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“Free-range chickens conjure up in some consumers’ minds pictures of contented fowl strolling around the barnyard, but the truth is, all a chicken grower needs to do is give the birds some access to the outdoors whether the chickens decide to take a gambol or stay inside with hundreds or thousands of other birds, under government rules growers are free to label them free-range.
“As all free-range animals are still viewed as objects to be killed for food, they are subject to abusive handling, transport, and slaughter. Free-range animals, like all animals used for their milk and eggs, are still slaughtered at a fraction of their normal life expectancy.”
Associated Press, 3/11/98
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“The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the term ‘free range’ or ‘free roaming’ can be used to describe poultry that “has been allowed access to the outside.” Such a loose definition, without a government standard, leaves lots of room for interpretation. As long as a bird has outdoor access, it can live in a warehouse-style shed with 20,000 other birds and still be labeled ‘free range.’”
“Bird Words: Translating the Label”
The Washington Post, 11/15/06
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A growing number of people are looking to free-range products as an alternative to factory-farmed animal products. Poultry meat may be labeled “free-range” if the birds were provided an opportunity to access the outdoors. No other requirements—such as the stocking density, the amount of time spent outdoors, or the quality and size of the outdoor area—are specified by the USDA.1 As a result, free-range conditions may amount to tens of thousands of birds crowded inside a shed with a single exit leading to a muddy strip, saturated with droppings.
The free-range label applies only to birds raised for meat, not eggs. There is a cage-free label for eggs; but it is not regulated by the USDA, nor does it guarantee that the hens were provided access to the outdoors. Neither label requires third-party certification. Even for USDA Organic, the most extensively regulated label, minimum levels of outdoor access have not been set and specific rules do not apply to stocking density or flock size.1
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“Steve Mahrt, self-proclaimed ‘head chicken farmer’ and owner of Petaluma Farms, has been selling fertile, cage-free and organic eggs to West Coast consumers for 20 years.… ‘We’re the original, free-ranging chicken people,’ says Mahrt, a former California Egg Commission chairman.”
“How one egg farmer has gone cage-free for 20 years,” Oakland Tribune, 5/28/03
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| Above are two pictures from Mahrt’s farm (click each for larger image; courtesy of Viva! USA and Farm Sanctuary). |
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Male chicks, of no value to the egg industry, are killed at birth; and female chicks, whether destined for cages or not, are typically debeaked at the hatchery. Although hens can live more than 10 years, they’re killed after a year or two.
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| Turkeys raised for free-range meat are often subjected to debeaking and toe trimming. |
Since 2004, East Bay Animal Advocates has monitored the husbandry practices of a free-range turkey farm in Northern California. Click to tour the farm.
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Free-range and cage-free farms vary greatly, and while they may be an improvement over conventional farms, they are by no means free of suffering. Visiting the farms and slaughterhouses is the only way to know how the animals are being raised and killed before the meat hits your plate.
See also: How Free Is “Free-Range”? from Compassion Over Killing; A Brief Guide to Meat and Dairy Labels and Their Relevance to Animal Welfare and A Brief Guide to Egg Carton Labels and Their Relevance to Animal Welfare from the Humane Society of the United States.
Reference
- USDA ERS, Outlook Report No. LDP-M-150-01, 12/06.
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