Eggs & milk

[Baby Bears]

The farm behind my house has chickens - about 20 of them. I know they are about as free range as you can get because they are constantly sneaking up on me around my house and scaring the Heck out of me. Have to make a "Chicken Check" before backing the car up, mowing the grass, etc. It's a riot. The rooster is a bit annoying. He likes to "talk" all the time.

[dona83]

Originally Posted by vegan

Eggs whites, you need double triple the eggs so it kills double triple the birds

I was refering to the simulated egg whites that contains no dairy products... um it does exist right?

[VoodooJoint]

I'm lucky. Even though I live in the middle of the city my next door neighbors keep two very spoiled chickens as pets. They have a beautifully landscaped yard to roam free in and get fed well. They produce about a dozen eggs a week and since the guys (a gay couple) don't eat much egg I get eggs that, in my opinion, are 100% cruelty free, never fertilized and free of chemicals and hormones at no charge.

I'm amazed at the differance between these truly free-range eggs and store bought mass-produced eggs. The shell is thicker, the yolk is a bright orangy/golden color and they just seem to taste better.

[dona83]

Gay people make the world go round.

[suzy_99]

I also get my eggs from a man that lives close to me. His chickens are all free range and although he does kill some of the chickens in the fall, I don't really consider that bad or anything, because he is a poor man and he really does need them for food. I also find that they taste a lot better than any store bought eggs, you can easily tell the difference between eggs that came from mothers who just sit in a pen all day and eggs that come from truly free range chickens. I will never go back after seeing how happy these chickens look, especially compared to the ones that you see on TV in the really big farms, whose whole purpose in life is to lay eggs. That's just cruel to me.

[Percy's Mom]

Originally Posted by dona83

Do cows only produce milk for their offspring or do they pretty much produce them all the time?

As far as I know, cows, goats, sheep all produce milk all the time. If anyone knows anything different, please let us know.

[kalrik]

Voodoo and Suzy, you guys are so lucky! That would be so awesome to have guilt free eggs where you can see the everyday conditions.

Vegan lifestyle can be very healthy, but it does require a little bit more knowledge of nutrition.

I am ovo lacto, I dont drink milk, only eat eggs if theyre cooked in something, but I do eat cheese (no butter, no icecream, no yogurt, etc). I find it very hard to eat at restaurants if you must avoid cheese and eggs. My father a vegetarian of 30 years, just stopped eating dairy, leaving me feeling much more guilty than I already was.

I personally would distrust the advertisement of cage free eggs. Conditions can be cage free and still terrible.

[CavySpirit]

Voodoo, you're making me want to go out and get a few chickens to raise in my backyard! hmmm. I'm already feeding the squirrels and birds every day.

Chicken rescue.

[VoodooJoint]

T

Believe it or not there are chicken rescues. If I didn't have my 4 rescue dogs and the occational street/neglect/abuse rescue dog that passes through my home I would be getting my own chickens.

They are low maintainance, fairly quiet, clean, eat the bugs that kill your plants and have no desire to come inside most of the time. They will also happily eat the bugs out of the GPs hay if you give them time in your hay storage area.

All you need to do is build or buy them a coop or shed to roost in during bad weather. My neighbors just keep one of their shed doors open for them to come and go as they please. They keep their food and water in the shed so it stays dry. Most of the time they wander the yard though. At night they usually roost outside my office window on the fence.

They will also eat all of that spilled seed from your bird/squirrel feeders.

[CavySpirit]

Now I'm starting to seriously toy with the idea. I grew up on a farm, and we did have true free-range chickens that had a great life and those fresh, warm eggs were to die for. You haven't tasted eggs if you haven't had them like that.

I typed in "chicken rescue SF Bay area" on Yahoo, and my hollister rescue page come up on the third page!

I have a very small backyard and have to check into the zoning regs on outside structures. I think we have rules about that. I checked when making sure I was legal with the cavies. Has to be so many feet away from a property line kind of thing, which might be limiting.

Then there is the predator issue: raccoons, cats, dogs...hmmm

[Slap Maxwell]

I find some chickens are wonderful cuddle bugs. They don't like being catched, like cavies, but they love to be held and petted.

Check petfinder under "Barnyard".

[weaseldropping]

I buy my eggs from a local farmer - the chickens are so free range you have to be careful not to run them over!
I have trouble eating veggie food when I'm out as I have a medium-strength dairy intolerance which gives me terrible tummy ache if I eat ice cream or cheese, except transparent cheeses like emmenthal or manchego. I have also developed a mild allergy to soya, which sets of sinusitus - I had my son in hospital for a week last year and really suffered because all of the hospital sandwiches had soya flour in. I have found that the only really safe things to eat out are steak and salad, or steak and chips, or steak and veggies and I cannot bear to eat steak!
Italian is hopeless, and I am hyper on msg, so oriental is iffy as well. Curries are okay as long as I stick to no cream...

[kalrik]

That does make things a little more difficult. I have a lactose intolerance as well which cuts down on the amount of dairy I can eat substantially. I am a vegetarian, obviously; but, I am allergic to most fruit too. I cannot eat, for example, bananas, peaches, nectarines, apples. . . Preference wise, I don't like many veggies and won't eat salad. I basically live off carbohydrates. haha.

[weaseldropping]

Well, I won't complain any more!
My worst problem is my 75-year-old mum who almost lives with us, and thinks that the major food groups are, in order of importance: cake, coffee, chocolate and cream. She won't eat any vegetables that haven't been properly killed by boiling to mush, and thinks my veggie stews are poisonous! Her idea of a good lunch is a double choc muffin and a large cappucino. Mind you, she is disgustingly healthy, way more than me, so maybe there is something in it?
I have recently been craving rice with everything, but I have got bronchitis and jus want comfort food.
Do you know any non-dairy and non-soya liquid which makes a decent rice pudding?

[carrotflavour]

Well in the UK, free range eggs are a big deal and the battery hen industry is more well known about and is getting banned in 2012 (too late, but better then never).

Free range hens are kept much better then battery hens. Period. It way not be the complete ideal but they have access to fresh air and the chance to run about outside.

I recently talked to an american friend who said she'd never seen free range eggs in a supermarket. I was incredibly shocked, is that true? Its such a big deal over here (UK).

[suzy_99]

We have free range eggs in our stores, but I really wouldn't consider them free range. I saw pictures that showed hundreds of chickens crammed into one little area. There were no cages or anything, so I guess that how they got to be named "free range". Its disgusting to me since people are trusting the packaging on these eggs and when they eat them they probably imagine hundreds of little chickens running around in an endless field...If they only knew!! I will stick with my local farmer.

[carrotflavour]

isnt there a law against that?

I think they have strict guidelines for whats free range and not here. Others (like the ones you described) are called 'barn eggs'.