A free range chicken is a happy chicken. Being battery farmed can also affect the quality of the eggs or so I read.
From a US site I found:
eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
However, some info I found on the BBC website when they went to look at a battery egg farm said that the hens were actually well looked after, the sheds they were in where clean and didn't smell and the hens had relatively few problems apart from the fact that they're not leading a natural life.
Being kept in a cage with a floor area the size of an A4 piece of paper is really not very humane is it?
The European Union is hoping to outlaw battery egg production by 2012. I wish Asia would do the same.
I'm quite happy living on a condo. What's the difference? And my wings aren't clipped.
