Hugh's Chicken Run (Merged Discussion)

kethry

Thriftlady: if you mean surely all cows and sheep are put outside, then no, that's not necessarily the case.

Cows: Apparently some cows *are* kept inside, milk cows are impregnanted every year, and slaughtered after 3 years as after three sets of "milkings", production goes into a steep decline. the 50% of male cows that result from these pregnancies are mostly killed shortly after birth as the veal industry is rare in the UK and its either that or sell them abroad where they're very badly treated for very little profit. As the article says, Veal, ironically, is one of the more ethical meats to eat (in the UK only) and yet its the one most people reject for ethical reasons.

With Sheep, although some are truly free range, many aren't, and are - apparently - transported in very bad conditions. Many are also subject to mutilations: "tail-docking, castration and mulesing, a procedure which involves cutting the skin away from the rump, usually without anaesthetic or pain relief."

the article (which i've quoted from above) tells you which supermarkets avoid which problems, and also looks in more detail at the veal issue, also the pig/bacon issue.

HTH

keth
xx

sarahlsmith22

I have always bought free range eggs (well happy-eggs is what I call them) and if I am buying a whole chicken buy free range organic, however I have a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer which really come in handy when I don't have anything else to have for dinner, does anyone know if you can buy free range frozen chicken breasts as I have never found any? Its just they work out cheaper than the fresh chicken breasts.

trying-very-trying

kethry wrote: »

if you mean surely all cows and sheep are put outside, then no, that's not necessarily the case.
Many are also subject to mutilations: "tail-docking, castration and mulesing, a procedure which involves cutting the skin away from the rump, usually without anaesthetic or pain relief."keth xx

Kethry, yes I did think that, that all our cows and sheep were allowed to graze in the fields, but maybe that's because I live next to a field that often has sheep or cattle in it.

As for your other point about sheep being mutilated, well yes I can understand the first two, but(I'm not sure I really want to know the answer) what is the point of the third process?

kethry

trying-very-trying wrote: »

Kethry, yes I did think that, that all our cows and sheep were allowed to graze in the fields, but maybe that's because I live next to a field that often has sheep or cattle in it.

As for your other point about sheep being mutilated, well yes I can understand the first two, but(I'm not sure I really want to know the answer) what is the point of the third process?

Its to do with addressing flystrike (wikipedia has more info). i didn't know either and had to look it up. Not terribly pleasant reading. even more unpleasant to have it though i suppose..

keth
xx

trying-very-trying

kethry wrote: »

Its to do with addressing flystrike (wikipedia has more info). i didn't know either and had to look it up. Not terribly pleasant reading. even more unpleasant to have it though i suppose.. kethxx

Yuck, but it did say it's mainly in Australia. I'd never heard of it happening here, I don't think they would need to do that in this country.

sammy_kaye18

I too watched this last ngith adn was gobsmacked quite frankly at

a) the appauling conditions the hens were killed in
b) promptly burst into tears when the guy killed the chicken!
c) cried again at Hughs reaction to the poorly tramped hen
d) was on teh verge of goign veggie at the site of the poor hens but
am never in my life eating anything if any bar free range again - that was disgusting.

Me and my family dont eat much meat - we are all not keen on beef, pork or lamb. We do eat turkey ham, bacon, mince and chicken but that is literally it.
Plus we also have a rule that if we get eggs they MUST be free range - the chickens though i alwasy tended to buy the 2 for £5 - NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!

I will be looking for a free range chicken and stretching it like its never been stretched before. So unless its free range it wont be coming in my door!!!

KETHRY - That link you gave turned my stomach so bad - I am so seriously considering becoming a veggie

~Chameleon~

thriftlady wrote: »

Btw, someone mentioned the conditions beef and lamb are raised in -surely all beef and lamb production in this country is extensive not intensive

Unfortunately, intensive farming is far more widespread than you might think. There's quite a lot of information about it on this site http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/report/calvesunwanted.php

One thing that also shocked me last night (on the The Lie of the Land programme) was learning that cows are often crossbred to produce the "ideal cow"! in terms of milk/meat production, even down to forming the right size of teats to enable the milking machines to attach to them easily, and the surplus calves from this crossbreeding are shot at a few days old and sent off down to the hunt kennels to feed the dogs.

The cows themselves (beef cattle) were crammed into large barns and lived in these conditions until they were old enough to go to slaughter, and then packed onto crowded transport lorries ready to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest abbatoir. This is all as a result of the government pressures and rules/regulations, and the farmers themselves are not happy about it.

Just remembered that the Kill It, Cook It, Eat It programme tonight is all about calf production and slaughter. Not sure I can stomach another night watching it though, especially after Hugh's programme, but then I think I would prefer to know what really goes on rather than just pretend these things don't happen

thriftlady_2

kethry wrote: »

Thriftlady: if you mean surely all cows and sheep are put outside, then no, that's not necessarily the case.

Cows: Apparently some cows *are* kept inside, milk cows are impregnanted every year, and slaughtered after 3 years as after three sets of "milkings", production goes into a steep decline. the 50% of male cows that result from these pregnancies are mostly killed shortly after birth as the veal industry is rare in the UK and its either that or sell them abroad where they're very badly treated for very little profit. As the article says, Veal, ironically, is one of the more ethical meats to eat (in the UK only) and yet its the one most people reject for ethical reasons.

With Sheep, although some are truly free range, many aren't, and are - apparently - transported in very bad conditions. Many are also subject to mutilations: "tail-docking, castration and mulesing, a procedure which involves cutting the skin away from the rump, usually without anaesthetic or pain relief."

the article (which i've quoted from above) tells you which supermarkets avoid which problems, and also looks in more detail at the veal issue, also the pig/bacon issue.

HTH

keth
xx

Thanks for that Kethry, that does help :T I'm off to reread Hugh F-W's Meat Book which has loads of info on how various meat is produced, but it's been a while since I read it.

I did know about dairy bull calves though, and you are dead right about the veal situation. My mum refused to buy British veal in Waitrose the other day because she was convinced it would have been reared in a crate (like they do in Holland)and yet British veal is not only reared in good conditions it is good for our dairy industry as well. But you already said all that :D

JoJoB

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

PS Am I the only one who feels like slapping that Hayley when she starts going on?

It's not just me then?

Going on and on about how she's a single mother on a budget therefore can't afford the free-range. Just cut back on the biscuits love, you'd probably manage to buy 2 free range birds out of your custard creams budget. Being on the tubby side myself I'm rarely fattist towards people, but honestly, she harps on as though she'll be on the brink of starvation if she doesn't get her 2 chickens for a fiver.

She clearly doesn't want to change how she shops or eats so has put up a lot of defenses. Her kids made her look pretty cold in comparison - they were the ones with the appropriate emotional response and ability to empathise with the chickens.

thriftlady_2

Cazzdevil wrote: »

It annoys me that a free range chicken from Tesco is still cheaper than one from my local butcher though. I don't want to encourage Tesco but everyone on here is trying to save money ultimately.

I agree, I bought a very nice free-range corn-fed chicken from Tesco for £6 the other day -half what I'd pay at my butchers'. And for £6 it fed the 5 of us 3 different meals (roast/with cheese sauce and rice/risotto) and made stock for soup (3 portions), that's 18 portions for 33p a head. What's to complain about? Even if I'd gone to the butcher it would only have been 66p a head.