Hmm... I think I feel a bit cheated

[Workingman]

[miasmum]

Ooooh eggie bread

[Workingman]

You do realise that we have created a right soufflé out of Ria's perfectly reasonable thread.

[Kaz]

It's the VV way!

[TheOstrich]

:Ossie, they should have a stamp on them, but it may be quite faint. Sadly - from what I gather - ASDA do still sell eggs from caged hens; so just make sure the carton you get them in says free range

Yes, I've had a closer look, they're rather blurred, but I can see they are 3 - Caged eggs. £1.20 for 15 - these are the Smart Price eggs - obviously cheaper, and I do tend to be "price-driven" when I shop - but I hadn't realised that so I'll see what code their standard range of eggs is when I go tomorrow ....

[Workingman]

When Jamie and Jimmy were ranting on about pullet eggs they gave the impression that most caged hen eggs went to the catering industry to produce all those lovely cakes made by well known brands we all love to buy. How wrong were they?

However, it is a sad fact that no matter how we try to avoid cadged hen eggs they do get into our food in many ways. Imagine how much those newly popular cupcake things (we used to call them buns) would cost if they were made from free-range or organic eggs.

[Diflower]

The farm shop we go to has both free range and barn eggs - all their own.
The free range are about 6 for £1 for medium, obviously a bargain
But the farm shop, although 'local', is about 8 miles away, so as part of my mission to cut down on shopping costs, trips there are far less regular than they used to be
They do have pullet eggs at various times throughout the year (?- not quite sure, is it just Spring?), and they're ever so cheap, a tray of 2 dozen for £2
I've always, always bought those when available, my uncle kept chickens and bantams, and would tell us they were a real treat - and he was right, they're lovely pullets' eggs

On another note, re the cakes etc for sale, I've long thought restaurants should have to declare exactly where their meat, chicken etc comes from.

[miasmum]

Once ex-batts reach the end of their laying days, they go for food for humans, or cat and dog food. Makes you wonder what sort of human food they go in doesn't it?

[Workingman]

The farm shop we go to has both free range and barn eggs - all their own.

From what I read there is not a great deal of difference, from a legal POV. The free-range are allowed out, if that is what they want to do, but it is not obligatory.

Mum used to buy pullet eggs for baking.

Regarding restaurants. Yes, they should be forced to say where their foods come from, their husbandry and their cooking practices. A lot of them, even the top rated ones, buy in some foods ready prepared. All they do is heat them up. To me that is not restaurant food and the practice should be banned or made known per dish.

[Diflower]

The farm shop is totally honest Wm, sometimes you go in and there will be a note up saying 'no large free range today' for instance.
You can see their f/range chickens, and their barns, they hide nothing.
The f/range chicks are out in great big fields, with huts to sleep in, but it's not the same as small numbers in a garden/woods, I don't think chickens would choose to live in open fields.
They're nice eggs, but nothing like those from my uncle, or from anyone else who keeps their own on a domestic scale.