Hughs Chicken run

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Newbie!

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Has anyone else been watching this tv programme on Ch4 over the last two nights? just interested to hear what people think. For a while now i have been very chicken conscious and try to buy free-range most of the time.

One of the things that was said on the first night and i think its true is that chicken is now a commodity and if we treated it more as a luxury food item, we would find it easier to part with the extra euro for free-range or organic. I think this is absolutely true. In general are people in Ireland concerned with chicken and what do AAM contributors buy?

On a side note, Superquinn now sell corn-fed chickens. Does this just mean they are corn fed but still intensively farmed?
 
Newbie! said:
On a side note, Superquinn now sell corn-fed chickens. Does this just mean they are corn fed but still intensively farmed?
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Yes. The only certification that will guarantee animal welfare is organic - 'free-range' in Ireland is a very flexible concept.

I've watched the programme over the last two nights. TBH it's not surprising - I find it hard to believe people still don't know how intensive chicken farming is carried out. Next up someone should do a story on how pigs are intensively reared...
 
I've been watching this too and it's making me glad I'm vegetarian.

You should read "Eating" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. There's an interesting section on pig farming in the US and UK, and I'd imagine Ireland has similar standards to the UK.
 
I try to buy organic chickens because they taste better. The animal welfare side of it is a bonus.
I'm more concerned about how pigs are treated than chickens as pigs are smarted animals.

I have become immune to the morally superior ramblings of vegetarians.
 
Purple said:
I have become immune to the morally superior ramblings of vegetarians.
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I was vegetarian myself for about two years (college years, no money and influenced by two permanently vegetarian siblings). Maybe it rubbed off on me?
 
While i agree that intensively fed chicken is abhorent, the fact is those chickens are genetically modified to grow to max size in 5 weeks. Regardless whether they had access to ample space or outdoor light (the free range lifestyle), the birds after a few weeks develop muscle, leg,heart problems due to the sheer pressure of having to grow so fast! Yes it would be fantastic if all chickens could be free range..but the issue of genetically modified animals needs to be addressed first imho! No point in having an acre to run around in..if the birds physically cannot move!

As a side...pigs are treated worse than chickens! Ireland doesnt have the worse standards, Germanys pig production would shock even hard core meat eaters!
 

Are you sure those animals have been GM? I'm pretty sure that no GM animals, whilst they do exist for medical research (eg drug development, research into alternative sources for human transplants), would be allowed anywhere near the food chain. We are barely allowing GM corn into it!

However chickens have been intensively bred to have the qualities you describe, and I see that as institutional animal cruelty. I can afford to buy organic chicken and milk and I do so.
 
swordshead said:
I would argue that selective breeding, the process by which these birds have been bred can be classed under the term GM, no?
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In that case literally every single meat, fruit and vegetable we eat, as well as virtually every flower, grass and tree we grow, is 'GM'.
 
Admitedly I'm not from a bio/agri science background but I thought GM was refering to modifying cells & genes etc. whereas altering feed to produce faster body growth would be classed under intensive farming methods??
 
I think the rearing of livestock and where my food comes from is one of those times where ignorance is bliss, it may be wrong, but I'm a fussy eater as it is so chicken and pigs are all I have!
 
bullbars said:
Admitedly I'm not from a bio/agri science background but I thought GM was refering to modifying cells & genes etc. whereas altering feed to produce faster body growth would be classed under intensive farming methods??
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I guess most people (knowingly or not) mean the following when referring to GM?
 
I suppose I was aware of the fact that intensive chicken farming is not pretty before but last year I read a book called Two Caravans- it's actually funny but part of it describes a chicken farm and it is a fairly brutal description. Since I read it I banned anything other than free range or organic chicken purchases in our house.

A couple of years ago we had our nephew staying, who is French. I had a roast chicken for dinner one day and proceeded to cut it into four sections- like a cross across the body. Florian watched, fascinated. He had never seen a chicken whose bones were so soft they could be cut with a knife ( a carving knife). The first time I bought an organic chicken I could understand why.
 
Watched the programme tonight. Will only buy free range from now on.

Last week, Superquinn had an offer on chicken, medium SQ chicken €4.49 and Silean Or chicken (Corn Fed) €3.39.

The Superquinn free range chicken smaller than the Silean Or chicken was €10.99. Thats a big price difference.

Had the family over for dinner on Sunday so needed 2 chickens, that worked out at almost €22 instead of € 6.80.

Big difference.
 
Most older suburban gardens are big enough to keep a few chickens. I have often thought about doing it, but never got around to it. (We are in a detached bungalow on about a quarter acre or maybe a little more, which was out in the country but which has now been swallowed up by housing estates.) Anybody out there who has done this (specifically in a suburban setting)?
 
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