Free range chickens, really?

What do you think of when you see the words "free range" on your eggs? I think of happy hens roaming in a field, scratching, pecking, taking dust baths and laying in the sun. Over the past week I have done some research, read many articles and I have come to the conclusion that the words "free range" are merely marketing ploys designed to mislead consumers.

Our chickens set up. 

By definition, free range means the animal has access to the outdoors part of the day. Access to outdoors can be interpreted generously or quite narrowly. It seems that large producers follow the letter of the law, and not its spirit. They put a small opening in the large confined areas where the chickens have access to go outside. My issue with this is that the majority of these chickens will never see outside, because the opening is so small they will never be able to navigate their way through the mess to even find it.

We have had chickens for years now and they're an important part of our farm. They do a lot work for us and they have fun doing it. The most obvious benefit of our chickens is, they give us eggs. However, they do much more than that. They eat ticks, they mow down grass and weeds, and they eat our vegetarian table scraps. Let's elaborate just a little more on each of these. The eat tons of bugs. Most people don't realize but, 50% of a chickens diet is actually grass. That's right, they eat clover and mixed grass. Also, each day Megan saves the table scraps and cuttings from fruits and vegetables we cut. When we go to gather eggs in the afternoon they get an awesome treat when we toss out the table scraps. So, instead of tossing our table scraps in the trash, then hauling it off to the dump our chickens take care of that. This reduces the amount of trash we are tossing into a landfill.

If you have ever been around chickens and observed them you would know they are social, inquisitive and loving creatures that enjoy scratching, foraging and sunning themselves.  Hens can live for up to 10 years, and I'm no expert on chicken life but chickens in a large confinement operation with little or no access to outdoors will dramatically shorten that animals lifespan.

The next time you're at the supermarket buying eggs and you see the words, "free range" or "happy hens" remember they are painting a picture of something that probably doesn't exist. We need to understand where our food comes from and what is being put in it. It's up to you to take responsibility and educate yourself about what you are putting in your body. Find a farmer close to you, build a relationship with them and put your money back into the local economy. 



Jason Smith
Farmer, market gardener
www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com