Losing the flock - Update PICS pg7...

[MissPrissy]

Apply the term free range to beef and hogs to get a better understanding of the term.

Is it okay to let them wander aimless around a neighborhood or into someones acreage?? No. It means they have an area, usually pasture, where they roam freely, yet still contained by fencing.

Feed lot cattle and swine do not get hat option and are not 'free range'.

 

[Marlinchaser]

google it FREE RANGE

Free range - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaOct 31, 2008 ... Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_range - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

Now whos the smarty pants???

Wikipedia doesnt lie............

 

[MissPrissy]

Santa won't come to see you when act like a patooty.

 

[Clay In Iowa]

Quote:
While technically correct I find it completely misleading. Anyone with a Chicken run is technically "free ranging" their birds. Even if they are kept at a density high enough so that all their birds are incapable of getting outside at the same time. They each have the option to leave just not en mass.

An "organic Free range" egg producer here in Iowa proudly proclaims his birds have 1.25-1.5 square feet each inside with an additional 2 square feet outside. They get a diet of organic corn and soybeans. I can guarantee his birds are running around on bare dirt that has been in continuous use as a chicken run for decades. Not a blade of grass to be seen.

Personally I am concerned that my birds won't be fee range with 4 square feet each inside and 40+ square feet each outside, rotated to a new run full of fresh grass and forage each week (4 x 1600+ square foot runs). And allowing them to truly roam 5 acres when I can be outside to keep an eye on them.

I will confine them for protection only. There are just too many predators in my area.

 

[NurseNettie]

Quote:
I'm not trying to add to the argument-- I see both sides, but had to jump in here... You are joking, right, when you say Wikipedia doesn't lie?? I'm not suggesting it does lie, but it's not a resource you can count on as all the content is user submitted and up for debate

Free-ranging can be applied to several scenarios, depending on the person who is using it. My chickens could be considered free range, but I don't consider them to be-- not until they have a bigger run. They get out and eat grass and bugs etc, every day. Their pop door opens at sunrise, and we close them in at night-- other than that, they can and do get outside as much as they wish-- but our run is only about 10x25 feet-- I'd like to at least double it. To allow them to freely roam wherever they wanted, would just open up a can of disaster--- we've got coons, foxes and bear just steps away in the woods.

I'm done-- and won't add more because I don't want to get a slap on the wrist

 

[Clay In Iowa]

Quote:
Hang on a second. I'm going to go edit that to say access to the outside.

Consider the source.

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
wikipedia is info given by anyone who can cite a source...the source used for this 'definition' is an organization that is not to be mentioned on this site....

 

[miss_jayne]

merriam-webster dictionary's definition of free-range:


Main Entry:
free–range Listen to the pronunciation of free–range
Pronunciation:
\\ˈfrē-ˌrānj\\
Function:
adjective
Date:
1960

: allowed to range and forage with relative freedom <free–range chickens> ; also : of, relating to, or produced by free-range animals <free–range eggs>

 

[Marlinchaser]

http://www.upc-online.org/freerange.html

heres another one

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Like I have always argued with my dear mother, changing the definition of a word to suit your own purposes might make you feel better but it did NOTHING to actually change the meaning of the word. Free range is just that, FREE range. The majority of the time, on this site, people seem to agree that free range does NOT inclued being fenced in. Being fenced is not necessarily bad, just not free range. Can't understand why the definition seems to have changed just for this thread.