I have a family member who runs a chicken farm, and according to them the chicken get "so fat their legs brake, and they can't walk". So that made me wonder about free ranged chicken. Shouldn't free ranged chicken have this problem too, and if so then what is the point of free ranged if the chicken get so fat they can't walk.
Free ranged chicken.
- Thread starter ICRS
- Start date
Brainonska511
Lifer
- Dec 10, 2005
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Free range generally means they are caged, but there is a small opening they could potentially walk through to get outside (but usually don't).
waggy
No Lifer
- Dec 14, 2000
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really?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_range "Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner"
waffleironhead
Diamond Member
- Aug 10, 2005
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Skunkwourk
Diamond Member
- Dec 9, 2004
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in theory the free range is supposed to lower the chances of bacteria and sickness for chickens, although Im not really sure what difference it makes if their coops/cages, aren't cleaned regularly.
Battery chickens are kept in a box only an inch or so wider than a chicken, and are force fed strange concoctions including parts of chickens and other animals, so they never get a chance to move their legs - that's why they are so weak they break. They also live in their own urine, so over time the acid begins to eat through the flesh of the broken legs, contributing to what must be serious pain for the bird, and creating the brown/yellow stain seen on the hock of a supermarket chicken.
Buy free range.
Heh, did you even read the link you cited?
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that chickens raised for their meat have access to the outdoors in order to receive the free-range certification. Free-range chicken eggs, however, have no legal definition in the United States. Likewise, free-range egg producers have no common standard on what the term means. Many egg farmers sell their eggs as free range merely because their cages are two or three inches above average size, or because there is a window in the shed."
Free-range in the majority of cases is a marketing term more than anything. Antibiotic-free is something a bit more worthwhile to look for.
Some breeds of chicken are supposed to be slaughtered before they reach a certain age and size, otherwise they will no longer be able to walk.
I believe this was mentioned in the book The Omnivore's Dilemma. I can't remember whether it was "free-range" eggs or "free-range" chickens, but basically they were kept in a coop for something like the first 3 weeks of life, then the doors were opened so they can walk on the little patch of grass outside. They were so used to being in the coop at this point that they didn't venture out.
BrunoPuntzJones
Lifer
- Feb 24, 2001
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DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
pure bullshit.
OP, it depends on the breed of the chicken. Through selective cross-breeding, new breeds have been established that grow big FAST. What your relative is probably raising are Cornish-cross chickens. They're butchered at 3 weeks of age for cornish game hens (between 2 and 2.5 pounds live weight), and can reach 8 pounds by the time they're 8 weeks old. The cocks reach a heavier weight than the hens, hence cornish game hen (butchered early because they don't gain as quickly after that) vs cornish game cock. The cocks are raised to the heavier weight because it's more efficient. We tried to raise about a dozen birds to maturity so they would reproduce, and every one of them died. Other breeders who were more knowledgeable than me who also tried reported that theirs died of congestive heart failure. They simply grow faster than their body organs and bones can support. None of the small breeders that I know have been successful in raising these birds to sexual maturity (and, realistically, given the size they reached, I highly doubt they'd be able to reproduce naturally. Artificial insemination would have been required.) In my opinion, I didn't find the meat of these birds to be as tender or as tasty as other breeds of chickens that take longer to mature.
"Cornish Cross Broiler
Our fast growing meat type bird...you can't equal them anywhere! Pullets can weigh 5.96 lbs. in 56 days. St. Run 6.74 lbs. in 56 days, Cox 7.57 lbs. in 56 days. Excellent feed conversion. " here
As far as feed conversion, for the crosses, it's roughly 2.5 pounds of feed per pound of weight gain by those chickens. Thus, to have a 6 pound bird, it'd take 15 pounds of feed. Unfortunately, feed prices have gone through the roof in the past year or so. A 50 pound bag used to cost me under $4.85. Now, a 50 pound bag of feed is just over $10. ($10.15 last time I was at the feed store.)
edit: I should have also mentioned that the cornish cross do not make good free range chickens because of their traits. However, many people use them for free range chickens simply because they're the most available meat birds on the market. Personally, I raise Delaware chickens to help preserve that breed. Much slower growth weight & now a 17 months of age, they've maxed out on weight - no where near what the cornish cross chickens hit in 5 months before dropping over dead.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
That's weird. Whenever I open the door to the outdoor area where our chickens are, they run out into the yard. At night, they go back in on their own and I close the door. (To make sure minor predators don't get in - foxes, skunks, etc.)
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
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I worked on chicken farms as a teen during the summer months.
They are placed in a long 'house' about 300 feet long and 24 feet wide. They come in as chicks and are left to roam about the inside on a dirt floor. Nothing to do but eat.
They are packed so tight they barely can move. After a few weeks we went in and used vaccination guns to give them their shots and later the beaks are clipped to prevent them from pecking each other. We would go in once every morning and pick out the dead ones, that were then tossed into the houses that held hogs. If the bird can't walk they don't care, as long as it can eat and breathe enough to make it on the truck.
When it was time to empty the houses the trucks back up to the door and we set up a wall made of vinyl curtains on each side and then we would go to the back of the house and make the chickens run forward into the trucks until they all are loaded.
Clean out the house and start all over again.
It isn't a happy life for them in any way.
At least free range birds do get some freedom and some kind of quality of life.
They are placed in a long 'house' about 300 feet long and 24 feet wide. They come in as chicks and are left to roam about the inside on a dirt floor. Nothing to do but eat.
They are packed so tight they barely can move. After a few weeks we went in and used vaccination guns to give them their shots and later the beaks are clipped to prevent them from pecking each other. We would go in once every morning and pick out the dead ones, that were then tossed into the houses that held hogs. If the bird can't walk they don't care, as long as it can eat and breathe enough to make it on the truck.
When it was time to empty the houses the trucks back up to the door and we set up a wall made of vinyl curtains on each side and then we would go to the back of the house and make the chickens run forward into the trucks until they all are loaded.
Clean out the house and start all over again.
It isn't a happy life for them in any way.
At least free range birds do get some freedom and some kind of quality of life.
My family member chicken house looks like this but more crowded.
http://www.vivavegie.org/vvi/v...6/images/chickens.jpeg
http://www.vivavegie.org/vvi/v...6/images/chickens.jpeg
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
- 76
Yeah. That is just like the ones I worked in.
People that think animals they eat have had a good life where they were treated well or were not abused in any way, wake up from your fairy tale life.
Its all money, all that matters is how many pounds make it to market.
This is another pic of the inside of one:
http://gallery.wvca.us/litter/chicks_in_house2
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
- Oct 30, 2000
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DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
I didn't say there was no such thing as hock burns. However, the reason their legs break has nothing to do with "they never get a chance to move their legs." They simply grow faster than their bones can keep up.
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