Vegetarian chickens...What?!

[Chickerdoodle13]

There was an egg carton sitting on the table in the kitchen that somebody had given us. On the carton it advertises the eggs as coming from "Vegetarian chickens". I believe the company that sold the eggs was Egglands Best, but that statement just struck me as strange. Chickens are omnivores and naturally eat a very varied diet of both meat AND veggies. In fact, our eggs look much nicer when they get lots of supplemental scraps from the kitchen.

IDK, to me it just sounds unnatural to have vegetarian hens! That would be like feeding a black bear veggies for the rest of it's life! I don't really see the point either. I could see organic, but vegetarian??

 

[morelcabin]

Haha what companies won't do for a sale!

 

[DuckLady]

That label tells you right off what conditions the hens are kept in.

 

[Cetawin]

eeeeeeewwwwwww not eggs I would buy. We know from the label the eggs are not cage-free. Sad and odd advertising.

 

[dacjohns]

And what does free range and organic mean when it comes to labeling eggs.

Vegetarian chickens. I see them running around in little hemp sandals and dreadlocks eating soy yogurt (is there such thing as soy yogurt?). No offense meant towards vegetarians in the forum. Just my stereotyping,

 

[meriruka]

Actually, I'm pretty sure my chickens ae vegetarian, I buy feed without meat products and I'm vegetarian, so the kitchen scraps are all veggies.
(Somehow the thought of feeding my chickens, chicken is too creepy)
Anyway, it does sound like a marketing ploy to entice vegetarians to buy their eggs, as if I would ever eat a store bought egg! Ha! nice try guys.
I wonder what they'll think up next?

 

[Jennyhaschicks]

I have seen this before on eggs. Do they not think they eat bugs and worms? These are not veggies.

 

[lovinthechickens]

"And what does free range and organic mean when it comes to labeling eggs."

free range means that they are let roam all over an open feild, instead of in a 1 foot by 1 foot cage all alone.(though free range is extremely costly and inefficent)

organic means that they are fed natural veggies and what-not


in responce to the "chickens are vegitarians thing"
-actually, if a chicken was left in a pen with a dead chicken, a bowl of food, and a bucket of water, it would most likely eat the chicken first... yes, they are cannibals. they actually enjoy meat.

 

[dacjohns]

lovin, That's our definition but the is there an official definition? Some claim letting their birds into a small space outside the factory is free ranging.

Can organic birds be caged?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I do believe the official defintion of free-range is the absence of cages and access to an outdoor yard. Basically a building and a run. I think this means they are kept broiler-style with an outdoor cage/fence/run to keep them in.

Organic chickens, I imagine are still caged. I think the label "organic" only has to do with their diet. They are fed "organic" food, food grown without all the chemical fertilizers and pesticides and whatnot. I think it also means the birds are not treated with chemical-type medicines.

-Kim