Chicken Run.

[Darwins Selection]

Over the last three nights, this look into the pros and (mainly) cons of free range vs. battery chicken farming has been aired on Channel 4, with Hugh Fearnley-Wotsit at the helm.

It has provoked quite a debate - not only in my office but also in other places, including the other place.

I'll start the ball rolling...

Quote by someone else:

I can just imaging the outcry if the price of meat suddenly went up 3 or 4 fold, which is the reality if we wanted to achieve the idealistic farming methods some of you lot are carping about.


Response:

Is this really such a bad thing? Those of us who can afford it through have a decent income ~ either through a decent education and job, or by sheer hard graft ~ will continue to enjoy it. We have earned the money and it is our choice.

The feckless, velour track-suited wastrels reliant on government handouts (sorry, my taxes) will therefore have to make a choice; do I spend my money on another packet of Lambert & Butler (about the same price as a free range chicken) or do I wish to enjoy a nice bit of chicken? If I choose the snouts, can I live on cheap pasta and sauces? Or should I think about eating more vegetables? And if the price of meat goes up, how much will a McDonalds meal go up to? And KFC?

Hopefully. the price of proper meat will eventually become prohibitive and they will be forced to eat solely vegetables and pulses. In the majority of cases, this can only be a good thing.

I have yet to see a scrawny benefit-hound. The reason they buy two chickens for a fiver is purely that it allows them to shovel more food down their fat gobs. They care not for taste or quality and it leaves extra cash for crisps, a bit of blow and some cans of Kestrel Super.

Custards. All of them.

Hopefully. the price of proper meat will eventually become prohibitive and they will be forced to eat solely vegetables and pulses. In the majority of cases, this can only be a good thing.

And the old on state pensions?

Let us eat cake. 

[The Moan Ranger]

The state pension is a joke anyway - it breaks my heart to see the blue-rinses buying the near sell-by date reduced stuff - but that's a different moan.

[Mozo]

Battery methods have one aim.
Lower costs, higher yield and maximum profit.

This cruel food uses growth hormones, antibiotics, and artificial daylight.

The intensive production methods deny space, rest, exercise and a stress free death.

Habitual consumers risk their health with the regular consumption of this poultry meat which may contain a residue of unhealthy chemicals, adrenalin and excessive fat.

Miserable lives and deaths of living creatures makes them unfit for human consumption!

[Berek]

whats up ? is it quiet at the other place ?

[Barman]

whats up ? is it quiet at the other place ?

He got lost prolly... bad eyesight and all that... looking for the toilets I 'spec... 

[Drywhitewine]

Hi Barman
Talking of chickens and hens etc  Why are eggs shells so hard in Cyprus ?  I joke not.  In England, a gentle tap and they break.  The ones I bought in your village - I had to give them all a good wollop ... 

[Barman]

Hi Barman
Talking of chickens and hens etc  Why are eggs shells so hard in Cyprus ?  I joke not.  In England, a gentle tap and they break.  The ones I bought in your village - I had to give them all a good wollop ... 

Free range...

... plus with all the building work about they peck up significant ammounts of cement with their feed... 

[Drywhitewine]

That figures ...  Also, the chicken legs are so much bigger, aren't they?

[Barman]

That figures ...  Also, the chicken legs are so much bigger, aren't they?

They get more exercise as they have to continually pull their feet out of setting concrete… 

[Darwins Selection]

That figures ...  Also, the chicken legs are so much bigger, aren't they?

They get more exercise as they have to continually pull their feet out of setting concrete… 

I thought that was Sicily?

[Barman]

That figures ...  Also, the chicken legs are so much bigger, aren't they?

They get more exercise as they have to continually pull their feet out of setting concrete… 

I thought that was Sicily?

[Drywhitewine]

No, it's Cyprus  - very tasty chickens.  Freerange chicken have received some bed press lately to say that all that free gadding about can cause toughening of the sinews and muscle, resulting in them not tasting so tender when we go to eat them.  The chickens in Cyprus are very tender as they are getting exactly the right amount of controlled excercise by continually having to pull their feet of setting concete.  More is less, if you follow ...

My niece bought an heirloom chicken this year for thanksgiving.   You pay for it in advance and can watch it gad about on a web cam and see it fed too.  All the rage in the US ... Not sure I could eat it though as would it not become a bit of pet ...

[Bar Wench]

Well I bought a free range chicken. It did for roast, pie, soup and now stock. I was impressed. It was tasty and far less watery crap came out of it when I was cooking it.

I am a convert. If the chicken is happy too well then so be it.

[Nick]

DS will be upset

[Barman]

No, it's Cyprus  - very tasty chickens.  Freerange chicken have received some bed press lately to say that all that free gadding about can cause toughening of the sinews and muscle, resulting in them not tasting so tender when we go to eat them.  The chickens in Cyprus are very tender as they are getting exactly the right amount of controlled excercise by continually having to pull their feet of setting concete.  More is less, if you follow ...

My niece bought an heirloom chicken this year for thanksgiving.   You pay for it in advance and can watch it gad about on a web cam and see it fed too.  All the rage in the US ... Not sure I could eat it though as would it not become a bit of pet ...

Can you watch the axe fall?