"free range"--let's get rid of this nonsense term

[PippinTheChicken]

Free range means that the chickens are free to roam anywhere outside of the coop.
I'm not too sure where you get your information from but I'm from England and in our country all the non battery eggs are described as free range which means they are kept in large fenced off areas, not small cages.
In the UK, a free range chicken must be housed in a defined space. This space means it should be with no more than 13 birds per square metre. They must also be 56 days old before they are slaughtered. It should also have continuous daytime access to open-air runs.
My hens free range in 3/4 of an acre. My friends hens free range in 10 acres.

I'm also in the UK and my supermarket HAS to check regularly to male sure their eggs are from free range hens. Free range not meaning complete freedom, but lots of room to roam and run around. I agree with you, @KingB , free range doesn't mean letting chickens completely free

 

[KingD]

I'm also in the UK and my supermarket HAS to check regularly to male sure their eggs are from free range hens. Free range not meaning complete freedom, but lots of room to roam and run around. I agree with you, @KingB , free range doesn't mean letting chickens completely free

Hello fellow Brit!

I have no idea what goes on with supermarkets. Haven't bought shop eggs for years lol!

I think 'free range' has different meanings for smallholders/home owners to large poultry farms.

It's a term which everyone understands so I have no problem with it being used.

 

[MommaHen1996]

Hello fellow Brit!

I have no idea what goes on with supermarkets. Haven't bought shop eggs for years lol!

I think 'free range' has different meanings for smallholders/home owners to large poultry farms.

It's a term which everyone understands so I have no problem with it being used.

That’s a good point, your 100% correct.

 

[centrarchid]

"free range." ---Your chickens can leave where you live and never come back because you live in an area with no fences...agreed..."free range."

not "free range"---you have any defined area whether it be 1 acre or 1000 acres of space with fences to keep your chickens from "free ranging"...that's basically a chicken "run."

doesn't matter either way...the term "free range" is worthless and mostly annoying. every time i hear it i instantly know the person i am dealing with just bought their first chickens.

"free range" is for the conglomerate egg sellers as a marketing ploy. i encourage you to eliminate this terminology.

the advantage that you all have is farm fresh nutritious eggs...because what you feed them is what matters. "free range" is the least essential part and that's why they market this...because....that's what costs the least...to upsell their product.

You are working with some messed up concepts

 

[Brooks_]

All I know... “free ranged” or not....predators can and will take them at any advantage...my friend that gave me the quail eggs just lost his flock of 20 “free ranged” chickens that would roam the 5 acres by day and return to be locked up at night....mid day a husky came through and killed all but 4 hens and a roo...then a coon got the injured roo the next day.....now he is building a “run” with a closed top and sides....I tried to tell em, but it’s his first flock so.....

It's my first flock too. I just accept the risk that the run is not 100% secure and that something could happen when they're out for free time.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

Hello fellow Brit!

I have no idea what goes on with supermarkets. Haven't bought shop eggs for years lol!

I think 'free range' has different meanings for smallholders/home owners to large poultry farms.

It's a term which everyone understands so I have no problem with it being used.

I think you have an excellent point which is contradicted by your last statement.

Free range absolutely has different meanings for small owners vs commercial operations, which makes it a term that many misunderstand, especially non-chicken owners.

 

[Krugerrand]

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/defa...marked Product Label Submission Checklist.pdf

Free Range definition:Eggs packed in USDA grademarked consumer packages labeled as free range must be produced by hens housed in a building, room, or area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and continuous access to the outdoors during their laying cycle. The outdoor area may be fenced and/or covered with netting-like material.

No space requirement specified for "outdoor area".

Cage Free definition: Eggs packed in USDA grademarked consumer packages labeled as cage free must be produced by hens housed in a building, room, or enclosed area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and provides the freedom to roam within the area during the laying cycle.

Again, no space requirement specified.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/USDA Grademarked Product Label Submission Checklist.pdf


No space requirement specified for "outdoor area".



Again, no space requirement specified.

I also wonder how they define "during the laying cycle"?

 

[Brooks_]

I also wonder how they define "during the laying cycle"?

Probably from POL until sold off to be McNuggets.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/USDA Grademarked Product Label Submission Checklist.pdf


No space requirement specified for "outdoor area".



Again, no space requirement specified.

None of us are disputing that the USDA definitions of the marketing terms are potentially misleading to consumers buying eggs off of a grocery market shelf - but your counter proposal, that a fence, no matter how far distant from the hen house, is definitionally not "free range" is equally absurd. Your definition is synonymous, effectively, with "at large", with the attendant legal consequences that follow such a definition. Joe and Jane consumer are not exactly the definition of well informed, and probably shouldn't be a standard we look up to, in a country whose average IQ is below 100 (a point on the scale supposed to be defined as the average).

As a term of Art, used by hobbyists and backyard enthusiasts, while it lacks specificity, it does still serve a use in communicating some (very vague and generalized) sense of the the speaker's poultry management practices. For that purpose, I'm perfectly wiling to continue its use - understanding that is as descriptive as, for instance, "blue".

Aqua? Midnight? Sapphire? Azure? Cobalt? Navy? Ultramarine? Lapis? Indigo? Cornflower? Baby? ...