Do You Want Your Chickens and Eggs “Free Range?”

[longknife]

Yeah. The latest thing. Let's release those poor creatures from those inhumane cages and let them roam free. So you can feel good when you savor that fried leg or egg. Well, here's what that “free range” looks like:

Or would you prefer this:

The second shows how all have food and water and far more sanitary conditions than the first.

And yes, this is what I personally prefer and would hope this is what “Free Range Chicken” really means:

 

[strollingbones]

free range is very deceiving....we allow our chickens out all day...no pens....but we do coop them at night for their own safety....i have seen coons attack them in trees and bite their heads off....i have seen people say free range when the hens have just a bit of free room...a small pen

 

[strollingbones]

actually the large producers have a lot more sanitation problems than one might expect...they just medicate the hell out of the pullets...fresh eggs from free range chicken put store bought eggs to shame....colors are different..taste is different

 

[Moonglow]

You can tell if an egg is a free range because it will be orange instead of yellow, yellow means a lack of sun light...

 

[longknife]

I think the thrust of this is how so many huge manufacturers have taken to raise their chickens in huge sheds without regard to basic sanitation.

This with more pix @ The 35-day life of a KFC chicken... in a shed full of 34,000 birds

 

[Moonglow]

I think the thrust of this is how so many huge manufacturers have taken to raise their chickens in huge sheds without regard to basic sanitation.

This with more pix @ The 35-day life of a KFC chicken... in a shed full of 34,000 birds

Buddy, they smell 100% better than they did 30 years ago..

 

[Muhammed]

Farm fresh, free range AA grade are the best IMO.

But I usually just get what is at the grocery store.

 

[strollingbones]

dude you are confusing...egg layers with meat chickens.....total different methods of raising

 

[Muhammed]

dude you are confusing...egg layers with meat chickens.....total different methods of raising

Could you elaborate? I'm not a chicken farmer.

 

[strollingbones]

meat producers get a load of chicks in....and ship them out in about 6 weeks...they are under contract with the company...company supplies chicks and feed...the farmer or producer supplies the large houses and does all the work...at the end of the 6 weeks they grown chickens are picked up and taken to slaughter....

eggs layers...even the early layers take a few months to begin...then they are penned and eggs gotten daily....they are simply confined and feed.....they are slaughtered at about a year i would guess....due to lower production rates

now consider this...these producers use breeds that are breed for this purpose only...i raise heirloom breeds.....the old breeds that existed long ago.....i do not slaughter...nor do i breed...i have no roosters same way with my ducks...

difference between meat birds and egg layer

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I too raise heritage chickens. Just a few in our backyard for eggs & meat (yes I do butcher on occaision) I do have a rooster (currently 2 actually), because I don't want to have to keep buying new chicks each year, if I don't have to. And I let my hens go broody to sit, they can hatch those eggs & raise the chicks better than I can and they are much more healthy. Mine have free run of the backyard as it helps vary their diet by having access to grass, weeds, bugs & worms, etc.
They are also a good source of entertainment