solar panels, and they’ll happily chill out under them, away from that nasty open sky.
Don’t all chickens have to be kept inside at the moment due to the bird flu outbreak?
This is a complete misunderstanding of the current situation. Free range birds are being kept inside to protect them from the avian flu outbreak… lockdown for birds.
No one thinks it’s a good thing in the industry, but like lockdown it is mandated by the government (DEFRA) to protect our wildlife, food systems and the health of consumers.
Considering avian flu happens basically every year.. for *months*… I am boggled why farmers haven’t invested in the required infrastructure to meet both the free range requirements and the avian flu protections.
Wait no this was in the news weeks ago. It’s becomes of bird flu ?
Operating on the same level of reality as Boris and his parties.
Another reason to not eat any forms of meat if you believe its unethical to treat a dog/cat the same way these chickens (and other animals raised for humans consumption) are treated.
I’m aware I will be down voted by the passionate carnivores but unless you can explain why some animals deserve more respect than others I don’t see the difference. They all have emotions/feelings/families and given the option they would rather be free to live their own life.
If anyone saw the way these creatures are kept they would think twice about paying someone to enslave them and cause their endless suffering from day 1.
Since nobody can be bothered to actually click on a link before commenting nowadays, here are the important parts:
Why chickens bred for meat are “technically” free range:
>In the meat industry, the rule is that chickens can be kept inside for 12 weeks before losing the free range label. But chickens slaughtered for meat are often killed at eight weeks.This means they can technically be advertised as free range, since they haven’t lived long enough to be considered otherwise.
Why the “free range” label was already bullshit:
>But free range doesn’t necessarily equal high standards of animal welfare. Birds kept in multi-tier sheds, for example, can still be deemed free range if they have some outside access, even though they are crammed in with thousands of other birds.
>
>In the UK, roughly one billion chickens are factory farmed every year. Broiler chickens (chickens raised for meat) are often bred to grow unnaturally fast. This puts a significant strain on their limbs and organs and often leads to serious health problems.Free range or not, egg-laying or broiler, chickens often suffer immensely in factory farm conditions.
So the “takeaway” here is that the meat industry is still diabolical, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone who’s been paying attention
‘Free Range’ has always just been a label to make consumers feel less guilty about the mass suffering and killing of animals.
Finding out a few years ago that free range was nothing like the idealised version I’d assumed was what pushed me to give up eggs. Actually reading into what can count as “free range”/“organic” etc is eye opening.
So weird that this is up for debate semantically.
“kept in natural conditions, with freedom of movement” is the definition of free range
So free to wander outside in sufficient space without restriction on how, when, why theyre outside.
So… A coup with a door into a fenced off area is surely fine. If it aint that, it aint free range.
Was that hard?
So what your saying is just eat the cheaper chickens because it doesn’t matter? Righto!
Bought some eggs the other week, ‘Free Range’ plastered over the packaging. Then, in small print, ‘From barn hens’.
I thought the order was Organic, Free Range, Barn and then Caged?
Hmmm. I work for Cargill and I will ask about this.
This saddens me. I always assumed our animal welfare standards was better than that ☹️
This is a temporary measure, implemented because of avian flu.
I wish I could share a photo here of a ‘free range chicken’ that a friend who has a sanctuary rescued. You would be so shocked. it is a label that means sweet fanny Adams.
can anyone actually find chicken thats labeled ‘free range’? when i’ve gone looking for that there’s been big labels saying ‘these chickens lived in the UK’ but nothing about the conditions they were in.
like Sunaks Taxes, technically totally correct, morally totally incorrect.
and the people we vote in to watch our well being are only considering the financial well being of the investor.
Farmer gets an old rusty MOT failure Range Rover for nothing. Uses it has a chicken house.
He can now legally sell free range rover chickens and eggs.
>Since November, all of the UK’s farmed chickens have been kept inside as the meat and egg industries grapple with one of the biggest-ever outbreaks of avian flu in the country.
so… its not a permanent thing then just a chicken lockdown.
It is tantamount to calling our leader” LEADERS” without actually leading the country.
This will be like the checkouts at wilko’s
They wont give that ground back
It turns out chickens are trained in SERE, don’t worry about it.
Implying people who eat chickens give a toss about their lives
I think this can’t happen in NI as we still have to follow EU standards and thank fuck for that. Pity you bros on the mainland though Tory cunts really are fucking you hard.
I knew lidl wouldnt have free range eggs that cheap.
I’m glad we still mostly have to confirm with EU standards on food, otherwise there would be none. Literally none.
Why do food manufacturers do horrible things and then blame the customer because “you want cheap prices” like, yeah but not to torture my food….
So me buying the more expensive free range eggs is pointless then? Good to know.
Isn’t this just temporary because of bird flu? All hens have to be kept indoors?
To be fair the weather here sucks most of the time- they aren’t missing much.
Well honestly why would chickens want to be outside, when offered a shelter most animals will take it because the conditions are nicer. The problem is when they are too cramped
I mean free range is a pure marketing tool anyway, it’s something like 9 hens per square metre instead of 13 or something. It’s literally just there to make consumers feel better. Best thing to do for the animal is just not to buy eggs from the shop and not to Support the industry.
Free range doesn’t mean outside. It means not in cages.
This is the tip of the iceberg, even free range chickens outside of the avian flu outbreak aren’t all born equal. Plenty who never see the light of day. For a look at standard practices, check out UK-based documentary [Land of Hope & Glory](https://youtu.be/dvtVkNofcq8). You’ll find plenty of people defending these industries suggesting that such practices documented in these films are fringe cases but the law, stats and *the reality* of the industry says otherwise.
Just like people being labelled as free thinking even though they are oppressed by propaganda. Very nice
That is fucking disgusting and I’ll raise my own chicken from now on!
in the US a chicken is free range if it has access to the outside. If there is a side of the building that has a open portion it it is acceptable. Just because the chicken is too stupid to go outside is immaterial.
Just like deli meats that are nitrate free while using celery extract which is a naturally occurring nitrate.
they got called out on it and now say using naturally occurring nitrates as preservative.
Just like the 49 pesticides that can be used on crops and they can still be labeled organic.
Save your money and don’t fall for the bullshit.
Crazy idea but maybe we shouldn’t eat meat at all as we are omnivores and do not require it to live a healthy lifestyle? This is confirmed by the British Dietetic Association.
But nah let’s just keep needlessly exploiting and cause suffering and death to sentient beings for taste buds.
43 comments
Free range has never meant free from cruelty, unfortunately.
Not defending the practice – but hasn’t free range just always meant “not caged”?
Oh well that’s poor, but easily rectified, right?
Gather a panel of animal welfare experts, as well as assessing best practices globally, and draft a new definition.
Oh, wait, no, for a moment there I was in fantasy land where we’re governed by competent people who care about things.
If “outside” is a big open space with no cover, they might not even _want_ to go outside. Chickens are domesticated red junglefowl, they prefer to be under some sort of cover.
It’s why mixed use of space is a good idea: use a free range chicken field for solar panels, and they’ll happily chill out under them, away from that nasty open sky.
Don’t all chickens have to be kept inside at the moment due to the bird flu outbreak?
This is a complete misunderstanding of the current situation. Free range birds are being kept inside to protect them from the avian flu outbreak… lockdown for birds.
No one thinks it’s a good thing in the industry, but like lockdown it is mandated by the government (DEFRA) to protect our wildlife, food systems and the health of consumers.
Considering avian flu happens basically every year.. for *months*… I am boggled why farmers haven’t invested in the required infrastructure to meet both the free range requirements and the avian flu protections.
Wait no this was in the news weeks ago. It’s becomes of bird flu ?
Operating on the same level of reality as Boris and his parties.
Another reason to not eat any forms of meat if you believe its unethical to treat a dog/cat the same way these chickens (and other animals raised for humans consumption) are treated.
I’m aware I will be down voted by the passionate carnivores but unless you can explain why some animals deserve more respect than others I don’t see the difference. They all have emotions/feelings/families and given the option they would rather be free to live their own life.
If anyone saw the way these creatures are kept they would think twice about paying someone to enslave them and cause their endless suffering from day 1.
Since nobody can be bothered to actually click on a link before commenting nowadays, here are the important parts:
Why chickens bred for meat are “technically” free range:
>In the meat industry, the rule is that chickens can be kept inside for 12 weeks before losing the free range label. But chickens slaughtered for meat are often killed at eight weeks.This means they can technically be advertised as free range, since they haven’t lived long enough to be considered otherwise.
Why the “free range” label was already bullshit:
>But free range doesn’t necessarily equal high standards of animal welfare. Birds kept in multi-tier sheds, for example, can still be deemed free range if they have some outside access, even though they are crammed in with thousands of other birds.
>
>In the UK, roughly one billion chickens are factory farmed every year. Broiler chickens (chickens raised for meat) are often bred to grow unnaturally fast. This puts a significant strain on their limbs and organs and often leads to serious health problems.Free range or not, egg-laying or broiler, chickens often suffer immensely in factory farm conditions.
So the “takeaway” here is that the meat industry is still diabolical, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone who’s been paying attention
‘Free Range’ has always just been a label to make consumers feel less guilty about the mass suffering and killing of animals.
Finding out a few years ago that free range was nothing like the idealised version I’d assumed was what pushed me to give up eggs. Actually reading into what can count as “free range”/“organic” etc is eye opening.
So weird that this is up for debate semantically.
“kept in natural conditions, with freedom of movement” is the definition of free range
So free to wander outside in sufficient space without restriction on how, when, why theyre outside.
So… A coup with a door into a fenced off area is surely fine. If it aint that, it aint free range.
Was that hard?
So what your saying is just eat the cheaper chickens because it doesn’t matter? Righto!
Bought some eggs the other week, ‘Free Range’ plastered over the packaging. Then, in small print, ‘From barn hens’.
I thought the order was Organic, Free Range, Barn and then Caged?
Hmmm. I work for Cargill and I will ask about this.
This saddens me. I always assumed our animal welfare standards was better than that ☹️
This is a temporary measure, implemented because of avian flu.
I wish I could share a photo here of a ‘free range chicken’ that a friend who has a sanctuary rescued. You would be so shocked. it is a label that means sweet fanny Adams.
can anyone actually find chicken thats labeled ‘free range’? when i’ve gone looking for that there’s been big labels saying ‘these chickens lived in the UK’ but nothing about the conditions they were in.
like Sunaks Taxes, technically totally correct, morally totally incorrect.
and the people we vote in to watch our well being are only considering the financial well being of the investor.
Farmer gets an old rusty MOT failure Range Rover for nothing. Uses it has a chicken house.
He can now legally sell free range rover chickens and eggs.
>Since November, all of the UK’s farmed chickens have been kept inside as the meat and egg industries grapple with one of the biggest-ever outbreaks of avian flu in the country.
so… its not a permanent thing then just a chicken lockdown.
It is tantamount to calling our leader” LEADERS” without actually leading the country.
This will be like the checkouts at wilko’s
They wont give that ground back
It turns out chickens are trained in SERE, don’t worry about it.
Implying people who eat chickens give a toss about their lives
I think this can’t happen in NI as we still have to follow EU standards and thank fuck for that. Pity you bros on the mainland though Tory cunts really are fucking you hard.
I knew lidl wouldnt have free range eggs that cheap.
I’m glad we still mostly have to confirm with EU standards on food, otherwise there would be none. Literally none.
Why do food manufacturers do horrible things and then blame the customer because “you want cheap prices” like, yeah but not to torture my food….
So me buying the more expensive free range eggs is pointless then? Good to know.
Isn’t this just temporary because of bird flu? All hens have to be kept indoors?
To be fair the weather here sucks most of the time- they aren’t missing much.
Well honestly why would chickens want to be outside, when offered a shelter most animals will take it because the conditions are nicer. The problem is when they are too cramped
I mean free range is a pure marketing tool anyway, it’s something like 9 hens per square metre instead of 13 or something. It’s literally just there to make consumers feel better. Best thing to do for the animal is just not to buy eggs from the shop and not to Support the industry.
Free range doesn’t mean outside. It means not in cages.
This is the tip of the iceberg, even free range chickens outside of the avian flu outbreak aren’t all born equal. Plenty who never see the light of day. For a look at standard practices, check out UK-based documentary [Land of Hope & Glory](https://youtu.be/dvtVkNofcq8). You’ll find plenty of people defending these industries suggesting that such practices documented in these films are fringe cases but the law, stats and *the reality* of the industry says otherwise.
Just like people being labelled as free thinking even though they are oppressed by propaganda. Very nice
That is fucking disgusting and I’ll raise my own chicken from now on!
in the US a chicken is free range if it has access to the outside. If there is a side of the building that has a open portion it it is acceptable. Just because the chicken is too stupid to go outside is immaterial.
Just like deli meats that are nitrate free while using celery extract which is a naturally occurring nitrate.
they got called out on it and now say using naturally occurring nitrates as preservative.
Just like the 49 pesticides that can be used on crops and they can still be labeled organic.
Save your money and don’t fall for the bullshit.
Crazy idea but maybe we shouldn’t eat meat at all as we are omnivores and do not require it to live a healthy lifestyle? This is confirmed by the British Dietetic Association.
But nah let’s just keep needlessly exploiting and cause suffering and death to sentient beings for taste buds.