Free Range or Caged?

iCupCakeNZ
iCupCakeNZ Posts: 228 Member
edited December 20 in Food and Nutrition
whats your opinion on the whole Free Range eggs or caged eggs?
I personally prefer Free Ranged, I like my chickens having sunlight lol

So what about you :)
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Replies

  • Ohmydaze
    Ohmydaze Posts: 403 Member
    Personally, free range, from about 20 feet away, with feathers and a little sawdust stuck to it!#

    I have my own chickens.

    Always, always free range though.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,023 Member
    Lol, the city where my FIL lives (an urban town), the chickens are "free range" in back yards like every other house.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor
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  • victoria4321
    victoria4321 Posts: 1,719 Member
    Free range but I wish I had my own chickens instead.
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 492 Member
    Free Range. I don't buy any other.
  • OpenHeaven
    OpenHeaven Posts: 275 Member
    Free range all the way.
  • larkiedeek
    larkiedeek Posts: 203 Member
    The cheapest ones in the shop.

    I am frugal :grumble:
  • sawyermark
    sawyermark Posts: 74 Member
    Have 8 hens myself love the free eggs and the fact they keep all the bugs cleared out of my back yard. Their a lot of fun to watch also. As far as the taste of the eggs I really can't tell much difference. On the other hand my mom has some ducks and love the taste of their eggs.
  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
    I'm vegan, so neither. But my family eats eggs. I buy eggs from a farmer friend who has happy, free range chickens. If I have to buy from the grocery store I buy free range then too.
  • anewme1202
    anewme1202 Posts: 70 Member
    Free Range - made the switch 3 years ago and I'm glad I did!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Free range, but only when you know the source (aka local farmers.) Free range is one of those fun terms, all it means is they have access to the outdoors, doesn't specify what type of outdoors, doesn't specify how long, or how often. A chicken could be kept in a cage with a small gravel yard to occasionally leave the cage and walk around in, and it can be marketed as "free range" in the US.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires that chickens raised for their meat have access to the outside in order to receive the free-range certification. There is no requirement for access to pasture, and there may be access to only dirt or gravel . Free-range chicken eggs, however, have no legal definition in the United States. Likewise, free-range egg producers have no common standard on what the term means.
  • gracieabem
    gracieabem Posts: 211
    I have 6 free-range bantams here at home that supply me with most of my eggs. They are getting older though and are slowing down, and that's ok. They are not the type that have been purposely bred to lay 365 days a year and die an early death, so they are just free to retire whenever they stop. One little bantam I swear has never laid an egg lol. She'll probably live until her mid-20s or something. Clever girl.

    I buy local free range eggs if I am using a lot, for example when I am baking.

    There is nothing better than freshly laid poached eggs...
  • Francescal88
    Francescal88 Posts: 6 Member
    Free range - from one of my 19 hens! I haven't actually had to buy eggs for three years now... :-)
  • jw17695
    jw17695 Posts: 438 Member
    Free range here too. :)
  • carolynmittens
    carolynmittens Posts: 344
    Free range, but only when you know the source (aka local farmers.) Free range is one of those fun terms, all it means is they have access to the outdoors, doesn't specify what type of outdoors, doesn't specify how long, or how often. A chicken could be kept in a cage with a small gravel yard to occasionally leave the cage and walk around in, and it can be marketed as "free range" in the US.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires that chickens raised for their meat have access to the outside in order to receive the free-range certification. There is no requirement for access to pasture, and there may be access to only dirt or gravel . Free-range chicken eggs, however, have no legal definition in the United States. Likewise, free-range egg producers have no common standard on what the term means.
    beat me to it. also keep in mind (anyone buying "free range" for ethical reasons, that is) that there are no USDA restrictions on what free range chickens are fed, and beak cutting and forced moulting are both allowed.
  • Grissay
    Grissay Posts: 112 Member
    Free range, but only when you know the source (aka local farmers.) Free range is one of those fun terms, all it means is they have access to the outdoors, doesn't specify what type of outdoors, doesn't specify how long, or how often. A chicken could be kept in a cage with a small gravel yard to occasionally leave the cage and walk around in, and it can be marketed as "free range" in the US.

    This!
  • PayneAS
    PayneAS Posts: 669 Member
    I'm a backyard chicken enthusiast as well. So much healthier and you know they are treated humanely.

    Edit: link

    http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx
  • Ariberri9
    Ariberri9 Posts: 206 Member
    I would buy free range if I could find it in the grocery store. However, I'm more concerned with if the chicken is hormone-free and has had a good diet and the resulting meat is minimally processed (if at all).
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    Free range but I wish I had my own chickens instead.

    ^^^ yes! We have the room for it. My husband doesn't want them, but slowly making progress with him on it.
  • HollylaneJ
    HollylaneJ Posts: 1
    Free range, always. Not only do I feel that it is a better health option for myself, and the hard working hens, they also taste much much better.
  • piratesaregrand
    piratesaregrand Posts: 356 Member
    Faux.

    I don't eat eggs, they are filed under foods that creep me out
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    Neither, they both are treated inhumanely and die in the end...
  • caddygarcia123
    caddygarcia123 Posts: 122 Member
    Free range my mom has chickens =)
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    We buy free range from a local farmer...they may or may not be any better than store purchased ones but they taste a heck of a lot better...

    We pay way more for them at 6$/dozen but its a food splurge I don't mind
  • siobhano_
    siobhano_ Posts: 101
    Free range tastes so much better
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I prefer free-range, but you have to be aware that free-range doesn't necessarily mean sunlight.

    There is a TV ad in my city which shows the chickens from a free-range farm in the town and doing shopping and being sent home from the pub... while I didn't think they actually popped out for a quick middy, I also didn't expect that they lived in a big smelly shed and never went outdoors (which is apparently the case).

    The best tasting eggs come from my sister's hens - they really are free-range. They get to eat all the kitchen and veggie garden scraps and wander around her small property eating grass and insects and whatever else they can find. The yolks are such a bright yellow that they almost look fake!
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    Free range or barn, never cage
    In Australia we have regulations around barn laid eggs.
    Chooks must be free to wander and forage.
    The barn protects them from foxes and dingos.
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
    Organic free range bought from a friend who keeps chickens.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    we have 6 chickens at my house, only 11 weeks old so we haven't gotten eggs yet....they are in a cage, but they get *some* kitchen scraps, and we regularly give them handfuls of fresh lawn clippings. I tried to keep an area in the run free of wood chips, so they could munch on grass IN the coop, but they covered it up.


    we are looking forward to getting our own super fresh eggs later on this year :D
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    I get my free-ranged chicken eggs from one of the doctors I work for - all organically fed, no corn. They are honkin-HUGE eggs - one egg is enough to make a small omelet for myself, but two would be too much! THATS how large they are! I pay $2.00/doz
  • cheesy_blasters
    cheesy_blasters Posts: 283 Member
    I've always been told that pasture raised is better term to look for because according to the USDA free range just means that chickens have access to outdoors (or requirement for how long they're outside) and there's no regulation to how big their roaming area is. It's better than caged but not as good as pasture. Pasture raised means they can stay outside, have hen houses for shelter and come and go as they want.

    I think a lot of small farming operations who say they're free range are more pasture raised (in my experience). I only get leery of "free range" when it's used by a large corporation or large producer (unless they specify where their eggs come from).

    Obviously this also depends on what weather/predators you need to be careful of too.

    If anyone's interested (I saw a few people saying they keep their own chickens) there's an amazing book called "Chicken and Egg" about the subject. Has a lot of interesting info and experiences as well as recipes.

    When I was buying eggs, I'd get mine from the farmer's market. They had pictures of their farm available and I know a few people who went to visit it (and let their kids see the chickens). You could also bring your own egg container (I have a ceramic one) or you could bring the cardboard ones back and they would reuse them.
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