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Unl0vableDarkness t1_jcykd1e wrote

It's because there's an increase in bird flu. When I log onto the Asda app to buy eggs there's a warning that all eggs are coming from barn chickens currently due to a bird flu outbreak.

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Orange_comfort t1_jcyy1ub wrote

That's why nobody keeps their hens completely outside.

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colonel_cockmouth t1_jczij29 wrote

Yup yup yup avian flu has been horrid the past few years. I’m okay with this type of label/education

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wascallywabbit666 t1_jd0ea0v wrote

It's a really bad pandemic, and heartbreakingly it's got I to populations of wild odds, and is devastating some major colonies. It's the avian equivalent of COVID, and I mean that in all seriousness

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Apollo5165 t1_jd3871w wrote

It has a mortality rate of 90-100% in chickens. Pretty sure it’s a bit worse than “the avian equivalent of COVID”.

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_jd2xqja wrote

Ohh... That's what they mean. People kept saying eggs are expensive "because of the pandemic", and I thought it was the same bullshit excuse they were using for jacking up car prices.

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clemep8 t1_jd098vq wrote

How does moving them inside help with flu, though? Presumably they would be in more crowded conditions inside?

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LightInfernal t1_jd0a9fw wrote

Same reason quarantining during Covid slowed the spread. Flu outbreaks are localized.

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[deleted] t1_jcz9ne0 wrote

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ixixix t1_jczdjqy wrote

But OP posted a picture of a carton of eggs from Ireland

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mantolwen t1_jczk4az wrote

r/usdefaultism

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socksmatterTWO t1_jczs0jy wrote

Oh my God I need that place so much as an expat Aussie who has lived in America and now Canada 🤣❣️ thank you

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CreepingTurnip t1_jczkbvw wrote

"Packet of eggs" should've given it away as non-American without even looking at the picture. So many opportunities.

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gw2master t1_jd0bpue wrote

Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic (due to their cramped and unhygienic living conditions) now have forced everyone to house their chickens indoors.

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Total-Khaos t1_jd0p77v wrote

>Funny how factory farms that started this epidemic...

Funny how you post this knowing absolutely nothing about where avian flu even comes from...

>Avian influenza refers to disease in birds caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds around the world. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Wild aquatic birds include waterbirds (waterfowl) such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls, and terns, and shorebirds, such as storks, plovers, and sandpipers. Wild aquatic birds, especially dabbling ducks, are considered reservoirs (hosts) for avian influenza A viruses. Wild aquatic birds can be infected with avian influenza A viruses in their intestines and respiratory tract, but some species, such as ducks, may not get sick. However, avian influenza A viruses are very contagious among birds, and some of these viruses can sicken and even kill certain domesticated bird species, including chickens, ducks and turkeys.

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Haterbait_band t1_jcz89z5 wrote

So, free range eggs are increasing our risk of disease? Now I want barn eggs. Safe chickens that are indoors and have nice air filtration to keep bugs out.

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ledow t1_jczfy17 wrote

It's almost like we originally started down the processed food route for a bunch of good reasons.

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ocmaddog t1_jczk4iw wrote

10.1 billion good reasons a year for the US Egg industry, another 58 billion for US Chicken.

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Haterbait_band t1_jczhhyu wrote

Yeah, we wanted food production that could keep up with the demand of a growing population. Now we have people that care more about a chicken’s mental health than they care about hungry poor people that can’t afford eggs. Good job humans! I’m sure the Chicken God will reward us for protecting the emotional well-being of his horde of mindless meat robots in the afterlife! The poors will just have to get a second or third job if they want to eat historically inexpensive breakfast foods. It’s worth it simply for the look on the chicken’s emotionless, cold face when it steps food into a spacious field of dirt and shit. And the virtue signaling that the marketing department gets to print on the cartons is just a bonus! “Happy” chickens! Because chickens are capable of feeling complex human emotions! And nothing tastes better than some good ol’ anthropomorphism!

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OpalBanana t1_jczldh0 wrote

People who don't give much of a shit about chickens continue to buy cheap eggs. You've created a non-problem that takes place in an alternate reality, and then got upset by it.

Intelligence isn't the only metric we use to care about animals. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, so what? I'll eat a pig, but I'm sure as hell not comfortable eating a dog.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I can't see anything wrong with wanting a world where the animals we eat aren't put through suffering. And yeah, there's lots of things that I'd like to see improved (e.g accessible health care), this is just one of many things we as a society can try to improve.

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Haterbait_band t1_jd071et wrote

Although I think we can say that a fresh pandemic is better than some claustrophobic chickens, assuming that being outdoors and mingling is what increases the risk of various illnesses.

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Siegeceejay t1_jczefz6 wrote

Avian flu. Not allowed to be called free range. Now barn reared. Not battery hens at all totally diffrent.

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[deleted] t1_jd20alz wrote

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Hystus t1_jd2pqrg wrote

Genuinely curious. Elaborate plz.

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[deleted] t1_jd2r820 wrote

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Dorocche t1_jd2uriv wrote

So you're saying every plausible option for farming hens on a mass scale is unethical. It's a small flock in the backyard or it's abuse.

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[deleted] t1_jd2vdrs wrote

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Dorocche t1_jd2vml4 wrote

Understood. I will continue to be vegan, but with a new interesting fact to look into.

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[deleted] t1_jd37mmr wrote

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Dorocche t1_jd3hlei wrote

What counts as ethically raised for you?

I used to think vegetarians were illogical cowards, because as you point out dairy causes at least as much harm as meat does. These days, though, I've realized that they're being completely logical: they're causing less harm than they would if they still ate meat, even though their harm isn't zero. A vegan's harm isn't zero either, it's just comparatively negligible. It doesn't have to be black and white.

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[deleted] t1_jd3lfda wrote

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Dorocche t1_jd3lv8f wrote

Oh, I meant more practically; what do you look for on the side of the box or the company's website or whatever to see if it's ethical?

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sendmoneyimpoor t1_jd3azi1 wrote

You can’t ETHICALLY raise an animal for meat. There is nothing ethical about taking away a life for your tastebuds. Do better, bro.

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Ineedtwocats t1_jd3bigb wrote

also, nothing is stopping backyard chickens from also being abused

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RubAnADUB t1_jcz3clc wrote

once eaten you must submit a form with your name and address so the hens can seek alimony for their children.

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Haterbait_band t1_jcz8jhm wrote

Unfertilized eggs. Unless the US changes the law and says that a woman’s period is a living person, I think we can eat eggs without feeling guilty. It’s not like the chickens will eat them, right?

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Pineapple_Spenstar t1_jd05u08 wrote

Hens will 100% eat their own eggs. It usually starts with one breaking accidentally, but once they get a taste for egg they won't stop

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Haterbait_band t1_jd075u0 wrote

They’re monsters. Destructive, noisy, and cannibalistic. We couldn’t possibly eat enough of them.

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ernyc3777 t1_jd0o5pp wrote

The calcium is good for chickens. I’m pretty sure they mix shells into feed to keep it high.

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TheBupBup t1_jczskni wrote

McDonald's (Ireland) had a sign up in the window today saying eggs are from barn hens and kept inside.

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faste30 t1_jczz78b wrote

Been watching clarksons farm and seeing how he had to keep them inside because of it, as well as apparently a big TB outbreak in the UK for cows. Everything is challenging now

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ddwood87 t1_jd0n52i wrote

Free Range Chickens = Homeless Chickens

Never put that together before...

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slopmarket t1_jd0svcj wrote

The chicken industry is madness. I am broke & can’t money generally but this is the one thing I support every month through World Animal Protection. My whole donation goes to saving the lives of chickens.

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bathshebat t1_jd01nvf wrote

I dunno if the loophole laws have been changed but in the US 'free-range' eggs often means thousands of chickens stuffed in a barn instead of in battery cages, so the health aspect isn't really any better. Still all stuffed together in a closed space.

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PopeFrancis t1_jd0eef0 wrote

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/farm-producing-54-million-eggs-per-year-609746

This article highlights an Irish egg laying barn system that was being intentionally built prior to this flu. The image captioned "A view of part of a section of the multi-level free-range laying house" shows off a modern barn.

https://www.poultrynews.co.uk/production/egg-production/analysis-who-will-pay-for-the-new-barn-eggs-standards.html

Same thing here, although you can at least see there's some free space they're not making use of.

That's the intentional barns, too. I wonder if the producers who weren't intending for full-time barn raised chickens had decent facilities for them.

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ThimeeX t1_jd06umh wrote

Why Free Range Eggs Are Coming Off Supermarket Shelves

> From Monday (March 21), free range eggs will no longer be available in supermarkets. This comes after an outbreak of bird flu, which means that farmers had to move all their chickens indoors.

> The “largest ever outbreak of avian flu” hit the UK this winter, according to government officials, with more than 80 reported outbreaks in England.

> Now, eggs sold in shops will have a sticker or label stating that they are “barn eggs”, which is the name given to eggs produced by hens permanently housed indoors.

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arittenberry t1_jd0f69o wrote

Thanks. Do you happen to know why it's safer to keep them locked together indoors as opposed to free range in regards to this? I couldn't find anything online about the details of the why

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NoahTall1134 t1_jd0ldcm wrote

So that one barn load can't spread it to another barn load while they're out mixing it up in the yard.

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Total-Khaos t1_jd0psii wrote

Not exactly. Avian flu only comes from wild aquatic birds. If you have free range chickens, they wander about over land that has been a toilet for wild birds flying above it. The free range chickens then wander around in the infected shit and then it transfers to the whole farm. It has been a big nasty problem since January 2022.

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HoogerMan OP t1_jd0rlbw wrote

That’s really interesting. Is there an estimate on how long it might take to blow over? Also, I literally just finished the last of us like, the credits are rolling as I type this comment. Are we doomed?

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Megatea t1_jd0lgpw wrote

They can't mix with the wild birds (and catch flu off of them) if they are indoors.

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TheAgedProfessor t1_jd0saf8 wrote

Can't really call them "free range" any more if they're not... you know... free... on the range.

But you'll be glad of it when you read about avian flu.

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HoogerMan OP t1_jd0sxso wrote

“free range” is a vague term to begin with. Most farms use this phrase to look pleasing to the customer who wants to buy ethically, but my free range is different to your free range, and is different to his free range etc. The HFAC defines free range as being “2 sq. ft per bird”. So each bird gets 2.1 square feet of ‘free range’. The industry is absolutely fucked.

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Rincewinded t1_jd20n4o wrote

Yes, stop.supportig and checks notes risking your health for something that doesn't even taste very good.

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Sporkalork t1_jczfgq9 wrote

Similar sticker on mine https://imgur.com/a/zVhN9H3 I wonder if it's put on by them or the shops?

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JerryKook t1_jczr2ni wrote

where are you located?

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Alizaea t1_jd0hb00 wrote

"Laid by Hens" rather than laid by what, cows?

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Megatea t1_jd0lrd5 wrote

You see sometimes we have more words than fit on a single line. So once you're done with the words on one line you move to the next.

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Alizaea t1_jd0y4bm wrote

Oh I know. It's just funnier read the other way lol

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can_you_quack69 t1_jd11x34 wrote

Bet you're fun at parties

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Dorocche t1_jd2va3l wrote

What they said was incredibly funny, high tier shittalking, so yeah they probably are

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ManOfTooManyHobbies t1_jczhcec wrote

Is that some kind of foster program for hens?

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jawshoeaw t1_jd08o7o wrote

yeah I pick up a new hen every time i get a dozen eggs. i'm running out of room tbh

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lopedopenope t1_jd1hqeq wrote

But do they have those orange yolks

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kunkworks t1_jczvrwu wrote

Can't even house them into retirement.

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AaronE541 t1_jd0am7y wrote

Even the damn chicken are on welfare now! This county really is going to shit.

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floatsby t1_jd0u30i wrote

We, as a society, can temporarily house chickens, but we cannot get it together for humans. Makes total sense /s

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FrenTimesTwo t1_jd0wo9i wrote

Wasn’t there an SNL skit about this ?

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isaac32767 t1_jd10ajc wrote

There's no law saying you can't confine hens: most egg farms do. There is a law that if you label eggs "free range" the chickens actually have to range free. Hence the label change.

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StarsofSobek t1_jd17h1w wrote

Hey! I bought the same eggs and thought the same thing. H5N1 is pretty aggressive, I guess.

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sufiansuhaimibaba t1_jd1nfeh wrote

I don’t want to start ‘whataboutism’ and start talking about welfare of a HUMAN

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Rincewinded t1_jd20jaq wrote

Wow meat eaters are fucking stupid. We are humane, oh shit it's causing pandemics?

Make it less humane and don't stop for ANY reason. Let's completely fuck the biosphere for eggs. No way we could live without em!!!!!!

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Ineedtwocats t1_jd3bqsx wrote

99% of humans would rather all humans just stop existing rather than us give up meat

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Illest7705 t1_jd28zgs wrote

That sticker cost money, and raised the price of eggs.

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Slim_Burrito t1_jd17ncz wrote

The issue is actually because many of the "free range" chickens are not free range at all. They're temporarily let outside into a small cage, or given access to a small outdoor portion (different lengths depending on the farm) and labeled as free range. Many of the free range farms still keep their chickens indoors for 90% of their lives, and are on average worse off then the regular brooder set-up.

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sailee94 t1_jd2bm49 wrote

Yep. In Europe, Milk for example is labeled as, free range % amount of time on grass fields bla bla.

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gweyowmi t1_jd0n04u wrote

Funny how people think free range means chickens are actually outside to begin with lol

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3meow_ t1_jczmo9l wrote

" For their welfare "

Fucking lol

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ItDoesntMatter59 t1_jczoblf wrote

Bird flu. So yeah

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StuccoStucco69420 t1_jd0ihpi wrote

Considering 90+% of birds come from factory farms (US based stat, I don’t have data for Ireland) and given what we know about large scale industrial farming, if I were one of those birds I’d say someone looking out for my welfare would actually let me die of bird flu rather than continuing my tortuous life.

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3meow_ t1_jczorxf wrote

Oh yea I completely understand what they mean, but they're protecting profits, not welfare.

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Vexonar t1_jczwaah wrote

Both of those are not mutually exclusive currently. They have to be housed and monitored so any free range outlet is trying to do what's right for their hens and the people who consume their eggs.

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untot3hdawnofdarknes t1_jd0hkwe wrote

I agree with you! Most people don't give a fuck about chickens. If people really wanted to give a shit they should refrain from eating eggs at least until birds flu is over so that there doesn't need to be so many chickens.

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