Eggs
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'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?' despite being product orientated these days this question is irrelevant because the source of the egg is very important. The physical and mental welfare of the parent is important from both an ethical point of view and a utilitarian one. A healthy, happy, well fed chicken produces tasty healthy eggs whereas its abused battery counterpart produces bland, less healthy and often disease incubating eggs.
Contents |
Understanding the commercial egg industry
What do the different labels mean?
- Barn
- Battery
- Free range
What do they feed chickens?
Impact on ocean ecology of eggs fortified with Omega-3
The causes
Evidence
Cost-benefit analysis
What are the solutions
Sponsor a chicken or two
Find a local farm or farmers market
Buy organic free-range
Grow your own
Chickens are very easy to keep if you have a little space in your backyard. They like to live in groups of up to about a dozen other chickens, more than that and they get stressed, because their little brains can't keep track of who is who.
If you plan on keeping your chickens in a suburban backyard, you will need a coop and/or other enclosure to stop them from escaping and to protect them from the neighbourhood cat. It is fairly easy to build one yourself, and there are lots of simple designs you can find.
Each chicken needs at least 1m2. They will need a box of some kind filled with hay in which to lay their eggs, a constantly available suply of water, and constantly available food. They also need a roost to sleep on, which should raised about 1.5m off the ground.
To get the best egg production your chickens will need a diet containing around 15% protein. You can feed them all your vegetable food scraps, and pellets (available from your pet shop). With a good diet, plenty of water and not too much stress, you can expect to get one egg every day from each chicken. After about 2 years, egg production slows down (so would you after laying 700 eggs!).
Chickens poo is fantastic fertiliser, so not only will you get fresh, free, better tasting eggs, your garden will never need artificial fertilising again.
Chickens start laying after they are about 6 weeks old, and can be bought at the age of one month for approx $AUD15 each.
What do chickens need in terms of space, furniture, food and entertainment. How many eggs can you expect per chicken per annum and what's the lifespan of a chicken.
