Where are all the chickens?

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Discussion

rah1888

1,546 posts

186 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Truckosaurus said:
They are all in massive barns rather than wandering around fields.

I believe they only have a lifespan of a couple of months before becoming a tasty bucket of KFC.
We recently stayed at a cottage in Devon, which was part of a farm.

The chap who ran the firm was kind enough to show us around. he farms about 300acres, mainly sheep and cattle. Recently he has started rearing free range chickens and showed us the two sheds he's built. At a rough guess each one measured 150m x 40m, and would hold 12,000 chickens. They would spend the first 28 days enclosed in the sheds, then the next 28 days they would be able to explore the ground surrounding the sheds. Then at 56 days old they would be slaughtered and processed, then off to the supermarket to be sold as free range chicken.

He reckoned that the chickens supplied to KFC are unlikely to live beyond 30days.

Thankyou4calling

Original Poster:

10,595 posts

172 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Melman Giraffe said:
One under the Bus
Didn't know anything about that although I am hilarious.

I simply ran some rudimentary numbers whilst in the KFC and it shocked me.

Living in London i obviously don't see any live chickens!

craigjm

17,910 posts

199 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Evanivitch said:
I'd quite happily eat insects given the choice. They're hideously expensive at this time, but I'm sure with scale they'll come down in price. Hardly different to shrimp...
The attitude to meat is surprising where people happily eat chickens and pigs etc but mention insects, dogs, cats etc and it’s a no go

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

141 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Thankyou4calling said:
On Tuesday i took advantage of a fantastic deal in KFC.

9 pieces of finger lickin for £5.99. No chips, no beans, no slaw just chicken. It was lovely.

The place was heaving! Admittedly it was Earls Court Road in London but it got me thinking, that one shop has to get through a 1000 chickens a day.

Multiply that by the number of KFC's and all the other fast food joints that sell chicken, the numbers bought in supermarkets etc and I'm coming up with some crazy figures for how many chickens we consume as a nation each week.

I know i could google the answer but the point I'm making is WHERE ARE ALL THESE CHICKENS?

Is there a part of the UK where only chickens exist/ are they all shipped in for our consumption?

I'm being a bit tongue in cheek I know but there is a serious side to my question.

Gotta be a hell of a lot of chickens out there.
there is also a lot of pet shops, vets, rats and pigpens getmecoat

silentbrown

8,793 posts

115 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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rah1888 said:
...each one measured 150m x 40m, and would hold 12,000 chickens.
On a "regular" poultry unit, you'd be looking at over 110,000 birds in each of those.

rah1888

1,546 posts

186 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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silentbrown said:
On a "regular" poultry unit, you'd be looking at over 110,000 birds in each of those.
I assume regular means non-free range?

silentbrown

8,793 posts

115 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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rah1888 said:
I assume regular means non-free range?
Yup. Up to 19 bird per sq.m.

BJG1

5,966 posts

211 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Evanivitch said:
I eat a lot of quorn as my partner made a dietary choice. It's not something I'd choose given the choice but I certainly don't turn my nose at a dinner on the table when I get home, or do I bother to make a seperate meal just for her (or me!).

I'd quite happily eat insects given the choice. They're hideously expensive at this time, but I'm sure with scale they'll come down in price. Hardly different to shrimp...
Quorn is st, as are most meat substitutes (also it has egg in it unless you get the vegan version so still contributes to animal agriculture). I'd much rather make something that embraces the ingredients available that try to replicate meat flavour and texture unsuccessfully.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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The Spruce goose said:
it you think the slave trade is the same as intensive farming then you are batst crazy,
I wasn't implying it was. What I was saying is that 150 years after the event, we look back on the slave trade with incredulity. How could people be so cruel. In 150 years, I suspect people will look back at us and modern farming methods with the same horror.

Jonnny

29,387 posts

188 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Those knowledgeable in here, where would the 'big' breasts come from? The ones from Muscle Food etc, I don't think they're water injected, they say they're not on the website and they seem to hold their size when cooked.. Is it free range, or are they fed extra stuff to bulk up? Which in turn we eat to bulk up..

Turn7

23,504 posts

220 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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Jonnny said:
Those knowledgeable in here, where would the 'big' breasts come from? The ones from Muscle Food etc, I don't think they're water injected, they say they're not on the website and they seem to hold their size when cooked.. Is it free range, or are they fed extra stuff to bulk up? Which in turn we eat to bulk up..
If they're cheap, they will be injected, true free range can be huge - my butcher had some a few weeks ago that joked were Ostrich breat they were that big.

Jambo85

3,311 posts

87 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Thankyou4calling said:
Melman Giraffe said:
One under the Bus
Didn't know anything about that although I am hilarious.

I simply ran some rudimentary numbers whilst in the KFC and it shocked me.

Living in London i obviously don't see any live chickens!
Well in fairness this thread is a lot more enjoyable than Tez's show!

Jamesgt

848 posts

232 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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garyhun said:
If free range is not available I go without. Today's Sunday roast is meat free for that reason.
Meat free?!?!?!!!

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

141 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Jamesgt said:
garyhun said:
If free range is not available I go without. Today's Sunday roast plate of steamed veg and gravy is meat free for that reason.
Meat free?!?!?!!!
I have fixed that.

Jamesgt

848 posts

232 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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PixelpeepS3 said:
I have fixed that.
All jokes aside I should cook some nights without meat. I don't have any veggie recipes so I got my wife to ask her vegan friend what she cooks. Frozen chips and beans was the answer. She uses vegan to be a useless cook I guess.

Jambo85

3,311 posts

87 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Jamesgt said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
I have fixed that.
All jokes aside I should cook some nights without meat. I don't have any veggie recipes so I got my wife to ask her vegan friend what she cooks. Frozen chips and beans was the answer. She uses vegan to be a useless cook I guess.
Brutal! If you a like a curry that's the way to go - Rick Stein's India has some cracking vegetarian recipes in it (few if any vegan though).

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

141 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Jambo85 said:
Jamesgt said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
I have fixed that.
All jokes aside I should cook some nights without meat. I don't have any veggie recipes so I got my wife to ask her vegan friend what she cooks. Frozen chips and beans was the answer. She uses vegan to be a useless cook I guess.
Brutal! If you a like a curry that's the way to go - Rick Stein's India has some cracking vegetarian recipes in it (few if any vegan though).
Egg curry isn't as tragic as it sounds smile

BJG1

5,966 posts

211 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Jamesgt said:
All jokes aside I should cook some nights without meat. I don't have any veggie recipes so I got my wife to ask her vegan friend what she cooks. Frozen chips and beans was the answer. She uses vegan to be a useless cook I guess.
Going vegan has really pushed me to become a better cook, it must be fking miserable if you're not. Whenever people ask me what I eat, I usually say the same stuff you do (with the exception of meat and 2 veg). Lots of pasta dishes, curries, risottos, Mexican, burgers etc.

Get yourself the vegan bible and love and lemons (vegetarian) - both excellent cookbooks.

matchmaker

8,463 posts

199 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I heard on the radio that if you applied inflation to the cost of a chicken in the 1930s, a chicken today would cost about £40. I think a whole chicken is about £4 in the supermarket.

I guess in those days chickens were reared on farms and had coups and were fed corn and treated with a modicum of decency. Labour intensive work.
Wow. I can see now why my dad (a war baby) and in turn his mum would make something like a chicken do as many meals as possible - main meals, soup, chicken stock.
When I was a kid (1960s) chicken was a rare treat.

Thankyou4calling

Original Poster:

10,595 posts

172 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
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Confession time.

It's Tuesday. KFC deal is on and yes I succumbed.

Delicious lick