Letting chickens forage ONLY?

[dickhuhn]

To sum up, it seems those numbers are from the following articles (multiple pages):

Meet Real Free-Range Eggs:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

The Good Egg:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-08-01/Free-Range-Eggs.aspx

Numbers:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/~/media/44AF1C816FC14B549DE1AFD92C393856.aspx

At least those links are under the article I got the nutrition table foraging/cage chickens from:


As for the feed, as laid out, the foraging chicken eat what they find and those in cages are likely to get some industrial food.

Strong point with the sun, that could be an additional enhancement to the foraging, please see the above source articles if there is anything pointing to it? I haven'read them.

 

[Chris09]

To sum up, it seems those numbers are from the following articles (multiple pages):

Meet Real Free-Range Eggs:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

The Good Egg:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-08-01/Free-Range-Eggs.aspx

Numbers:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/~/media/44AF1C816FC14B549DE1AFD92C393856.aspx

At least those links are under the article I got the nutrition table foraging/cage chickens from:


As for the feed, as laid out, the foraging chicken eat what they find and those in cages are likely to get some industrial food.

Strong point with the sun, that could be an additional enhancement to the foraging, please see the above source articles if there is anything pointing to it? I haven'read them.

I really hate to bust mother earth news's bubble but the birds that were housed in a moveable pen are not free range poultry. To be truly free range they would have to be un-confined. Those birds are confided, and they were most likely feed a commercial type diet maybe even a feed that is rich in Bata-Carotin, Omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, D, E.

Since mother earth new didn't add a link to the study, I wouldn't go to much on what they have to say. My thoughts is that from the information that they provided it wasn't a very good study and may have been a bit one sided in order to favor there, "free range" chickens article.

 

[Shadow722]

One question I would have with the results...how much of that is simply from the fact of being in sunlight?

Caged birds typically are in artificially lighted buildings, never seeing the light of day.

A lot of the health benefit in the egg comes from simply being in natural sunlight.

I would be interested in seeing a comparison between caged (artificially lighted) and fed solely commercial feed vs. open air (sunlight) and solely fed commercial feed vs. strictly open air and foraging with no commercial feed but only bugs and plants they can find. I suspicion the results would vary vastly with the quality of range, and many of us would be very challenged to provide the necessary range with no supplemental feeding.

Just curious.
LofMc

I keep mine in a pen to keep them safe from predators when I'm not home. When I get home in the afternoons I open up their pens and let them free range my 2+ acres. I have a open air pen with a top on it and a coop for them to get out of the weather and nest for their eggs. I do have a 15 watt florescent light on a timer to stimulate egg production by giving them a couple hours more light in the winter months.I let them out and the light comes on before sunset and they go back to their pen then I will go close them up after a head count. They usually get about 2 to 3 hours a day before dark in the winter of free ranging. The summer more like 6 hours.

 

[dickhuhn]

I really hate to bust mother earth news's bubble but the birds that were housed in a moveable pen are not free range poultry. To be truly free range they would have to be un-confined. Those birds are confided, and they were most likely feed a commercial type diet maybe even a feed that is rich in Bata-Carotin, Omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, D, E.

Since mother earth new didn't add a link to the study, I wouldn't go to much on what they have to say. My thoughts is that from the information that they provided it wasn't a very good study and may have been a bit one sided in order to favor there, "free range" chickens article.

It is exactly lined out how they did there small pilot study, which might not be totally perfect (but seems to average over 14 flocks), though only the industry has the money to make most studies! As it seems you haven't taken the time to read the article at all, I put the most important findings together:

These amazing results come from 14 flocks around the country that range freely on pasture or are housed in moveable pens that are rotated frequently to maximize access to fresh pasture and protect the birds from predators. We had six eggs from each of the 14 pastured flocks tested by an accredited laboratory in Portland, Ore. The chart at the end of this article shows the average nutrient content of the samples, compared with the official egg nutrient data from the USDA for “conventional” (i.e. from confined hens) eggs. The chart lists the individual results from each flock.
The 2007 results are similar to those from 2005, when we tested eggs from four flocks all managed as truly free range

But the most ridiculous online comments turned up at Supermarketguru. com a site maintained by a “food trends consultant.” It says:

“FREE RANGE: Probably the most misunderstood of all claims, it’s important to note that hens basically stay near their food, water and nests, and the idea of a happy-go-lucky bird scampering across a field is far from the natural way of life. The claim only means that the hens have access to the outdoors, not that they avail themselves of the opportunity.

If you’ve ever been around chickens, you know that whoever wrote that hasn’t. Chickens will spend almost their entire day ranging around a property scratching and searching for food. Even as tiny chicks, they are naturally curious and will begin eating grass and pecking curiously at any insects or even specks on the walls of their brooder box. “Scampering across a field,” looking for food, is precisely their natural way of life.

Mounting Evidence for Free-Range Eggs

• In 1974, the British Journal of Nutrition found that pastured eggs had 50 percent more folic acid and 70 percent more vitamin B12 than eggs from factory farm hens.
• In 1988, Artemis Simopoulos, co-author of The Omega Diet, found pastured eggs in Greece contained 13 times more omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids than U.S. commercial eggs.
• A 1998 study in Animal Feed Science and Technology found that pastured eggs had higher omega-3s and vitamin E than eggs from caged hens.
• A 1999 study by Barb Gorski at Pennsylvania State University found that eggs from pastured birds had 10 percent less fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A, and four times the omega-3s compared to the standard USDA data. Her study also tested pastured chicken meat, and found it to have 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat and 50 percent more vitamin A than the USDA standard.
• In 2003, Heather Karsten at Pennsylvania State University compared eggs from two groups of Hy-Line variety hens, with one kept in standard crowded factory farm conditions and the other on mixed grass and legume pasture. The eggs had similar levels of fat and cholesterol, but the pastured eggs had three times more omega-3s, 220 percent more vitamin E and 62 percent more vitamin A than eggs from caged hens.
• The 2005 study MOTHER EARTH NEWS conducted of four heritage-breed pastured flocks in Kansas found that pastured eggs had roughly half the cholesterol, 50 percent more vitamin E, and three times more beta carotene.
• The 2007 results from 14 producers are shown

from the comments:

For those in need of some peer reviewed bolstering of this article: H.D. Karsten, P.H. Patterson, R. Stout and G. Crews (2010). Vitamins A, E and fatty acid composition of the eggs of caged hens and pastured hens. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 25, pp 45-54. Accepted for peer-reviewed publication Oct 8, 2009.

 

[Susieq2015]

I started with a new flock last spring and soon as they were big enough they were outside free ranging. They grew up all summer freely on 20 acres and i only locked them in once a week or so to remind them where they live. They had access to the coop, pen and commercial grower feed..but ate very little of it and preferred foraging. Some roosted in the pen, some roosted in the apple tree above it. It wasnt until fall an cold weather that they started getting picked off..so had to start locking them when i couldnt be there to supervise. The tree dwellers didnt like this at all...but they still get let out much as possible and they still forage like crazy given the chance. I get a ton of eggs even in these short cold winter days and cant wait until warmer weather they'll be free ranging and spending alot less in feed

 

[Chris09]

It is exactly lined out how they did there small pilot study, which might not be totally perfect (but seems to average over 14 flocks), though only the industry has the money to make most studies! As it seems you haven't taken the time to read the article at all, I put the most important findings together:

These amazing results come from 14 flocks around the country that range freely on pasture or are housed in moveable pens that are rotated frequently to maximize access to fresh pasture and protect the birds from predators. We had six eggs from each of the 14 pastured flocks tested by an accredited laboratory in Portland, Ore. The chart at the end of this article shows the average nutrient content of the samples, compared with the official egg nutrient data from the USDA for “conventional” (i.e. from confined hens) eggs. The chart lists the individual results from each flock.
The 2007 results are similar to those from 2005, when we tested eggs from four flocks all managed as truly free range


If you’ve ever been around chickens, you know that whoever wrote that hasn’t. Chickens will spend almost their entire day ranging around a property scratching and searching for food. Even as tiny chicks, they are naturally curious and will begin eating grass and pecking curiously at any insects or even specks on the walls of their brooder box. “Scampering across a field,” looking for food, is precisely their natural way of life.

It's not exactly lined out, there leaving out key factors.
The main factors are the type of feed/ supplements that was used on test subjects, how long the test took place and type of pasture..

Just a note here.. I'm not disagreeing that home grown eggs can be better than store bought eggs. I am stating there leaving out key factors, and there study could have been nothing more than cherry picking 86 eggs from 14 flocks that were fed a above average feed and or supplements to boost the numbers they were looking for to make there story.

 

[Greg88]

Data can be manipulated in many ways to show the results you want.
I will state that I have not taken the time (yet) to read this entire thread.
I do know a couple things.
1) I am a scientist and have degrees in Animal Science

2) I like the flavor and dark color of my "yard eggs"

3) "free range" has been debated.
a) The definition, as stated is "the opportunity to go outside"
i) my chickens love going out to the bigger pen and forage
ii) Commercially raised chickens (that make our eggs and poultry affordable to the general public) when given the opportunity will RARELY go outside, not sure why. so, most claims of "free range" eggs or poultry (when not from an individual) while they meet the USDA definition of free range since they have been given the opportunity to go outside, rarely do and are little, if any different from the standard poultry.
so the “FREE RANGE: Probably the most misunderstood of all claims, it’s important to note that hens basically stay near their food, water and nests, and the idea of a happy-go-lucky bird scampering across a field is far from the natural way of life. The claim only means that the hens have access to the outdoors, not that they avail themselves of the opportunity." is TRUE! (seen it myself)

4) nutritional value of eggs can be manipulated to resemble free range yard eggs with feed supplements.

This gets away from the original question (from 2011) which is free range only with no feed. I agree that todays chicken will likely need at least a little supplemental feed, esp. in the colder month.

 

[DJM1]

My goal this year is to plant forage crops etc for my flock so I do not have to purchase anything from the feed store for them. I also plan on raising worms to supplement their protein in the winter months and also growing some sprouted fodder and grasses for them. I heard meal worms are easy to raise for chickens but they give me the willies! My girls and their "Boss Rooster" come and go as they please during the warmer months but once snow comes they want no part of walking around in it! Sissys!! I keep feed in their coop for if they need it. Most of the times it is their last choice for sustenance. I have had chickens for 10 years or better now and have only had 3 die of unnatural causes. One was poisoned by my well meaning husband who threw salt in front of the coop, one got too close to the Beagle/Jack Russell mix who looooved chickens (for dinner) and one just was MIA. I will try to keep everyone posted on how this works for me with eggs and meat birds. I welcome any insight as well.

 

[dickhuhn]

Good points! Though the main question is always "qui buono" (who profits)? Who has more to lose? The multi Billion chicken/egg industry or motherearthnews .com, a magazine that covers many topics, in their 2005 egg check they write "Test", that is a bit away from a study!

Fom:

The Role of Trees and Pastures in Organic Agriculture
Joseph R. Heckman Plant Biology Department, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United State

4. Needed Research on Pasture-Raised Animals and Food

Pasture-raised animal foods are generally believed to be good sources of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2
(Rheaume-Bleue, 2012). Only a few studies, however, have measured vitamins D and K2 in meat, milk, and
eggs in association with type of production system. A study comparing pasture feeding to confinement layers
found that pasture enhanced vitamin A and E content in eggs (Karsten et al., 2010). However, they did not
measure vitamins D or K2.

Of course only a few studies, industry wouldn't like people to know how much better eggs can be? Of couse the double price for an egg with up to 6x the nutrition isn't really much and that is exactly why industry doesn't want people to know, it's all about the money...

 

[Corona~Barb]

When I get the chance (maybe next week), I want to read through this whole thread. My hens do free range throughout the day but also come back to the barn to eat crumbles now and then. I personally would not JUST give them what they can find/catch/eat on their own. I do love the flavor and consistency of their eggs, which we all know is so different from feed-only hens. My hens are older now and don't lay during the winter. I just bought eggs from a vendor at the farmers' market who sells pastured organic pork. His chickens are fed organic, non-gmo feed. I thought they had access to the outdoors but from the looks of the yolks, I seriously doubt it. The yolks are pale yellow and flavorless.