>According to one grassfed beef and poultry purveyor, "free range" only
>means the birds get to go outside a certain portion of the day.  This
>outside can mean a concrete pad.  If I remember correctly, it didn't mean
>anything much about what they ate.

In many states, the LEGAL definition of free range for eggs is simply that
the hen was not confined for her entire adult life to the nest, but is free
to walk about (even in a 4x6 area she may share with 23 other hens).  Since
most layers literally never leave their hen-sized nest from the time they
lay their first egg till they are killed after a year of laying, and their
toenails literally grow into curls that adhere them to the nest, just being
able to walk around at ALL is an improvement on quality of life.

If people knew how commercial poultry and eggs are actually produced in the
US, they would refuse to buy them!  And essentially, any place that can
produce enough eggs or meat to supply even a small mom-and-pop store is
likely for "practical" (financial) reasons to follow some/ all of the usual
commercial practices, so that the impressively labeled free range egg$ that
cost so much at Wellspring are probably produced under conditions not a
~lot~ healthier than grocery-store eggs.

As for meat birds going outside, the law in most states simply requires they
be ABLE to go outside.  Commercially, it is MUCH easier to manage huge
volumes of birds if they don't go out, ever.  When they go out, they risk
getting rained on, chilled, and sick, spreading disease (since they are not
especially disease resistant on those diets and with those genetics).  Not
cost-effective.

So, normally commercial poultry facilities that sell "free range" poultry
meat build a TINY yard at one end of an 80- to120-ft long building, and put
all the food and water on the other end of the building.  Guess where the
birds all flock together?? Close to the food and water, therefore most never
even know they CAN see the sun (and they are inside so much, it could almost
blind them.)

> I don't know what "organic" has to mean, legally, in terms of eggs.

Some states, like New York, require that the hens only be fed feed that is
CERTIFIED organic, which can cost two to four times as much as ordinary
chicken feed, and which due to the higher cost and lower demand, may
ironically be not be as fresh!  I have gotten some "off" bags, and for
$18-22/50 lb, that really hurts.  Regular layer pellets are $8.50/50 lbs.

The strict states also require that there be NO treated wood used anywhere
in the buildings or pens, or any plywood, or pressed wood, and the organic
defintions may outlaw some finishes or coatings as well.  So either you have
to have a very old farm that hasn't had plywood etc. used to maintain it, or
you build one all new, with expensive cedar and so forth, in order to not
use any treated materials that would disqualify your place.  My state (NC)
is much less particular.

>But the poultry purveyor went to pains to
>say how they actually had pasture-ranging birds, which they moved around
>frequently in big wire corrals to different pasture sites, so the birds
>could eat the grass and bugs and stuff.  I gathered this is not a common
>practice, as it's a lot of work.


It is quite expensive to build a lot of these portable pens, and if you use
non-treated wood, they may need to be replaced a lot more often than those
made of treated wood.  Plus, this practice requires a LOT of pasture space
(the soil has to rest after use and it takes time for the greens to grow
back).  And it takes lots of muscle to pick up and move the pens every few
days or so, so it tends to limit how many birds one can manage to take care
of at a time.  On the up side, modest amounts of chicken manure make a
wonderful fertilizer, so properly managed (i.e., moved OFTEN) pastured
poultry help renew their own pastures.

All of this explains the high cost of TRULY organic or free range eggs and
poultry meat.

I cannot afford to replace the old PT wood in the hen house with untreated,
so I painted it with non-toxic latex paint to seal it, a nice sky blue as a
psychological calmative (a friend, a retired poultry prof, had done research
and found that the color of a worn-out chambray shirt was just right for his
most skittish strain of production leghorns.)

I also cannot ~always~ get organic feed, so all I can rightfully claim about
my eggs, delicious as they are, is that they ARE always hormone and
antibiotic free, from ladies that run around and eat their greens and fruit,
and ~usually~ eat organic feed.

As for boarders, if you can produce an average of 4 eggs a week year-round,
you are welcome to come! <vbg>  My girls are at least partly self-supporting
through the sale of their eggs to pay for their feed....  (And I heat the
hen house if the weather drops below 32 outside, but the roosts are pretty
crowded...)

laurie (Mother Mastiff), local bird-brain