Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat

[subhanalah]

This one came from a man who's been out of the city for over 30 years. He moved to rural AZ for a good 15 years, and has been up here in the Blue Ridge mountains for over 15 more: We were at a cookout on Saturday, and the hostess, "B", was telling the former city boy, "D", about the sheep her next door neighbor is raising. It's just a small flock and the females all lambed late this winter. On Valentines Day, one of the ewes had twins. B and I went to see them when they were just 2 1/2 days old; they were precious. B was describing this to D as they admired them, grazing with their mama and stuck together like glue. D: How do you know they are twins? B: Because they were born at the same time. (Just LOOK at them with their mother!! TWO of them!!) D: But, how do you know they're twins? (he has identical twin daughters) B: Because they were born at the same time, and came from the same mother. D: Did they look different from the other lambs? B: No. They all look pretty much the same - white.. D: So, how do you know they're twins? This went on for quite some time before B finally figured out that D thought sheep gave birth to litters, like dogs and cats do, instead of horses and cows. He was asking (in a vague way) how you can tell twins from the rest of the litter if they all look the same. I mean, really; when was the last time you saw a picture of a litter of lambs? D is a retired elementary school principal; certainly he's seen lots of storybooks with pictures of lambs in them. I think we "ridicule" or laugh at the stupidity of people like this because they obviously haven't been paying attention. I was a military brat raised by very suburban parents, and I *never* spent time around farm animals while growing up. But, I saw movies, read books, saw pictures, and read children's books to my 2 offspring .. like "Baby Farm Animals", for example. In other words, I paid attention to the world around me! Therefore, I claim the right to laugh at those who choose to live in the dark. "It is better to laugh at someone who prefers to wander around in the darkness, than turn on a light",

I think there are sheep that have litters, but I could be wrong about it, don't keep sheep and don't really know much about them.

 

[SNJchickens]

Maybe we should simply ask how anything that comes out of a chicken's butt can NOT be organic?????

 

[Beekissed]

I think we "ridicule" or laugh at the stupidity of people like this because they obviously haven't been paying attention. I was a military brat raised by very suburban parents, and I *never* spent time around farm animals while growing up. But, I saw movies, read books, saw pictures, and read children's books to my 2 offspring .. like "Baby Farm Animals", for example. In other words, I paid attention to the world around me!

Therefore, I claim the right to laugh at those who choose to live in the dark. "It is better to laugh at someone who prefers to wander around in the darkness, than turn on a light", <sic>

I agree. It matters not where one was raised....I know a good plenty about city life because I read, observe and make a point of learning about the things around me in the world. Unless there is an obvious learning disability that prevents that, the stories on this thread point towards people who have chosen to ignore a lot of what they can learn in this world and have made a conscious choice in doing so. It's an odd and sometimes amusing thing to encounter people in the world who don't want to learn and have lived their whole lives without attempting to do so when the information is out there for the taking.

 

[sepaditty1]

I was so puzzled I googled it. There are some people who believe that if poultry eat gluten then the poultry products are contaminated and shouldn't be eaten. Part of that is the whole "grass fed" thing, which has somehow been extended from ruminants to omnivores ... some people believe the word "pastured poultry" means those birds have never been fed anything and just free range for their nutrition from day one ... and some people believe "organic" on the egg carton means the poultry was "pastured" in that way. Part of it is people who are highly sensitive to gluten being extra careful. Part of it is parents of children with autism or ADHD type issues believe gluten exacerbates those issues, so do everything in their power to protect their kids from gluten.

So ... I explained that my birds do eat gluten, but that most people consider unprocessed poultry products to be "gluten free" foods no matter what the birds eat and left her to figure the rest out for herself.

I would never trick someone into eating something they didn't want. I know lots of other people do like to trick people into eating stuff ...

There are some pretty popular "nutrition" people out there telling people to avoid poultry products from birds that have ever been fed poultry feeds (they literally mean any poultry feeds, even organic/corn-free/soy-free). The theory is the birds should only forage ... though "properly stored organic wild seeds" might be fed in a pinch. I have written to a few of these "nutritionists" to ask them for more details about this poultry management style, but not gotten more details.

Did you think that saying my eggs are gluten free is "tricking" them? First of all, I would never do that. My best friend's son is highly, deathly allergic to anything dairy. It could kill him. Who would trick someone about things like that? Second, eggs ARE gluten free! If you think that's a trick, then you probably shouldn't eat ANYTHING for fear of being tricked.

I saw a bag of marshmallows that proudly stated, "Naturally Fat Free!" Duh! Of course. Sugar doesn't have fat. Is that a trick? No. It's a marketing scheme. Is frozen yogurt lower in fat than ice cream?

 

[chickengonewild]

we were thinking about getting rid of our rooster one time and my sister says "no dont do that! then your hens wont be able to lay eggs!" LOL, she's 22 yrs old...

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Did you think that saying my eggs are gluten free is "tricking" them? First of all, I would never do that. My best friend's son is highly, deathly allergic to anything dairy. It could kill him. Who would trick someone about things like that? Second, eggs ARE gluten free! If you think that's a trick, then you probably shouldn't eat ANYTHING for fear of being tricked.

I saw a bag of marshmallows that proudly stated, "Naturally Fat Free!" Duh! Of course. Sugar doesn't have fat. Is that a trick? No. It's a marketing scheme. Is frozen yogurt lower in fat than ice cream?

I was writing in general terms.

There are some people who believe that the eggs from chickens fed gluten "trigger" their symptoms. I wouldn't have known about that if I hadn't googled it, because I presumed that everyone is working with the same common definition of "gluten free" as I am ... erm ... as I was.

So now that I know, I feel responsible for trying to be more clear.

You are so right! Marketing is a tricky thing ... it can be quite deceptive and it is often associated with a price mark-up. Much of marketing is deliberately deceptive, enough so that there are regulations about marketing ... and there are organizations that help consumers interpret marketing strategies ... watching how the regulators and marketers and consumer groups work can be very interesting. So I do think it is fair to say that some kinds of marketing are "tricks." I try to avoid that with my eggs because I figure people have enough deceptive food marketing to deal with at the grocery store. But I don't always know where people are coming from when they ask me questions about my poultry products. Sometimes they are more informed than I am, but I do get a lot of questions based on misconceptions. I think a lot of marketing fosters misconceptions.

Some people insist the word "organic" means nothing more than something like "carbon-based" ... do some of these people label their eggs "organic" to take advantage of the value-added marketing potential and raise their price? I wouldn't have thought so, but I think I just saw a joke about that posted in this thread. At least I assume it was a joke.

Unfortunately, there really are people who enjoy tricking people into eating things. Allergic people have to deal with that a lot, and it can be deadly. I don't know why people are like that, but I do know that some people are.

Is this particular situation ... "gluten free eggs" ... potentially deadly? That's not for me to decide.

But it sure stumped me when I heard it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Is this particular situation ... "gluten free eggs" ... potentially deadly? That's not for me to decide.

But it sure stumped me when I heard it.

Quoting myself here ... I think there is a percentage of people shopping for farm-fresh foods because at least they can have a dialog with the farmer about all the pertinent details. And they all have their own set of details that are pertinent to them. I'm not always in the mood to deal with the details, but it comes with the territory.

Just to set the scene ... this is where I live ...

 

[jc12551]

I have egg customers that want to know what I feed my chickens. We bill our eggs as "AJ's Free Range Eggs" but my customers know that I feed my chickens laying pellets and scratch in addition to whatever they find on their own. And there can be variances in yolk color and taste depending on what the chickens have been eating. But they like the taste and personalized service. I can't gather eggs fast enough to provide for the needs of my loyal customers.

If I was going to label my eggs gluten free I would say, "Eggs are Naturally Gluten Free" or something along those lines. I would never market my eggs as if I did something to make them gluten free.

We have a meat seller in the area that has started selling eggs. They advertise them as "Pastured Soy Free" and sell them for $5 a dozen. Now I am allergic to soy but I have NEVER had a problem eating eggs. I am not convinced that chickens eating soy=eggs having soy. Marketing ploy? Misunderstanding on how the whole egg production thing works on my part or theirs? I don't know. I do know I am picking up some ground beef from them today because it is so yum, yum and even though I am 99% lacto-ovo vegetarian I will make and exception for their beef. But I am happy that they are making money and spreading the love of natural products!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

We have a meat seller in the area that has started selling eggs. They advertise them as "Pastured Soy Free" and sell them for $5 a dozen. Now I am allergic to soy but I have NEVER had a problem eating eggs. I am not convinced that chickens eating soy=eggs having soy. Marketing ploy? Misunderstanding on how the whole egg production thing works on my part or theirs? I don't know.

There is a lot of discussion about this, too! Though there are plenty of other reasons some people prefer to avoid soy.

We do have some evidence that soy can cause some issues with chickens (and other livestock), so for the health of the birds some thought needs to be given to the soy question.

MANY of my customers are looking for "soy-free" poultry products. They do mean they are looking for products where the birds are not fed soy. Probably in order of requests it starts with the assumption that the birds are "pastured," then they are looking for GMO-Free, then "Soy-Free" then "Corn-Free" and the odd request for "Gluten-Free." And most people want "organic," because "Certified Organic" is not common for small-scale poultry, so the customers have to get over that disappointment early on or go to Whole Foods ... where the soy-free, corn-free, pastured, "Certified Organic" eggs sell for like $12/dozen.

 

[Hinotori]

We have a meat seller in the area that has started selling eggs.  They advertise them as "Pastured Soy Free"  and sell them for $5 a dozen.  Now I am allergic to soy but I have NEVER had a problem eating eggs.  I am not convinced that chickens eating soy=eggs having soy.  Marketing ploy?  Misunderstanding on how the whole egg production thing works on my part or theirs?  I don't know.

There is a lot of discussion about this, too! Though there are plenty of other reasons some people prefer to avoid soy. 

We do have some evidence that soy can cause some issues with chickens (and other livestock), so for the health of the birds some thought needs to be given to the soy question. 

MANY of my customers are looking for "soy-free" poultry products. They do mean they are looking for products where the birds are not fed soy. Probably in order of requests it starts with the assumption that the birds are "pastured," then they are looking for GMO-Free, then "Soy-Free" then "Corn-Free" and the odd request for "Gluten-Free." And most people want "organic," because "Certified Organic" is not common for small-scale poultry, so the customers have to get over that disappointment early on or go to Whole Foods ... where the soy-free, corn-free, pastured, "Certified Organic" eggs sell for like $12/dozen.

I had someone ask if I could raise organic eggs for them. They only wanted to pay $2 a dozen though. I told them no. Conventional eggs in the store cost more than that here.

My mom is allergic to wheat. She has no issues with my eggs.