Are mine free range?Organic?

[silkieboxerluv]

My chickens are let out every morning in to a space that is about 20 feet wide and 30 feet long and they go to the coop to sleep at night. We feed laying mash I believe the brand is Durom. What constitutes wether they are free range or organic? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I've been told that can be called Free Ranging by technical definition.

Organic has many more rules, and I don't know them. Hopefully someone else will help you out with organic.

-Kim

 

[silkieboxerluv]

I would think that not to many then are actually free ranging only considering human error-like the road. Mine are just fenced in a area so the nieghborhood dogs and cyotes/wolves dont come knockin. Hmm I wonder what organic is then. All eggs are natural right?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

When you get into organic, I "think" you are talking about feeding your birds organic feeds, non-chemical medications, etc. So organic gets a little complicated. There should be someone here at BYC that can help you out with the organic part.

I truly free-range my birds, in the sense that I open the door to their pen in the morning and they go where they please in un-fenced areas. Yes, it is very risky because of predators. Last fall I had a red fox take 4/6 hens in the duration of one night, because whoever opened the pen that morning forgot to close it that night.

-Kim

 

[Beekissed]

I think they consider it free-range in the commercial poultry industry if the birds are not caged, but are able to roam freely in a large building. I think homesteaders feel that to be truly free-range they are either nonconfined on lawn or pasture or in chicken tractors with fresh pasture/grass on a rotational basis. Organically raised would be feeding a feed that has been obtained from an organically certified provider. Anybody else?

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
They are free range as they have access to the outside, into sunlight.

They are not organic unless you have fed them organic feed from the 1st day of their life onward. In addition to feeding organic feed, you can not give coccidiostats, antiobiotics, dewormers, etc. to them at any time. I think if you were feeding organic you would know it because your wallet would be screaming.

 

[chickenannie]

Yes to what greyfields said. There are organic standards written down that you can get. Also, most chicken feed that you buy premixed is NOT organic because almost all of it is medicated feed.

I buy mine from a friend who mixes his own feed and doesn't put medication in it. However, I can't call it organic because the grains he raises on his farm are not Certified Organic. Certified Organic must be approved through your state's Organic approval process.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
I have always found it pretty easy to find non-medicated feeds, at least in my region. If you want to claim "Organic" you must be certified.

Quote:
Entirely correct. A certified ration is from all organic components... except inerts, such as salt, which there is no distinction between organic and non-organic.

However, be aware, organic certification can be by a State (if your State certifies, which Washington does, but not every state does)or by private organizations (such as Oregon Tilth Producers). Washington was one of the first to do certification by a government agency (even though the certification fees pay for the department, so it doesn't cost tax payers) and they regularly certify farms & producers as far away as Florida.

We could go on and on about what organic means.

 

[Cetawin]

You can free-range them, feed certified organic food and certified organic veggies and fruit and use no chemicals and medications.

Organic is a royal pain in the butt really...when all in all, they are organic by nature. I mean how can we keep them from eating a beetle that is not certified organic?

 

[Nichole77]

You can call it whatever you want as long as you are not regulated. I feed my chickens organic food. They were not organic from birth or organic stock and my grass and treats are not organic. I say they are fed organic because they are. You cannot call them certified organic because you are not certified. Call them farm fresh if you want. Heck call them monkey pellets it really doesn't matter. Your eggs are better than store eggs it's unfortunate that they get all the good words.