Thursday, November 10, 2011

DIVING INTO THE BIZARRE WORLD OF EGG CARTONS

Since I've started collecting eggs from our garden chickens, I've taken a keen interest in egg cartons. Have you ever read an egg carton here in America?  What does it all mean?
                    Animal Husbandry Guidelines?  I checked the website and read the 40 pages of text. Whew!

Made by Texas Chickens! (not Iowa chickens or Michigan chickens)
All natural? (I do hope so)
In Spanish, brown eggs become red eggs..(.interesting)

Vegetarian fed hens....as opposed to?
Maybe they are talking about...about...what? Companies don't feed chickens meat. Right?

Free roaming nesting hens...that sounds a lot better.
Natural grain fed....as opposed to unnatural grain? Uhh..hmmm..we're back to mysteries.

Farm fresh...but NOT cage free. This company sells both side by side.
If people were to only buy cage free starting tomorrow, then there would be NO caged chickens.
(at least here)
At least 4 European countries have only cage free chicken farms.

These are California Prop 2 Compliant...don't you feel better?
Wouldn't you like to know what Prop 2 says?
Those organic labels are serious...violators get hefty fines...so these are some careful egg farmers
that do it the right way.

Now here's an interesting label! It's my label that I have when I give away eggs to friends.

Here are some eggs from our chickens. They have a good life without cages. Plus they get to roam around in the garden.
Hope you enjoyed the egg carton tour.
David/ :-)

 If you want a serious version of egg carton labels including the fact that most hens spend their sad life in an area the size of a legal sheet of paper, go to this link

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/guide_egg_labels.html

IF YOU NEED a reason to never buy caged eggs again, then watch the pathetic chickens in this short video. The video announces larger sizes for caged hens. Notice how many feathers are missing and that their beaks are cut off:
(scroll to the bottom of the link to see the short video)
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2011/07/landmark-egg-agreement.html

Compare to our chickens:


3 comments:

  1. I'm all about the cage free roaming around pecking the ground egg producers. We only buy our eggs at the farmer's market.

    One day, I would like to try raising chickens. But, I will need a lot of spare time on my hands to train our dogs to leave them alone. :)

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  2. You have some pretty eggs and chickens. It disgusts me to know where our food comes from. If the animals are not healthy, how can the food they produce be healthy for us? Chickens are not permitted in Plano, but I am trying to grow as many vegetables as I can. Squash anyone?

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  3. Sharon Stanley RuggerioNovember 12, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    There seems to be no limit to man's cruelty toward helpless beings, so your kindness, protectiveness, and ethical approach are applauded. The atrocities occurring at horrific factory farms are shameful and heartbreaking. Concerned consumers must do their homework and demand humane conditions. "May all that have life be delivered from suffering." -Buddha

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I always appreciate your comments & questions! Happy Gardening from David/ Tropical Texana