Clucking with the chooks

Earlier this week I flew to Tarlee, north of Adelaide, to visit a free range egg farm for a story about the definition of free range.

Being a huge supporter of free range produce, I was very excited to visit a farm accredited by the RSPCA, and to see the set up for myself.

Rhodes eggs stock 1500 hens per hectare – the current voluntary code of welfare.

The family has planted trees around the property for the chooks to rest under, they have a large barn if the hens want to go inside, and they rotate paddocks, so the birds never have to peck or run on dirt with no grass or lucerne.

The chickens looked healthy, happy and very fond of their carers – the Rhodes. They followed the cameraman and me around like puppies and were very curious little creatures.

And the Rhodes were very proud of their eggs.

I am no farming expert, but it struck me that this is the way all egg farms should be run, with chooks free to roam in a large area, pecking, snacking and resting as they like – producing wonderful free range eggs.

While Australia, unfortunately, has no legislative “standard” for free range farms, the Australian Egg Board wants to increase the allowance of chooks to 20,000 per hectare and still allow the eggs to be labelled free range.

That’s essentially two chooks per square metre.

The industry has released a You Tube video promoting the proposal, showing its boss roaming around a farm which currently stocks the 20,000 chook limit. I have to say, I don’t think the video is doing their cause any favours.

The Industry’s argument is that it will keep the cost of free range eggs down to a level which everyone can afford – but will the consumers really be getting “free range” product?

Consumer advocate Choice has waded into the argument, saying customers will not really be getting what they think they’re paying for and egg prices will not soar as claimed by the Egg Board.

The move will also make it difficult for small operators like the Rhodes to continue stocking at just 1500 hens per hectare; the competition will swamp them and bigger operators could price them out of the market.

I guess the real issue here though is animal welfare.

I, for one, am happy pay an extra dollar or two to ensure what I buy takes into account animal welfare. I would rather eat fewer eggs from a happy, healthy hen than a dozen from hens which have spent their entire lives in a tiny cage.

We as consumers have the power to encourage Australian producers to catch up with their European counterparts and create real welfare standards that are fair to farmers, customers and of course, the animals.