Marketing claims

[wsmith]

So here's a thought I had the other day. I saw some poultry advertized as 100% vegetarian fed. Does this mean the birds never ate a bug? Cuz bugs aint vegetables.....

 

[briteday]

The chickens are probably being fed Purina Layena feed as it has a big marketing plan and label informatin about being completely vegetarian. Personally, I like my chickens to have some animal products in their diet.

 

[wsmith]

Could be. I realize that this thread could have also been put in the feeding category, but I thought it appropriate here as well.

So what claims if any do you all make when selling eggs, etc? Any? Anything specific that reflects your flock management style or preference?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The only claim I make about my eggs is that they are "grass raised" which they are since they are all in tractors or are let out to free-range every day.

The appearance and quality do the rest.

 

[rarely bored]

Quote:
My dh and I saw eggs advertised at a health food store as vegetarian, free range. We were laughing so hard and saying things like, if they are free range they aren't vegetarian.

Sadly, I think the cashier was shocked at hearing our free range chickens eat frogs and lizards.
My eggs are just free range... and I freely admit they are meat eaters.

 

[wsmith]

That was almost the exact conversation my wife and I had. We were laughing so hard we couldn't talk!

 

[harveyhorses]

I think my girls would be really REALLY mad if they were forced to be vegitarians!

 

[Oregon Blues]

If the vegetarian chickens were raised in battery cages, it is very unlikely that they had any bugs to eat.

"Free range" is subject to personal interpretation. If the birds are crowded into a large fenced yard with nothing but dirt on the ground, those birds aren't eating many bugs, either. As far as I know, there isn't any legal definition of "free range" as far as marketing poultry goes. Maybe the producer thinks that it only means raised outside of cages. You can't go to court and prove that is not what it means.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
When mine ranged on my back yard I used the term "pastured" because they were on lushy grass with plenty of room, but still in a fence. Yup, sounds like a pasture to me.

 

[NYRIR]

I call mine free-ranged because they have access to wooded area and grass.They are on about 3/4 + of an acre of fenced area BUT THEY CAN GET OUT OF THE FENCE if they really want to.The fence is only there to deter dogs and the like.I feed non-medicated feed from the get go so I tell people that too.
Why would anyone care if a chicken ate bugs???I personally don't want an egg laid by a chicken that has never eaten any bugs...or grass...or seen the sunshine