Backyard Poultry Forum

From time to time I have to buy shop eggs at the supermarket. Surely I am not Robinson Crusoe in finding all of the marketing blurbs and fine print on the cartons confusing and difficult to understand. Obviously I want free range eggs, from chickens treated humanely and who get to live as close to a normal chooky life as possible. Which are the least worst supermarket option?

I buy the RSPCA endorsed free range eggs or the McGrath Foundation eggs
I buy these eggs because it makes me think a portion of the money is going
To a good cause....even if it is a false sense of security ......if you think somthing
you become to believe it!

Cheers Gerald

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learning is like eating an elephant

One bite at a time , or you will get a sore belly

In a small town I am limited- but if at all possible I buy cage free and pay a fortune! I haven't had to buy eggs for months now though thankfully.

none, go without

if u cant find backyarders or from a farmgate where you know how they were laid and made just don't use eggs.

We're buying the McLean's Run eggs at the moment. They boast 1500 hens per hectare.. which is as low a stocking density as I've seen. There was also EcoEggs, who have Chook Cam to show off the fact that their hens do get outside.. http://www.ecoeggs.com.au/chookcam
There's also Green Eggs, who are local to us and we know they get outside too.

I've spent a little too much time researching eggs for someone who has 10 "layers".

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Loving all things Dorking!

We haven't bought any for AGES... have too many to get through at home !!

Would NEVER buy RSPCA endorsed ones, as I don't agree with the RSPCA's stance on allowing chooks to be debeaked.

On the few occasions we've paid for eggs in the past few years, we've bought barn-raised or free-range or from a Farmer's Market. Preference is for Farmer's Market ones, but I ask questions first about what types of chooks, how they're kept etc. Often the sellers at Farmer's Markets have photos of their chooks & setup to show you.

I can't see us ever buying eggs again now that we have enough chooks for too many of them !

It's night time, but they saying hens are staying in as the paddock is too muddy for there little feet!

Cheers
Gerald

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learning is like eating an elephant

One bite at a time , or you will get a sore belly

I would never buy barn raised eggs( except mcgraths foundation eggs) as conditions are too similar to battery cages , huge amount of birds shut into sheds with no room to move around and no acess to the outdoor world!

Cheers
Gerald

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learning is like eating an elephant

One bite at a time , or you will get a sore belly

If you need to buy eggs here's a list of accredited free range farms for each state.

http://flavourcrusader.com/blog/2011/09 ... australia/


The labeling of eggs needs regulating. I've been educating my MIL against buying cage eggs. Just because the label says "Farm fresh" does not mean the hens live on a "farm" or the eggs are fresh!
She thought she was buying Free Range and I pointed out the label "Free to Roam". Just means the hens live in a big dusty crowded shed with no sunlight or access to the outdoors. But they can roam around a bit......

Free range has a similar problem... in Australia it means they have "access" to the outdoors. That can mean an overcrowded shed with a door at one end open, leading out to a dusty open area that the chooks will never go out into.

The different organic organisations have differring requirements for accreditation, and you need to look up each individual organic organisation to see what their requirements for accreditation are.

I make sure it says hormone AND antibiotic free.

With free range i was told that to qualify only 15 % of a side wall has to be 'open', to the outdoor conditions, to be classed as 'free-range'?
mark

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not dead yet, but a hell of alot closer than i used to be

Hormone-free and Antibiotic-free are both furphies. No growth hormones have been used in commercial production for decades and antibiotic residues are closely regulated. Those labels are to suck in gullible consumers who will be willing to pay more.

The reason I prefer not to buy shop eggs is because they are stale, taste horrible and come from birds in small cages who aren't having a good life. If there's ever an occasion where I buy some and use one or two in cooking, I can live with it. I just try to avoid it if I can.

I don't believe any of the labels. Unless you can find a smaller supplier who is genuinely free-ranging the birds it's all the same crock.

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Backyard Poultry Forum

There is only one choice - certified organic. They are expensive but worth it, the standards are high and closley regulated. Without that certification you need to get to know the farmer and be sure of what he/she is selling.
Vickie

sorry but organic cert is a joke not only in this country but all. just another gov regulator which is corrupt and ineffective.

Organically certified in Australia is not government regulated. It's independent organic groups that offer their own accreditation systems. The requirements between them differ, as (like the RSPCA) they have differing views on what is 'ideal' in their mind for the welfare of the birds.