Caged Birds

Fisherman
Fisherman Forum Participant Posts: 2,367
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edited October 2016 in Wildlife, Nature & the Great Outdoors #1

Did anyone else watching Countryfile last night notice how much better, fitter and healthier the caged birds were comopared with the tatty, lost feathers on the free range ones? 

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  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited October 2016 #2

    They probably don't get a chance to moult, they're grown very quickly and that's it, short life. Sad

  • wye
    wye Forum Participant Posts: 241
    edited October 2016 #3

    No ... I thought the complete opposite , the free range looked much better !

    I have a friend who buys caged hens 6 at a time , the transformation in there health within a short period of time is a joy to see .

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Forum Participant Posts: 3,880
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    edited October 2016 #4

    I thought this was going to be a thread about budgies in caravans.

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited October 2016 #5

    The caged ones "looked" healthier, but I believe there's a lot more to animal husbandry and care than mere appearances. The cage system is certainly an improvement on the old horrible battery hen factories. But don't the birds have a very short life span
    and, as pointed out on the programme, no chance to exhibit any normal behaviours.

    The concern was more the small scale free range farmer who said he'd been able to make a living at the moment, charging a small premium for free range eggs, but when free range becomes the norm the "big boys" will swoop in and he'll be left at the bottom
    of the pile and probably find it difficult to survive. That's a hard circle to square! Undecided

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited October 2016 #6

    The average age of a broiler chicken, the ones you eat for meat is about 39 days, less if the breeders can force on their growth. When we had chickens our baby chicks took months to grow, had nice strong bones and a proper outdoor life, their beaks weren't cut off and they had a good life. We sometimes had RSPCA rescue factory chickens, they were in a bad way to start with but we managed to get them back to health and they lived for many years. We've had all sorts of breeds, nice strong eggs with deep yellow yolks (no weak shells) and I always feel guilty when I buy chicken that I know has not had a good life. I hate seeing them being transported on the motorways too. Not good, enough said!

  • wye
    wye Forum Participant Posts: 241
    edited November 2016 #7

    We inherited a buggie five years back .

    Betty always joins us on our caravan trips and loves it especially the car journey she is away wiv us at the moment being very vocal .

  • ValDa
    ValDa Forum Participant Posts: 3,004
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    edited November 2016 #8

    I didn't see the original programme, so don't have any idea what it was about,  but I presume we're talking about caged hens. My best friend's son took on four ex-battery hens, who now live in his garden as free-range birds.  They
    lay three eggs a day, are virtually maintenance free (short of needing a fox-free compound), are obviously happy and full of feathers, and  provide them with enough income to cover the cost of the feed each week.

    We buy all our eggs from the farmer up the road, whose hens run around the farmyard and have to scarper when we drive into buy the eggs - and the eggs are sometimes still warm when we take them home.

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