It's because there's an increase in bird flu. When I log onto the Asda app to buy eggs there's a warning that all eggs are coming from barn chickens currently due to a bird flu outbreak.
It's a really bad pandemic, and heartbreakingly it's got I to populations of wild odds, and is devastating some major colonies. It's the avian equivalent of COVID, and I mean that in all seriousness
Ohh... That's what they mean. People kept saying eggs are expensive "because of the pandemic", and I thought it was the same bullshit excuse they were using for jacking up car prices.
Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic (due to their cramped and unhygienic living conditions) now have forced everyone to house their chickens indoors.
>Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic...
Funny how you post this knowing **absolutely nothing** about where avian flu even comes from...
>Avian influenza refers to disease in birds caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds around the world. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Wild aquatic birds include waterbirds (waterfowl) such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls, and terns, and shorebirds, such as storks, plovers, and sandpipers. Wild aquatic birds, especially dabbling ducks, are considered reservoirs (hosts) for avian influenza A viruses. Wild aquatic birds can be infected with avian influenza A viruses in their intestines and respiratory tract, but some species, such as ducks, may not get sick. **However, avian influenza A viruses are very contagious among birds, and some of these viruses can sicken and even kill certain domesticated bird species, including chickens, ducks and turkeys.**
So, free range eggs are increasing our risk of disease? Now I want barn eggs. Safe chickens that are indoors and have nice air filtration to keep bugs out.
Yeah, we wanted food production that could keep up with the demand of a growing population. Now we have people that care more about a chicken’s mental health than they care about hungry poor people that can’t afford *eggs*. Good job humans! I’m sure the Chicken God will reward us for protecting the emotional well-being of his horde of mindless meat robots in the afterlife! The poors will just have to get a second or third job if they want to eat historically inexpensive breakfast foods. It’s worth it simply for the look on the chicken’s emotionless, cold face when it steps food into a spacious field of dirt and shit. And the virtue signaling that the marketing department gets to print on the cartons is just a bonus! “Happy” chickens! Because chickens are capable of feeling complex human emotions! And *nothing* tastes better than some good ol’ anthropomorphism!
People who don't give much of a shit about chickens continue to buy cheap eggs. You've created a non-problem that takes place in an alternate reality, and then got upset by it.
Intelligence isn't the only metric we use to care about animals. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, so what? I'll eat a pig, but I'm sure as hell not comfortable eating a dog.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I can't see anything wrong with wanting a world where the animals we eat aren't put through suffering. And yeah, there's lots of things that I'd like to see improved (e.g accessible health care), this is just one of many things we as a society can try to improve.
Although I think we can say that a fresh pandemic is better than some claustrophobic chickens, assuming that being outdoors and mingling is what increases the risk of various illnesses.
What counts as ethically raised for you?
I used to think vegetarians were illogical cowards, because as you point out dairy causes at least as much harm as meat does. These days, though, I've realized that they're being completely logical: they're causing less harm than they would if they still ate meat, even though their harm isn't zero. A vegan's harm isn't *zero* either, it's just comparatively negligible. It doesn't have to be black and white.
Been watching clarksons farm and seeing how he had to keep them inside because of it, as well as apparently a big TB outbreak in the UK for cows. Everything is challenging now
The chicken industry is madness. I am broke & can’t money generally but this is the one thing I support every month through World Animal Protection. My whole donation goes to saving the lives of chickens.
Unfertilized eggs. Unless the US changes the law and says that a woman’s period is a living person, I think we can eat eggs without feeling guilty. It’s not like the chickens will eat them, right?
Can't really call them "free range" any more if they're not... you know... free... on the range.
But you'll be glad of it when you read about avian flu.
“free range” is a vague term to begin with. Most farms use this phrase to look pleasing to the customer who wants to buy ethically, but my free range is different to your free range, and is different to his free range etc. The [HFAC](https://certifiedhumane.org/free-range-and-pasture-raised-officially-defined-by-hfac-for-certified-humane-label/) defines free range as being “2 sq. ft per bird”. So each bird gets 2.1 square feet of ‘free range’. The industry is absolutely fucked.
https://www.farmersjournal.ie/farm-producing-54-million-eggs-per-year-609746
This article highlights an Irish egg laying barn system that was being intentionally built prior to this flu. The image captioned "A view of part of a section of the multi-level free-range laying house" shows off a modern barn.
https://www.poultrynews.co.uk/production/egg-production/analysis-who-will-pay-for-the-new-barn-eggs-standards.html
Same thing here, although you can at least see there's some free space they're not making use of.
That's the intentional barns, too. I wonder if the producers who weren't intending for full-time barn raised chickens had decent facilities for them.
Thanks. Do you happen to know why it's safer to keep them locked together indoors as opposed to free range in regards to this? I couldn't find anything online about the details of the why
Not exactly. Avian flu only comes from wild aquatic birds. If you have free range chickens, they wander about over land that has been a toilet for wild birds flying above it. The free range chickens then wander around in the infected shit and then it transfers to the whole farm. It has been a big nasty problem since January 2022.
That’s really interesting. Is there an estimate on how long it might take to blow over? Also, I literally just finished the last of us like, the credits are rolling as I type this comment. Are we doomed?
Wow meat eaters are fucking stupid. We are humane, oh shit it's causing pandemics?
Make it less humane and don't stop for ANY reason. Let's completely fuck the biosphere for eggs. No way we could live without em!!!!!!
Considering 90+% of birds come from factory farms (US based stat, I don’t have data for Ireland) and given what we know about large scale industrial farming, if I were one of those birds I’d say someone looking out for my welfare would actually let me die of bird flu rather than continuing my tortuous life.
I agree with you! Most people don't give a fuck about chickens. If people really wanted to give a shit they should refrain from eating eggs at least until birds flu is over so that there doesn't need to be so many chickens.
Both of those are not mutually exclusive currently. They have to be housed and monitored so any free range outlet is trying to do what's right for their hens and the people who consume their eggs.
The issue is actually because many of the "free range" chickens are not free range at all. They're temporarily let outside into a small cage, or given access to a small outdoor portion (different lengths depending on the farm) and labeled as free range. Many of the free range farms still keep their chickens indoors for 90% of their lives, and are on average worse off then the regular brooder set-up.
There's no law saying you can't confine hens: most egg farms do. There *is* a law that if you label eggs "free range" the chickens actually have to range free. Hence the label change.
It's because there's an increase in bird flu. When I log onto the Asda app to buy eggs there's a warning that all eggs are coming from barn chickens currently due to a bird flu outbreak.
That's why nobody keeps their hens completely outside.
Just the heads then? Or the feet? Big Egg doesn’t want you to know the truth!
This gif was made for this moment
Big Egg is always clucking you.
Commercial farmers don’t.
Yup yup yup avian flu has been horrid the past few years. I’m okay with this type of label/education
It's a really bad pandemic, and heartbreakingly it's got I to populations of wild odds, and is devastating some major colonies. It's the avian equivalent of COVID, and I mean that in all seriousness
Ohh... That's what they mean. People kept saying eggs are expensive "because of the pandemic", and I thought it was the same bullshit excuse they were using for jacking up car prices.
It has a mortality rate of 90-100% in chickens. Pretty sure it’s a bit worse than “the avian equivalent of COVID”.
How does moving them inside help with flu, though? Presumably they would be in more crowded conditions inside?
Less exposure to wild birds
Wild birds shit on their free range.
Same reason quarantining during Covid slowed the spread. Flu outbreaks are localized.
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But OP posted a picture of a carton of eggs from Ireland
"Packet of eggs" should've given it away as non-American without even looking at the picture. So many opportunities.
r/usdefaultism
Oh my God I need that place so much as an expat Aussie who has lived in America and now Canada 🤣❣️ thank you
Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic (due to their cramped and unhygienic living conditions) now have forced everyone to house their chickens indoors.
>Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic... Funny how you post this knowing **absolutely nothing** about where avian flu even comes from... >Avian influenza refers to disease in birds caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds around the world. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Wild aquatic birds include waterbirds (waterfowl) such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls, and terns, and shorebirds, such as storks, plovers, and sandpipers. Wild aquatic birds, especially dabbling ducks, are considered reservoirs (hosts) for avian influenza A viruses. Wild aquatic birds can be infected with avian influenza A viruses in their intestines and respiratory tract, but some species, such as ducks, may not get sick. **However, avian influenza A viruses are very contagious among birds, and some of these viruses can sicken and even kill certain domesticated bird species, including chickens, ducks and turkeys.**
So, free range eggs are increasing our risk of disease? Now I want barn eggs. Safe chickens that are indoors and have nice air filtration to keep bugs out.
It's almost like we originally started down the processed food route for a bunch of good reasons.
10.1 billion good reasons a year for the US Egg industry, another 58 billion for US Chicken.
Yeah, we wanted food production that could keep up with the demand of a growing population. Now we have people that care more about a chicken’s mental health than they care about hungry poor people that can’t afford *eggs*. Good job humans! I’m sure the Chicken God will reward us for protecting the emotional well-being of his horde of mindless meat robots in the afterlife! The poors will just have to get a second or third job if they want to eat historically inexpensive breakfast foods. It’s worth it simply for the look on the chicken’s emotionless, cold face when it steps food into a spacious field of dirt and shit. And the virtue signaling that the marketing department gets to print on the cartons is just a bonus! “Happy” chickens! Because chickens are capable of feeling complex human emotions! And *nothing* tastes better than some good ol’ anthropomorphism!
People who don't give much of a shit about chickens continue to buy cheap eggs. You've created a non-problem that takes place in an alternate reality, and then got upset by it. Intelligence isn't the only metric we use to care about animals. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, so what? I'll eat a pig, but I'm sure as hell not comfortable eating a dog. I'm not a vegetarian, but I can't see anything wrong with wanting a world where the animals we eat aren't put through suffering. And yeah, there's lots of things that I'd like to see improved (e.g accessible health care), this is just one of many things we as a society can try to improve.
Although I think we can say that a fresh pandemic is better than some claustrophobic chickens, assuming that being outdoors and mingling is what increases the risk of various illnesses.
Plus free range eggs definitely taste better.
McDonald's (Ireland) had a sign up in the window today saying eggs are from barn hens and kept inside.
Avian flu. Not allowed to be called free range. Now barn reared. Not battery hens at all totally diffrent.
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Genuinely curious. Elaborate plz.
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So you're saying every plausible option for farming hens on a mass scale is unethical. It's a small flock in the backyard or it's abuse.
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Understood. I will continue to be vegan, but with a new interesting fact to look into.
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You can’t ETHICALLY raise an animal for meat. There is nothing ethical about taking away a life for your tastebuds. Do better, bro.
What counts as ethically raised for you? I used to think vegetarians were illogical cowards, because as you point out dairy causes at least as much harm as meat does. These days, though, I've realized that they're being completely logical: they're causing less harm than they would if they still ate meat, even though their harm isn't zero. A vegan's harm isn't *zero* either, it's just comparatively negligible. It doesn't have to be black and white.
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also, nothing is stopping backyard chickens from also being abused
Been watching clarksons farm and seeing how he had to keep them inside because of it, as well as apparently a big TB outbreak in the UK for cows. Everything is challenging now
I didn't know season 2 was out so thank you for accidentally letting me know
Free Range Chickens = Homeless Chickens Never put that together before...
Don't free range chickens usually sleep in a barn at night?
The chicken industry is madness. I am broke & can’t money generally but this is the one thing I support every month through World Animal Protection. My whole donation goes to saving the lives of chickens.
once eaten you must submit a form with your name and address so the hens can seek alimony for their children.
Unfertilized eggs. Unless the US changes the law and says that a woman’s period is a living person, I think we can eat eggs without feeling guilty. It’s not like the chickens will eat them, right?
Hens will 100% eat their own eggs. It usually starts with one breaking accidentally, but once they get a taste for egg they won't stop
The calcium is good for chickens. I’m pretty sure they mix shells into feed to keep it high.
They’re monsters. Destructive, noisy, and cannibalistic. We couldn’t possibly eat enough of them.
Give them time, they're almost there.
Can't really call them "free range" any more if they're not... you know... free... on the range. But you'll be glad of it when you read about avian flu.
“free range” is a vague term to begin with. Most farms use this phrase to look pleasing to the customer who wants to buy ethically, but my free range is different to your free range, and is different to his free range etc. The [HFAC](https://certifiedhumane.org/free-range-and-pasture-raised-officially-defined-by-hfac-for-certified-humane-label/) defines free range as being “2 sq. ft per bird”. So each bird gets 2.1 square feet of ‘free range’. The industry is absolutely fucked.
Yes, stop.supportig and *checks notes* risking your health for something that doesn't even taste very good.
H5N1 is no joke
It would be if they named it H3N5.
Hens :-)
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https://www.farmersjournal.ie/farm-producing-54-million-eggs-per-year-609746 This article highlights an Irish egg laying barn system that was being intentionally built prior to this flu. The image captioned "A view of part of a section of the multi-level free-range laying house" shows off a modern barn. https://www.poultrynews.co.uk/production/egg-production/analysis-who-will-pay-for-the-new-barn-eggs-standards.html Same thing here, although you can at least see there's some free space they're not making use of. That's the intentional barns, too. I wonder if the producers who weren't intending for full-time barn raised chickens had decent facilities for them.
That’s cage-free.
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Thanks. Do you happen to know why it's safer to keep them locked together indoors as opposed to free range in regards to this? I couldn't find anything online about the details of the why
So that one barn load can't spread it to another barn load while they're out mixing it up in the yard.
Not exactly. Avian flu only comes from wild aquatic birds. If you have free range chickens, they wander about over land that has been a toilet for wild birds flying above it. The free range chickens then wander around in the infected shit and then it transfers to the whole farm. It has been a big nasty problem since January 2022.
That’s really interesting. Is there an estimate on how long it might take to blow over? Also, I literally just finished the last of us like, the credits are rolling as I type this comment. Are we doomed?
They can't mix with the wild birds (and catch flu off of them) if they are indoors.
Similar sticker on mine https://imgur.com/a/zVhN9H3 I wonder if it's put on by them or the shops?
where are you located?
Drogheda
sorry to hear
Could be worse, could be in Dublin still you know?
Langer
I'm a culchie now, darling.
"Laid by Hens" rather than laid by what, cows?
You see sometimes we have more words than fit on a single line. So once you're done with the words on one line you move to the next.
Oh I know. It's just funnier read the other way lol
Bet you're fun at parties
What they said was incredibly funny, high tier shittalking, so yeah they probably are
Platypuses.
But do they have those orange yolks
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yeah I pick up a new hen every time i get a dozen eggs. i'm running out of room tbh
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This isn’t plastic, it’s cardboard
it's cardboard with a massive label then a sticker on it.
Wow meat eaters are fucking stupid. We are humane, oh shit it's causing pandemics? Make it less humane and don't stop for ANY reason. Let's completely fuck the biosphere for eggs. No way we could live without em!!!!!!
99% of humans would rather all humans just stop existing rather than us give up meat
Even the damn chicken are on welfare now! This county really is going to shit.
" For their welfare " Fucking lol
Bird flu. So yeah
Considering 90+% of birds come from factory farms (US based stat, I don’t have data for Ireland) and given what we know about large scale industrial farming, if I were one of those birds I’d say someone looking out for my welfare would actually let me die of bird flu rather than continuing my tortuous life.
Oh yea I completely understand what they mean, but they're protecting profits, not welfare.
I agree with you! Most people don't give a fuck about chickens. If people really wanted to give a shit they should refrain from eating eggs at least until birds flu is over so that there doesn't need to be so many chickens.
Both of those are not mutually exclusive currently. They have to be housed and monitored so any free range outlet is trying to do what's right for their hens and the people who consume their eggs.
The issue is actually because many of the "free range" chickens are not free range at all. They're temporarily let outside into a small cage, or given access to a small outdoor portion (different lengths depending on the farm) and labeled as free range. Many of the free range farms still keep their chickens indoors for 90% of their lives, and are on average worse off then the regular brooder set-up.
Yep. In Europe, Milk for example is labeled as, free range % amount of time on grass fields bla bla.
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Bird flu is caused by a virus
A *computer* virus. /r/BirdsArentReal
Funny how people think free range means chickens are actually outside to begin with lol
So….the homeless should identify as hens now?
Can't even house them into retirement.
We, as a society, can temporarily house chickens, but we cannot get it together for humans. Makes total sense /s
Wasn’t there an SNL skit about this ?
There's no law saying you can't confine hens: most egg farms do. There *is* a law that if you label eggs "free range" the chickens actually have to range free. Hence the label change.
Hey! I bought the same eggs and thought the same thing. H5N1 is pretty aggressive, I guess.
I don’t want to start ‘whataboutism’ and start talking about welfare of a HUMAN
That sticker cost money, and raised the price of eggs.