Nieft / Secola expressed curiosity about Ellie's comment that she buys "range fed" chicken that come from near NYC: > ...how are the animals range fed during the winter in NY? > Kirt, she probably meant to say *free range*. This implies a system where the birds roost in a gated coop (for predator security), but have free access to pasture during the day. OTOH, I and Susan Defelice, who I mentioned earlier, raise ours in moveable, bottomless cages. Even though the caged birds are moved to fresh grass frequently, they can't properly be labeled "free range." A point here is that in both cases the birds have constant access to dry feed (commercial in the worst case and organic in the best). Finally, I suspect the NY farmer, just as Susan and I, only runs his meat chickens in batches---generally from April to October. Meat chickens take about 8 weeks to mature. Layers kept over winter must always have access to dry feed as the ground is not only often snow-covered in this area, but the grass, and associated insect life, are sparse. Hope you don't mind me stepping in here, Ellie. Regards, Rex Harrill