What is considered free-range?

[PortageGirl]

My definition is NOTHING like the USDAs definition, but I think it’s comparable to most BYC-ers. The USDA leaves MILES of loopholes for producers, so I don’t ever believe it if it says so on an egg carton.

My hens pop out the pop door in the morning, and run around our 1 or so acre yard/woods with no confinement at all... head for the coop at eventide and get locked in for their own safety overnight.

Mine are free range all day, happy hens, no neighbors who care if they wander over, though they haven't yet. They COULD possibly get to the road with some effort, but don't as a rule... even then, it's a dead end, only slightly traveled road. Two Chihuahuas and an arthritic Shi tzu down the way, the Chihuahuas might actually chase them, but the Shi tzu and the chickens cordially ignore each other when he comes to visit.

If you have a pen or run, they are cage free while in there, and if you let them out to roam the yard when you get home from work etc, they are free range in the evening. Still extremely healthy for them, and safe too. Mine could be vulnerable, but it’s a choice I make… been doing it for many many years with very few losses, so it’s working for me.

Also, if you have a tractor that is open enough so they get lots of access to grass and bugs and fresh air, that's still good IMO and probably most of us here agree it can be necessary for safety. Free range? well, not really, but if needs must, it's better than being locked in a dark barn.

//edit// did you all know that you can't spell that breed of dog properly here? the smut checker changes it to 'nonesense' LOL I broke the word into two segments so it would leave it alone, ( Shi tzu )

 

[possumqueen]

It's supposed to be shi tzu.

I so totally agree with the rest of your post, Portagegirl. BYC folks almost entirely have MUCH higher standards than USDA. Yay, BYC.

I'm glad to read in this thread about tractors. I'm building for birds in the spring, and in my situation the tractor will be the way to go.

I've learned so much on this website, for saving time, money, work, the whole thing! gotta love it!

 

[gritsar]

I don't know what the "technical" definition of free range is. My chickens are let out in the morning and free to wander where they will on 80 acres. At night, they put themselves to bed and I go and lock them up.

 

[Tala]

My five birds get to range on about 1/3 acre and that seems just dandy to them. They put themselves in the coop at night and I lock the door to keep out raccoons.

Technically by definition they aren't "free" ranging since they are tightly fenced on my property (as they should be) but I think they're happy out there no matter what you call it.

They grew up in a chicken tractor (before the back yard was securely fenced) and I think if you move it every day then it's a close second. Sometimes it's the best you can do and still get them fresh grass/bugs.

 

[Beekissed]

I think the word "free" in free range is an apt description. The birds are free to roam at will over a large area of ground.

Large is relative, I guess, but I think it is also relative to flock size.....if you have a large flock on a half acre, it would probably suffer and no longer have any "range" on which to be free.

I guess to be truly free ranged, there would be no fences at all.

Pastured can mean free ranged over grass or tractor kept and moved daily.

I don't think a run, by the sheer definition of a run~an enclosure for domestic animals~is exactly free range.

I free range 30 over an acre+, which is an average backyard flock over a pretty large area. There is no denuding except where the dogs and chickens like to dust along the overhang of the outbuildings.

If I bounced that flock up to a 100-200 strong, I doubt my fenced in area could be considered exactly free ranged but more as having a very large "run".

 

[catsbully]

well I too share the belief that 'free range' is just that... open the gate and out they go! but unfortunately as of this weekend mine are no longer free! yup my son and husband got their way .... am I po'd!!! all because the chickens had pretty much decimated 3 small flower garden beds!!! seriously? why not fence the beds off? noooo lets buy $300 worth of fencing and put up an area for the chickens albeit its 92X40 ft but its NOT free range! I LOVED calling my chickas over to the deck for some treats now thats GONE... oh to win the lottery and do what I want and tell these silly people to go live in a caged area!

 

[DavidTeresa]

FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:
Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

This came from the USDA page. This means if they have access to the outside, does not make any difference if it is on a slab of concrete for 5 minutes a day or out all day in a field of grass. Just means not in a coop or cage all day. So if you have a run guess what, that is access to the outside.

 

[grayeyes]

i have free range chickens. i have no cages for them and have 1 acre too chow on bugs and grass. there is a coop that has 4 seperate rooms for them too roost and lay eggs. able too freeely move around is a free range chicken. no runs, in a way runs are a type of cage. i only have too watch for hawks and falcons when i have babies.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Legally you can open the door on a 20,000 chicken hen house and leave it open for a short period of time everyday and the eggs laid by these hens can be sold as free range regardless if any of the hens ever set a foot on the bare earth, chase a bug, or see a blade of grass. There are no requirements about what size the so called FREE range must be, or how many bugs (if any) you must truck in for your hens.

Free range ultimately means that the hens are free some time during the day to leave the hen house, but there are no requirements for individual birds to punch a time card, or swipe an ID badge to prove that she took the farmer up on his offer. Can you imagine the hassle and mass confusion involved in herding 20,000 laying hens out of and back into a layer house every morning and evening or how much stress one stray dog can inflict on 20,000 "free range" hens?

 

[MzPlacedHippie]

wow...so much to think about. Glad I got my birds. They roam my and my mother's 3 and a half acre fenced property (and visit my neighbor from time to time, who has not complained). They come roost in the tree over their coop containing the nest boxes, where Honey, who seems to be the only girl laying so far leaves me one egg each day. They forage all day, come see what I'm doing when I am outside and visit with my mom next door some also. They seem very happy. My roos have sounded the alarm quiet well when a snake was spotted (had formed a line and had all the hens behind them) and I do hope they continue to do such a great job. I guess they are more free pasture than free range. They are just free, perhaps.