![]() but everyone turned a blind eye! The farm has amended its claims to reflect the Coles standard of 10,000 hens per hectare. The Australian Egg Corporation knew about it, the Federal Minister for Agriculture knew about it, the State Agriculture Minister knew about it. One well known producer in New South Wales proudly announced on its website that it ran up to four hens per square metre (40,000 hens per hectare).Īnd on its Facebook page revealed that it actually had 50,000 hens per hectare. Unfortunately, in Australia, consumers are being mislead by many producers who label their eggs as 'free range' even though the hens are beak trimmed and are run intensively. Without full beaks they are unable to forage properly and it is quite pathetic watching a bird which has been beak-trimmed trying to pick up a worm! The diet of beak trimmed birds is essentially the same as those kept in cages even though they may have more freedom to wander around - so the nutritional value of intensive 'free range' eggs is exactly the same as cage eggs. ![]() No hens on a real free range farm are beak trimmed because they have plenty of room to escape from any aggressive birds. Traditional free range farms have low stocking densities, all day access to pasture and good animal husbandry practices. Because they are so closely confined, their beaks are usually trimmed to prevent them from attacking and possibly eating each other. Most eggs are laid by hens kept in cages in factory farms or shut in barns. What's the difference between free range and ordinary eggs? We have a program which is available on the Freeranger Club page of this website and there is other information available. Well the simplest way is to adapt a generic program which has already been developed. How they can set up a food safety and quality assurance program on their farms. We often get emails or phone calls from operators of free range farms asking On the Freeranger farm the term means that the hens have total access to pasture (the hens are not shut in even at night) they forage naturally, have a supplementary diet of natural grains containing no meat meal or colouring additives, they are not beak trimmed and have traditional nest boxes in which they lay their eggs. There are some who keep the hens locked up for most, if not all of the day. There are many smart operators out there with tens of thousands of hens in sheds which can best be described as barn or cage free. Unfortunately in Australia there is a limited legal definition of the term 'free range' when it comes to egg production. ![]() Don't buy eggs in a supermarket, talk to your egg supplier and find out if your idea of 'free range' matches the sales talk you hear. The major problem is that in Australia there is s very loose national definition of the term 'free range' which makes it impossible to maintain accountability in the industry.Īlmost any eggs can be packaged as free range and there's not much even the ACCC can do unless it can prove deceptive conduct! So it comes down to a matter of trust and there are so many crooks using logos which are meaningless. If the yolks always look the same, the producer is almost certainly using colouring additives in the chook feed. Neither is yolk colour a real guide, because it varies with the time of year and the availability of green grass. Some fail to enforce the standards they claim to have in place so it is impossible to trust logos. A pretty picture on the pack isn't a good guide because it may not be a true reflection of the farm. Its always hard to be sure, because accreditation standards are mostly not worth the paper they are written on. There are several accreditation bodies in Australia but their standards vary greatly and most of them have an inadequate audit process. A quick look on any supermarket shelf will show you that many producers claim to be selling free range eggs. ![]()
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