Free-range, organic, cage-free - there are numerous options when it comes to the range of eggs available but how do you know when you're making the right choice? Natalie Penn and Debbie Kertesz, the founders of Consume with Care, a website that is helping Australians become more conscious about their food choices share their top tips for making sure you're putting the right eggs in your shopping basket.
Buy organic
All certified organic eggs must be produced according to the organic standards, which specify that hens must have access to pasture, are stocked at a maximum density of 1500 birds/hectare and must not de-beaked.
Choose accredited free-range
In Australia we don’t have laws that specify exactly what each of the different egg production systems mean (free-range, barn-laid etc), so the term ‘free-range’ on an egg carton is not really a guarantee of anything. However there are several different organisations which accredit free-range egg farms - keep an eye out for their ticks of approval when trying to make a decision about what to buy. Look forHumane Choice accredited farms which uphold the highest animal welfare standards along with the RSPCA, The Free Range Farmers Association (VIC) and The Free Range Poultry Association (QLD).
Check out the alt.egg directory
The alt.egg directory is a comprehensive list of small-scale family farms producing true free-range or pastured eggs that are not necessarily accredited. These eggs are usually sold at farmers markets, at specialty health food or organic stores or butchers specialising in organic and/or free-range meats.
What to look for at farmers markets
When you find yourself face to face with farmers selling eggs, grab this opportunity to arm yourself with information. Asking questions is the best way to ensure that you’re purchasing ethically raised, healthy foods and supporting sustainable farmers.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- How many hens do you have, on how much land?
(The overall size of the property is irrelevant – it depends how much range area the hens are able to access).
- How many hens in each flock and how many hens in each shed?
Intensive producers usually run many thousands of hens in their sheds – maybe 40,000 or more. Genuine free-range farms are unlikely to have more than 1000 hens in each shed.
- Are the hens' beaks trimmed?
There is no need for free-range chickens to be beak trimmed unless they are intensively farmed. Chickens (like humans) tend to become aggressive when they are crowded together and beak trimming is the usual method of preventing them from injuring each other.
- What are the hens fed?
Hens on free-range farms utilising low stocking densities and maintaining good pasture growth will obtain up to 50 per cent of their daily feed from the paddock. Supplementary feed is required to meet the nutritional requirements of each hen, to maintain bird health and for the farmer to obtain consistent laying rates. The supplementary feed should be natural grains – not pelletised feed containing colouring additives to enhance yolk colour. If the hens are able to eat green feed there is no need for these additives, which can cause allergic reactions in people who eat these eggs.
- Does the feed contain meat meal?
Many egg producers (particularly those using pelletised feed) include meat meal in the hens’ diet. While chickens are not vegetarian – they eat worms, spiders and insects which they find in the paddocks – the meat meal included in poultry feed is often derived from dead poultry. This can be either male chicks which are destroyed at hatcheries or ‘spent’ hens which have ended their useful lives on cage or barn farms. Giving same species feed to animals is what started the Mad Cow outbreaks in the UK and Europe.
