Jamie Oliver is on the chook warpath, campaigning for the world to go free range. Here's why you should listen to him.

Battery birds

A hen stands on her sloping wire cage, which unnaturally digs into her feet, possibly even resulting in a crippling injury. She cannot perch, scratch or spread her wings. It's not just her though — in this artificially-lit battery shed, there are rows and rows of cages. Birds in the lowest cages suffer from neglect and reach the point of death before farmers notice.

Sometimes, dead hens will be left in cages long enough for 'farm fresh' eggs to roll into the rotting corpses. And even the ones that survive have been marinating in their own and others' faeces and urine for their entire lifetime. Not a flavour you really want to bring to your dinner table, is it?

Why free range?

British celeb chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have led a campaign in the UK this year to improve the welfare standards in chicken production. Free-range chickens have access to paddocks and are free to roam and have a fulfilled, happy life, fed on natural grain without hormones or steroids. So this kinder life makes for a happier chicken. And a happier chicken is a tastier chicken.

A lot of people buy free range because, while it's slightly more expensive, the way the chickens have been reared means they taste better. So you can chomp away on your "happy" chook, knowing it's been produced in a humane manner.

What to do with your free-range chicken

• Open chicken — turn your chicken upside down and cut two lines either side of the bone from neck to tail. Pull out the whole bone and push chicken down flat onto a roasting tin. In a bowl, mix the zest of one lemon, two tablespoons of ricotta and a handful of chopped fresh chives and tarragon. Make a small incision by each leg and free the skin, pushing the mixture underneath the skin. Drizzle with olive oil and roast at 180°C for an hour and a half. Serve with jacket potatoes and coleslaw.

  

• Traditional gravy — after removing your roast chicken from the pan, tilt the pan and spoon out the fat that has separated from the darker juices. Put over a low heat and stir in a tablespoon of honey until sizzling. Add some fresh thyme leaves and a tablespoon of flour, mixing until you get a paste. Add a glass of wine (optional) and the juice of half a lemon. Gradually add ladles of chicken stock or the water from your boiled veggies until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Season to taste, add a knob of butter, stir and serve.

• Stock up! — Throw your leftover chicken bones and any leftover vegetables and herbs into a pan with a halved onion and two cloves of garlic. Season, cover with plenty of water, bring to the boil and simmer for one hour, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Strain through a sieve lined with a kitchen towel.

  You can use this stock instead of stock cubes or as the base for a soup. Try adding sweet corn, spring onions, ginger, egg, soy sauce and chilli for a great Chinese-style broth. Or add chickpeas, coriander, curry powder and chopped tomatoes for an Indian stew (serve with a dollop of yoghurt and some sliced red onion).

  Chicken stock should be used within five days of refrigerating but you can also freeze, either in bags or ice trays, to use later.

Leftovers

Spanish chicken pie — fry chorizo, onions and garlic in a little olive oil. Add your leftover chicken, a tin of butter beans, a tin of tomato and a teaspoon (or to taste) of hot smoked paprika. When boiled, pour into a solid-based baking dish and lay already rolled pastry over. Glaze with one whisked egg and bake on 200°C until pastry is golden-brown. Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Chicken burgers — mince your leftover chicken in a food processor and add chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper, a large spoonful of breadcrumbs, chopped flat leaf parsley, chives and one egg. When bound, pat into patties and roll in flour. Pop on the barbecue until crispy and serve with salad, barbecue sauce and cheese slice in a soft bun.

Go to www.aact.org.au to campaign against battery hen farming.

YOUR SAY: Do you choose free-range? Tell us your thoughts on the treatment of caged chickens.