Unofficial Poll

[aquaticneko]

Some say the free range birds taste better but to be honest I haven't noticed a great difference. I think the welfare standards are improved in this country. Although caged hens are still permitted for egg production in the UK, birds for the table are not kept in cages. To be honest, as the poor little things are only going to be alive for 33-38 days if kept indoors and a minimum of 58 days if free range, does it really matter that much? A chicken can live up to 10 years! And then there are capons. Virtually impossible to find in the UK.

I often get chickens from friends who raise chickens themselves. I'll talk about two of them specifically. Let's call one Anne. Anne raises her chickens on commercial meal she buys. Her chickens grow like the beanstalk in that fairytale. She once gave me 6 pound chicken. The meat was incredibly fatty. Took me ages to finish that thing. Second friend is Bob. Bob raises his chickens completely free range and even has a pet chicken that has a bad leg. His chickens are smaller, much more lean. The taste was incredible. It's almost like a whole other animal. Although Bob's chicken is more expensive, he's a family friend and I most often get chickens and eggs cheaper than regular customers. Anne's chickens I get every now and then but I try to get her to give me younger chickens.

I do believe that if we could afford to raise our animals better, better food, living conditions etc, they would have more taste.

 

[Elawin]

I eat chicken two or three times a month, beef pork and lamb less often, and no fish or shellfish (allergies). When I was young, Mum and Dad used to keep chickens and rabbits but even then we would only have rabbit occasionally and chicken only on high days and holidays. Chicken was very expensive then, so they were kept for eggs. Other than that, chicken was a Christmas bird (never even heard of turkey, and it was only in the 1970s that I actually ever tasted it). Nowadays I buy chicken, duck, a turkey joint, beef, lamb, pork and a bacon joint at Christmas. I usually cook three out of these and the leftovers plus the meat I haven't cooked goes in the freezer so it is some time before I need to buy any again. Funnily enough I bought some chicken yesterday (4 chicken pieces and a whole chicken) and I was looking around on here for some inspiration