Free Range

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Noahs ark6

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Tesco now stock free range chicken kievs and free range sausages at the same price as tesco own brand kievs and sausages (made from intensively bred chickens and cows). I strongly urge you to consider buying these new products, why wouldn't you?:good:
  • Same price
  • Bred and reared in much more humane ways
  • Taste nicer (well, i think so)
  • Better quality of life

Intensively bred chickens :-( :no: Free range chickens :hyper: :good: :nod:




E7640627-Battery_chickens-SPL.jpg
166717_4_FreeRange-Chicken-31266.jpg
 
I agree free range and naturally fed animals are always going to be a better tasting and healthier option but I warn always check the companies definition of "free range" some companies still barn raise the chooks, calling them "free range" because in their minds the chickens are "free TO range" as they are not confined to pens as in battery farms.

There is a lady in England who is dedicated to rescuing battery hens (and roosters that are normally culled at hatching on battery farms) and giving them true free range lives and then rehoming these birds into homes hwere they will continue to be free range and well cared for, for the remainder of their lives.

Slightly off topic it is also its best to try and find birds/ beef/ pork/ sheep etc that is not pumped full of antibiotics and or steroids.
 
:good:

This put me in mind of what I was watching on 'Jimmy's Farm' the other day, tackling the controversy of veal.

I'm generally not bothered by seeing animals slaughtered, might cringe seeing throats cut but thats just because the whole throat cutting thing is gross lol.

But they were talking about how 100,000 male dairy calves are taken away from their mums, stuck in a pen and within 12-24 hours of birth.. they are shot.

Not just shot but then 'melted' down into tallow? And used to fuel powerstations in Europe....

It then went to show this guy, Jimmy, going into a pen with the knacker man who just calmly walks up to a 12 hour old baby jersey calf and shoots it in the head, most humane thing i have ever seen, especially when the second and third were done before they even noticed what was going on.. but it was so awful, i actually cryed at the complete waste of life!

Its not cruel like keeping caged animals... but what a waste! We are wasting years of the dairy cows lives carrying calves to be only to be shot at birth, vet bills and medications cows might need during pregnancy (and these are the dairy cows producing our milk by the way!)... all the extra food they need... the extra care... only to fuel powerstations in Europe!?

All because people think veal is cruel? Veal is cruel in Europe where they don't have the same welfare standards! Farm welfare standards are much more strictly regulated than the RSPCA could ever enforce on people keeping pets!

If farmers could raise the young male calves and sell them for veal, it might help farmers get out of crises! Not having to pay the knacker man, not wasting time breeding for nothing and having a product to sell and make money!

The veal calves would be raised (in barns and/or fields depending on weather and time of year) until they are 6-7 months old and are given time to enjoy themselves up to a point. At least 6-7 months isnt a waste, its still a life!

The programe was absolutely priceless when, in an interview with the top dogs at Tescos, Jimmy put them on the line when they had to admit that their escalopes were made of EU veal that had been imported from the EU where the welfare levels were so low that they would never be allowed to raise calves in crates like that in the UK.

And yet people still buy the meat because they dont know different and/or just couldnt care less!

If you pick up a pack of meat in the supermarket, do you assume its british? Do you check? Do you care? Would you even consider that a company like Tescos still buys in mean that has been kept in apalling onditions? They admitted that all their veal comes from the EU so see the difference....

EU veal calves for the whole 6 months of their lives live like this:
vealbad.jpg


In the UK, they have much more space:
Veal-calves.jpg


Here is the link the an artical about Jimmy Doherty's plan for British veal:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/29/05/2012/133162/Jimmy-Doherty-tackles-veal-issue-in-new-TV-series.htm

Im trying to see if their is a clip of his interview where he corners Tescos as it really is priceless!
 
Kind of guessed that *you* had seen it as it was Jimmy Doherty that came up with the free range chicken kievs and sausages wasnt it? lol.
 
Yep, I watched that program too. I already knew about all about how the Animals were kept... or not, but the program was still interesting.

I don't actually eat any farmed Animal or dairy or eggs from farms. It's not 'cause I don't support farmers, I've known a good few, it's that I can't justify supporting what goes on behind those closed doors. It's not just about the baby Cows, it's about the millions of day old male chicks being thrown alive and fully concious into giant indutrial meat mincers 'cause people are so fussy about what kind of Chicken they eat. And the Pigglets and Lambs that get their tails docked and the males getting castrated while fully awake... and sometimes it can take days, even weeks, for said appendages to die and fall off. There's so much that goes on out there that people just aren't aware of. But I'm sure there'd be true hell on if people did.

I would like to support farmers 'cause I know that a lot of what they do they only do 'cause they have no choice. It's very upsetting for them too. On the program it told you that the farmers were always away from the farm when the knackers came, 'cause it was just too much for them. I think that says a lot.

The best part about that program, I think, was that it got Tesco to listen and it gave them that kick up the rear that I think a lot of places should have. It made them stand up and admit to a lot of their wrong doings. Lets hope they carry on for the better and make a good example.
 
. And the Pigglets and Lambs that get their tails docked and the males getting castrated while fully awake... and sometimes it can take days, even weeks, for said appendages to die and fall off.

This is something that doesn't really worry me, the lambs have their tails dockd with special bands (not just rubber bands) that start of tight but not uncomfortable and its more as the lamb grows in the first week or so that it tightens but its so gradual and by that point they have no feeling in their tails at all.

Its all done for their safety because if you have never seen what fly strike does to a sheep... you can never fully appreciate what tail docking saves them from. Sheep are messy creatures and they get matted tails and the flies love it... as do the maggots when they start eating into the lambs whilst they are still alive...

God if anything makes me want to run away crying its maggots. I cant cope with maggots *heaves*.

And as for castration whilst they are awake, i'm assuming its the same as with the alpcas, its not a traumatic experience for them, the animals are in pens where they cant whirl around or in a 'crush' pen and they are injected with enough local anaesthetic that they cant feel anything. As our vet described it... "a quick slit, pop it out, tie the tubes and a a quick stitch in (alpacas didnt even need stitches as they have nothing to be proud of in that department!!)".

Took the vet about 7 minutes per animal and they were back out with their mates in the field grazing again, no stress and risk of dying under anaesthetic, not to mention that it wouldent be financially viable!
 
I agree tail docking in sheep is necessary with regards to preventing fly strike..... well it was until selective breeding (or was it a certian breed of sheep? either way the genetics is available) was dicovered and a type of sheep that naturally has no wool (or wont grow long wool) around its rear end even the backs of its legs are free of long wool.

Any arguement against the docking of sheep tails puts me in mind of the tail docking and ear cropping of dogs in Australia, both practices which are BANNED. I knew people who bred and showed German Short Haired Pointers and when the preposed laws first got put forward these people swore they would never own a GSP with an undocked tail because and I quote " the dogs need their tails docked in order to not damage their tails when retreiving in the field", or the other asstounding reasoning of " they will just look stupid with long tails". These people totally ignored the fact that the vast majority of GSP's never "worked" as the dogs they where bred for in the field, instead most where used wholey and solely in the show ring winning ribbons or as family pets.
I know at least one of the reasons that the RSPCA pushed so hard on tail docking bans, was because of the backyard butchers that used any impliment available to dock pups tails. Anything from elastic bands, to axes, sharp or blunt knieves, paper guillotines, secatuers, lawn sheers, and scissors. I am sure people even tried using other methods as well.

So I figure yes banning tail docking in dogs was a good idea because the docking of the tail was not assisting the dogs health and well being, but banning the docking of sheep tails is pretty cruel (to the health of the sheep) until all sheep carry the bare rear gene.

The reason pig tails are docked is because in intensive farming the pigs will out of boredom and heirechy chew on one anothers tails, this can lead to open wounds and pigs eventually basically starting to eat the wounde pig alive. This is the same reason that intensively farmed chickens have their top beak half melted off, they will turn canabalistic and peck and peck at the one area just above the tail on the least dominate chicken until there is a gaping wound and the injured bird can eventually (if not removed and treated) die. These issues arise from putting too many animals into a confined space where their natural habits can not be accomodated.


As for castration of young male animals not wanted for future breeding, its the safest and easiest option for the animal handler. The only animal I knew that had a hang up with getting castrated was a huge male goat that got the snip later in life. He still had a pronounced sack and was very tempermental about being touched on the empty sack. So much so that the owners favourite trick when the goat was following somebody was to walk behind the goat, touch the sack and send him charging into the back of the person the goat had been peacefully following. If this male had been done with bands as a youngster (or even ansthetic and a sharp knief) I don't believe he would have ended up with this reaction.
 
I find it very upsetting the way we Humans misstreat Animals all round the World. (I have to try and not think about it to much)

And knowing that I eat all these Animals does not make it any better. :-(
 
I watched that programme about the Veal situation here in the UK, I must admit that I eat Veal but not in this country but in Spain, why, because you can,t get it here if I could I would eat it a lot more than 3 or 4 times a year.
What I did find interesting about that was the selective breeding programme that farmers and the large supermarkets are now introducing so that no male dairy cattle are born,I do wish though that Veal raised in this country was more easily avalible, I for one would eat it.
 
Too many people are just closed minded. Not willing to do anything new.

Why try eating veal when they can eat chicken or beef etc? Well why not? It has very much diffferent health properties and tastes good but how can people write it off without trying?

Its like the chicken kievs, they were using older hens, not young chickens. Something never done before and everyone agreed that whilst it was 'thinking outside the box'... it actually tasted better and meant we werent shipping all these chickens abroad simply because they had no use in this country.

Never say no to a food without trying it (with obvious exceptions like allergies! lol), i know as a kid there were foods iinsisted i didnt like, in my head i genuinely didnt like these foods and now i eat them all the time and enjoy them. The most obvious one for me is mushrooms, it was the ONLY thing my parents couldnt make me eat.

My parents would literally strap me to my chair until i ate what was in front of me, if it went cold they reheated it. If i didnt eat it, i not only went hungry but i got served the food for dinner the next day. Failing that, my parents would cook the same meal again and again until i ate it. It was seriously cruel, especially as numerous times in the evening i would sit at that table for so many hours i would fall asleep there lol. Usually over mushrooms.

But im glad they did this to me, they didnt to my brothers and one one touch vegetables, pulses or tinned tomatoes or onions etc, the other is a fuss vegetarian that wont eat a lot of vegetables or pulses. I am open minded and glad of it as i always discover new foods!

Only the other day my friends parents cooked a tapas type meal and i got to try Chicory for the first time, aubergine cooked in thin slices with garlic and chillie on top and another vegetable i cant remember and never heard of, and celeriac! I dislike celery.. thats one thing i really hate (though will eat if needs must...) but really love celeriac mash, normally i would never have tried it!

:good: for trying new foods!

I thought I had gone to heaven enjoying a steak of Muntjack venison *drool* thank god for my local farm shop! They are epic!
 
Just seen that California will very soon (in a few days) completely ban the consumption, posession and trading of Froie Gras, fantastic, the UK and the rest of America should follow in their footsteps :good:
 
. And the Pigglets and Lambs that get their tails docked and the males getting castrated while fully awake... and sometimes it can take days, even weeks, for said appendages to die and fall off.

:crazy:
I am sad about animal cruelty but just to be weird in the middle of your debate.... Human male babies are circumcised by having a "string" tied around and then waiting the days for the said "appendages" to die and fall off.

Now for cows and chickens {and any animals} being kept where they cannot move of their own free will is appalling. Dairy farms are no better. They plug cows into a milking stall for horrible amounts of time and they cannot move.
 

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