Why I let my poultry free range

  Let me begin by saying that I love my hens dearly. I know what each cluck means, and I regularly still hold and cuddle my big elderly Red Sex Links that I've had since the very beginning. It is because I love them that I allow them their freedom. I have lost my fair share of birds over the past couple years, and I'm okay with that. In fact I've lost a grand total of 4 hens and 3 roosters to free ranging. So why do I still do it?

The nutritional value of free-range eggs makes this challenge a worthwhile endeavor for the homesteader wanting to produce higher quality eggs for a healthier diet.  Recently, Mother Earth News did an egg study comparing free-range eggs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs.  The findings showed that free-range chicken eggs produced the following results:

    • 1/3 less cholesterol
    • 1/4 less saturated fat
    • 2/3 more vitamin A
    • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
    • 3 times more vitamin E
    • 7 times more beta-carotene

Besides the obvious nutritional benefits, free-range eggs simply taste better!  The most likely cause of the differences between free-range eggs and those from caged, commercial-production hens is the diet the hens consume every day.  Basically, you are what you eat.  After all, the free-range chicken’s diet is all natural and varied, while the caged hen eats only what is placed in front of her.  Free-range hens are also usually healthier than their cousins kept in crowded cages in commercial poultry houses and even those kept in backyard runs.  The feeds given to commercial hens are the cheapest possible mixture of corn, soy, and/or cottonseed meals, with many types of additives mixed in.  These additives often include growth hormones, meat and bone meals, as well as antibiotics and chemicals, like arsenic, to keep the chickens awake longer and producing more.  The commercial chicken has a much shorter lifespan due to stress, illness and general disease than does a free-range hen—unless, of course, the free-range hen falls prey to a natural predator.

 Free-range chickens are also a wonderful source of entertainment on warm summer days.  A single insect can cause mass hysteria among a flock of free-range chickens.  Where one goes, they all go at a run and a massive chase scene can ensue over one juicy bug.  They can also perform amazing duck and cover routines if something so much as an airplane shadow should appear overhead.  You will learn just what a free-range chicken will eat, and you will also become adept at construction of chicken barricades to protect everything that you don’t want them to destroy—such as your garden—while they are in one of their feeding-frenzies.  

What it all boils down to is if you're willing to allow your hens health and happiness be the priority over control in a small environment. While I do not have anything against anyone who keeps chickens in runs and coops alone, I do stand by the fact that their counterparts who free range live healthier and happier lives.  Free-range chickens are definitely worth the effort needed to take care of them, as the fresh eggs and meat are by far the best that you can obtain anywhere.