Eggs US – Price – Chart

However, we do have a large yard where they are free to range around – I think this is key.

In my experience there is no need to kill a chook after 3 years. Average lifespan for a chick is 8-10 years. Egg laying frequency does decrease with age, but there's no need to kill them just because they're slowing down a bit. Our oldest chook is 8 years, and laid her (probably) last egg only a few months ago.

When it does come time to kill one for whatever reason, the broom stick method breaks the neck instantly - easy and clean, just a bit of flapping around. As for the body, we just bury them if we are not going to eat them.

I think the heirarchical behaviour depends somewhat on the breed and the environment. Our chooks do have a clear hierarchy, none of them have died as a result. We have a mix of breeds - Australorp, Plymouth Rock, ISA Brown and one other mystery breed.

Flies probably depend on your environment – in Australia here we have a ton of flies already, I don't think the chooks make much difference!

Some of our chooks have a lot of personality and are almost pets, especially the early ones we basically hand raised as chicks – although you don't want to be too sentimental about them either. You have to be OK with killing them if that becomes necessary - it's still a sad time when I have to do that though.

If you have enough yard space and like the idea of being connected to the creatures that supply some of your food, I'd totally recommend giving chooks a go.

* edit: should have added, we don't keep a rooster which probably changes the dynamics too

To be clear, if you cook food you have processed it. If you mechanically separate food it is now processed. If you chemically treat any ingredient for any reason(bleaching, cleaning, etc) it is now processed. The term is meaningless without context. Do you also say there are "chemicals in water"?

Just because something is "processed" does not mean it is bad. "Fake Eggs" are "processed" because they're mechanically blended and have a pretty standard emulsifier in it. There are no health trade offs here. The product is not "bad" because it's been blended or has an all-natural emulsifier. It's just nonsense to call something like that "highly processed".

Most "highly processed" vegan products are about as "processed" as a loaf of standard bread you'd buy in the aisle at the store. If mixing flour with oil is "highly processed" then you have no idea what you're talking about.

The hysteria towards veg products being "highly processed" is nonsense from the beef/dairy/carnivore misinformation machine. This is up there with the myth that "vegan diets are more expensive", lol.

Be aware that when you say the things you said, you're appealing to the misinformed crowd. The words lack meaning and context. These words, "highly processed" and such, are used to evoke an emotional reaction. It isn't based in data or science.

Context is extremely important. Without context you're not saying anything intelligent. It's the same thing that flat earthers or anti-vaxxers do. They appeal to emotion, not reality.

Furthermore, even with the hysteria around "high processed vegan foods", they're STILL associated with better health outcomes. That's the funny part of this. When put into context, even the "bad vegan foods" are still much better for most people than the "all-natural animal products". You can even expand on this further by including the environmental cost. Vegan products are about 20x less resource intensive from an environmental viewpoint than animal products. So, better health, cheaper, better for the environment. Wins all around.