Free Range or Value eggs?

thriftlady_2

nimbo wrote: »

i get eggs from my sister, so they are not strictly 'free range' i'm sure but they get to wander round her garden, and sometimes the kitchen....

she only has 3, and her garden is medium, but the get locked up at night... not sure what counts as completely free range, bur hers are happy, two of them love the kids...

They're definitely free range Nimbo;)

I buy free range eggs from the farmshop. They have 2 sorts -one just says 'free range' on the box but no info about where they're from. These are £1.10 for 6 and standard sizes. The other sort are from a local producer and are all different sizes and a bit mucky. They always seem to have a longer useby date on them. They are £1.45 for 6 and have only recently gone up from £1.35. I buy these ones;)

zfrl

Free range when my 4 chickens aren't laying. They started on 3rd Feb last year so not long to wait!

adouglasmhor

Leiela have you tried http://www.eggnation.co.uk/shop.php I think it can be cheaper when you are training sometimes and you just want whites. 1 carton is about 30 eggs.

lilac_lady

I only buy free range ones. The last eggs I bought were from the Co-op - £1.25 for 4 in a box = 31p each. They're becoming a luxury food but I'd rather do without than buy any other kind.

beautiful_ravens

sorryusernamesgone wrote: »

I worked at an egg packing station for a while, collected the eggs from the conveyor belt, straight from the hens and put on large trolleys which were stored in a chiller for up to 2 weeks sometimes longer, then went down the packing station to go into relevant egg boxes, depending on which store they were for.

The eggs were battery, barn and free range.

The only difference between them on the supermarket shelf is the boxes.

In the packing stations a buzzer sounds and the conveyor stops and someone changes the boxes over from say battery egg boxes to free range. The buzzer sounds again and the conveyor starts up, same eggs coming along, all going into free range boxes now.

So never buy free range eggs from a supermarket, cos they're probably battery eggs.

If you want free range buy from a farm at the gate or from someone who keeps their own poultry.

How come everyone doesnt know this? Are you sworn to secrecy when you work there? Does it say what they really are on the boxes somewhere?

katholicos

I buy barn eggs/free range eggs for the most part, but every once in a while when money is super tight i have to shop without a conscience in order to feed my family. My family always comes first and if it means the occassional purchase of cheaper eggs then that is the way it has to be.

Penelope_Penguin

sorryusernamesgone wrote: »

So never buy free range eggs from a supermarket, cos they're probably battery eggs.

If that's true you should report it to Trading Standards.

You can tell what sort supermarket eggs are as the individual eggs are stamped to identify free range and caged eggs

ETA - more info here from 2001.

Penny. x

Larumbelle

That packing station was breaking the law big style! You should be able to tell by the printing on the egg from a supermarket what kind of egg it is. 0 = organic, 1 = free range, 2 = barn, 3 = cage. If they are printing codes on eggs incorrectly or packaging them incorrectly it is FRAUD. Are you sure the buzzer didn't signify that a different source of eggs was coming down the conveyer, rather than just 'it's time to change boxes'?!

competitionscafe

I only buy free-range and would do without rather than buy battery eggs. I don't use many eggs though, seldom eat eggs (fried, boiled, poached, omelettes) and when I do it's an occassional treat so I want them to taste good. I mainly use eggs for baking.

I don't get supermarket ones apart from occassionally getting the organic free-range ones at Waitrose if I missed the other shops as they are the only supermarket who sell soil-association eggs. I used to get the Clarence Court blue eggs but can't find these anymore. However supermarket free-range eggs are expensive compared to free-range selsewhere. But mainly I buy Black Isle free-range eggs as they taste the best (local deli and local health food shop sell these, they are from a farm up near Inverness and have gorgeous deep golden yolks). Would love my own chooks though. (But my neighbours and landlady wouldn't!)

Penelope_Penguin

sorryusernamesgone wrote: »

So if the box says free range, its usually battery eggs inside. All major egg packers are the same. I think it should be exposed but no-one's interested enough to do anything.

You should expose it :eek: I'm sure Hugh FW would be very intersted to know this is going on - especially as he's just about to start a new TV series bout hens. You can register on the River Cottage forums here.

Penny. x