free range chicken

weathergirl320

So I put on facebook something about buying eggs from free range chickens. Someone responded with "ew don't you know free range chickens eat their poop? My father saw it himself on the farm. Gross!"

First off, what? My thought are at least they aren't living in their own poop like most chickens. But really what do I say to that and alsowhat do you think about that?

njdoll

That's all kinds of silly. ONLY free range chickens eat their poop? The ones in cages are so happy they don't feel compelled to peck at the excrement?

I once saw a beagle at a dog run eating feces. Does that mean all dogs eat their poop? Or maybe only beagles?

MikeFlyMike

show that person a video from a CAFO or inside a chicken coop and they will be vegetarian. They are all hypocrites. ooops there was that angry paleo coming out.

GalaxyDuck

OMG it's nature! GROSS!

Seriously though, a lot of animals eat their own feces sometimes. I wouldn't be too concerned.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I would rather have an animal that eats what it knows to eat in nature by its natural instinct than to be forced to eat vegetarian and grains that it can not digest and therefore those eggs and poultry are less nutrient dense and then have to be "fortified"

GalaxyDuck

I would rather have an animal that eats what it knows to eat in nature by its natural instinct than to be forced to eat vegetarian and grains that it can not digest and therefore those eggs and poultry are less nutrient dense and then have to be "fortified"

^^ Exactly

mehaugen

Aside from this, I hope your chicken is from a reliable source. Your free range chicken might still be crammed together in a fetid henhouse (eating poop! lol)

I hate the ambiguity of these companies and fda rules.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/chicken-labels/#axzz1prni6S3B

monkeydharma

OMG it's nature! GROSS!

Seriously though, a lot of animals eat their own feces sometimes. I wouldn't be too concerned.

I'm not sure how true this is - at least from my own experience. My dogs would eat their feces from time to time, but since I've switched them to a no-grains diet - I haven't seen that happening. I suspect that, since the grains in their food are largely indigestible, their poop still smelled a lot like the food going in, and when they were hungry, would give it a try. Now that they are fully digesting their food, the poop smells like poop - and is not as attractive as it once was.

I suspect that most animals that 'eat their poop' are domesticated animals (farm, food and pets) who are being forced to eat diets other than their natural ones, and similar things are happening.

GalaxyDuck

That could be quite true monkeydharma, I don't often get to see wild animals with zero human interaction in their diets. But I have observed this happening in many different types of animals on my grandfathers farm (he never fed any of his animals diets other than they would have in nature) and in the local wildlife park. I have no idea what the diets of the animals at the wildlife park are like though. I have seen wild rabbits eat their own feces.

http://zidbits.com/2011/06/why-do-animals-eat-their-own-poop/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit#Diet_and_eating_habits

spngebobmyhero

my coworker won't eat farm eggs because sometimes they have feathers on them...I tease her about that all the time because I buy eggs from a coworker of ours and her friend for like 2 decades!

My extended family thought it was gross to eat eggs from the farm and that it was weird that they are different sizes sometimes when you get them...

Yeah, nature is gross....

CeeGray

Late to this but am blown away...

I am three weeks into a new job and on the second day learned one of my co-workers has her own chickens. I have a standing order on Tuesdays for two dozen and my son and I cannot get over how incredible the eggs are (and colorful as she has several different kinds of chicken). Easter is here and she had to use all the eggs for a big Easter egg hunt so couldn't get any - I am heartbroken! So tomorrow I am driving down to a farm to get some. I can't bear the thought of knowingly eating store-bought eggs! I would be so disappointed!