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

[quackingdom]

if you meet somebody who says " i have free range chickens" ...what that means is that "i have 10 or leas chickens."

it was kind of a joke. nobody who farms chickens wouldn't have a fence. you have to protect your investment and you'd never use the term "free range."

I have free range chickens. I have more than ten.

I have close to a hundred animals, mostly poultry, and I say they free range. The losses to predators are few enough that it's absolutely worth the added happiness and freedom for the birds and the lack of infrastructure cost for us.

They used to have access to our full six acres with no fence whatsoever. When we got sheep last year, we did subdivide this area into six sections, but it hardly changed the birds' territory at all since they had never used the back pasture end of the property anyway, despite having access to it. One chicken, Phoebe, likes to jump over the fence occasionally.

I do not think fences automatically preclude the usage of the term "free range."

 

[Lemon-Drop]

if you meet somebody who says " i have free range chickens" ...what that means is that "i have 10 or leas chickens."

I use the term free range and have more than 10 chickens.

 

[cfonts]

"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.

I personally don't think that there is anything wrong with the term "free range". I use the term "free range" when describing my chickens, because they are simply that - free range chickens. I have a flock of feral chickens that adopted me over a year ago, that choose to live in my backyard. They don't have a coop and prefer to roost in the trees in my backyard at night. I provide them with water and food like any other chicken keeper. They can leave my backyard at any time, but they choose not to.

There are plenty of free range chicken keepers in the world.

EXACTLY! I'm one of them!!!

Free Range is the best way to lose every chicken you have! Even in a non-rural setting, there are coyotes, raccoons, o'possums, dogs, and any number of other predators, and if your chickens aren't secured, they're dinner for something!

Chicken security is being inside a pen with bottom, top, sides, etc. secured.

That's a very broad statement to make. This is definitely not true in my case. There are no natural predators to chicken here on Kauai. There may be an occasional cat or dog that visits my yard, but they never bother with my chickens, because the chickens I have are very fierce and will chase them out of my yard.

 

[Carson213]

i'm just amazed people get so worked up about it.

"free range" ignites the same fire on this forum as does asking why people care about what color eggs their chickens lay.

people are fanatical about their "free range" chickens and having multi colored eggs. super entertaining

 

[SpotTheCat]

i'm just amazed people get so worked up about it.

"free range" ignites the same fire on this forum as does asking why people care about what color eggs their chickens lay.

people are fanatical about their "free range" chickens and having multi colored eggs. super entertaining

I don’t see any fire just people replying to a thread

 

[TOR]

What should I call my chickens. They have food , but in the morning I open the door and they go where they want thru the day and eat till dark I lock them back up.
The chickens I have do free range in the day they do not sit by a feeder, I also agree free range could be used as a marketing term or ploy.

Whats the new term for free ranging?

 

[Chuckie chicken]

It's just human nature. Some people are prone to seek attention through manufacturing controversy, while others have a propensity to respond to continued trolling.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's just human nature. Some people are prone to seek attention through manufacturing controversy, while others have a propensity to respond to continued trolling.

And some people are not at all what are being described and still use the term

 

[Carson213]

What should I call my chickens. They have food , but in the morning I open the door and they go where they want thru the day and eat till dark I lock them back up.
The chickens I have do free range in the day they do not sit by a feeder, I also agree free range could be used as a marketing term or ploy.

Whats the new term for free ranging?

my cats do the same thing. i just refer to them as cats. ironically...my cats are probably more "free range" than my chickens but i don't boast about it

 

[Coops Dad]

So if my chickens and turkeys can scavenge seed heads through 6+ acres of tall pasture grass or graze in the middle 2+ acres of lawn around the house, or hunt bugs in the front 10+ acres of native grass, shrubs and trees, what should I call it? The chickens tend to stay within a couple hundred feet of their coop and tractor shed anyway. They turkeys are really the only ones who take advantage of the space.