There's a bit of a misconception regarding free range eggs, and I'd like to just point it out to those of you who don't have chickens at home yourselves.
The free range eggs that you purchased at the store, that you paid at least $6/doz for (circa May 31st 2015 see pic for reference - woolworths) that have those nice pictures of a chicken amongst the grass, all pretty and shiny feathererd..... it's a marketing lie. Those birds aren't who laid your eggs. The "free range" birds (1 chicken per square metre?) Ain't likely any happier than their caged counterparts, (who's eggs you're still paying at least $4/doz for.)
Surprisingly, the above isn't the point of this article.
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| Eggs are anything but cheap, regardless of how easy on your conscience you feel the purchase is. |
This article is directed at those who are blessed enough to have a backyard producer to buy from. I don't care if it's a "legal" small producer, who sells 5 dozen a week from the hens they lovingly tend each day, that spend their hours roaming about the property, digging up gardens and trashing the landscaping - or if it's an "illegal" backyard producer, who has 30, or even 50 birds instead of only 10, who sells 20 dozen a week that are effectively a by-product while trying to breed the best of his birds to create featherclub champions... feeding his birds top quality grain and making sure they eat as much bugs & grass and kitchen scraps as possible so they're healthy and producing top-quality offspring...
The point of this article is the public/community idea that since someone has chickens as a backyard hobby, or addition to a farm, that their eggs are considered to be worth less than you'd pay at the store... or worse, free!
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| Free range as most people would consider it to be (maybe without the cow, but hey) however this is not what store bought free range egg hens look like... |
When recently I asked a friend what sort of eggs they buy, I got the answer "The free range ones, from the supermarket in town" (woolworths). Fair enough.
When asked how much they thought they paid, and how much they'd be prepared to pay for eggs from a backyard where the hens free range all day... "oh it's about $4/doz. So yeah I'd probably pay that or less at a farm gate"
Why? Why less at the farm gate?
Do you think that someone who lovingly tends their backyard hens puts less work into the production, maintenance and care of each individual bird (some with pet names!) than the factory shed farmer who has thousands?
Do you think the backyard chicken keeper who pays easily twice the price per Kg of feed, somehow deserves less support and recompense than his commercial counterpart that buys grain by the tonne?
Consider the home of the typical backyard flock.
Why? Why less at the farm gate?
Do you think that someone who lovingly tends their backyard hens puts less work into the production, maintenance and care of each individual bird (some with pet names!) than the factory shed farmer who has thousands?
Do you think the backyard chicken keeper who pays easily twice the price per Kg of feed, somehow deserves less support and recompense than his commercial counterpart that buys grain by the tonne?
Consider the home of the typical backyard flock.
These are hens that only see a locked coop at night time, to protect them from predators. Hens that roam the paddocks all day, eating grass, and weeds, and bugs. Hens that socialise, dust bathe, dig the gardens, eat the kitchen scraps, flap about and be generally happy all day long.
Hens that get a top quality seed mix to supplement their free ranging, grain that retails at $24/bag.
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| A day's work for a truly free-range, backyard flock. |
Hens that get a top quality seed mix to supplement their free ranging, grain that retails at $24/bag.
Hens who lay in nest boxes you could bring your children to, to collect the eggs laid that same day, filling a wicker basket with bounty that can't be matched by a commercial factory egg, not by a long shot.
So why is the public opinion that they're only worth a couple of bucks? Not the $6 that you'd pay in the store, for who-knows-how-old eggs laid by some poor chook in dubious circumstances that you're never going to lay eyes on?
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| These cute, fluffy bundles all had individual names, and were lovingly hand raised. No beak clipping or dark confinement in store for these babies. |
Perhaps if you don't keep your own hens, but you're lucky enough to know someone who does - next time you ask about perfect, fresh, tasty eggs from their backyard flock - you'll offer them more cash than you'd pay for a coffee at Starbucks. Even a quarter of a bag of grain is that $6!!
And maybe if you're nice enough about it, they'll consider parting with some, instead of choosing to keep them for making custard to die for, or quiche that makes your mouth water... Eggs that you simply cannot buy in the grocery store.
And maybe if you're nice enough about it, they'll consider parting with some, instead of choosing to keep them for making custard to die for, or quiche that makes your mouth water... Eggs that you simply cannot buy in the grocery store.
