What Free Range Means

Producers must demonstrate to the agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

What free range means.

If poultry is certified free range as part of the humane farm animal care s hfac certified humane program it means the chickens spend at least six hours a day outdoors weather permitting and have pens with at least two square feet per bird. Top of page free range or free roaming. Of relating to or produced by free range animals. The term is not allowed to be used on a label.

Relating to or produced by farm animals that are allowed to move around outside and are not kept. Fresh means whole poultry and cuts have never been below 26 f the temperature at which poultry freezes. Asda is launching a new range of ethically produced milk but the free range label also found on eggs and meat can be confusing rebecca nicholson tue 28 feb 2017 07 58 est last modified. There is one organization certifying farms for free range chicken.

Top of page fresh poultry. Free range another usda term means that the eggs come from hens that have some sort of access to the outdoors. However it doesn t mean that the hens actually go outdoors. In poultry keeping free range is widely confused with yarding which means keeping poultry in fenced yards yarding as well as floorless portable chicken pens chicken tractors may have some of the benefits of free range livestock but in reality the methods have little in common with the free range method a behavioral definition of free range is perhaps the most useful.

Free range is a term that refers to a method of animal husbandry where animals are able to roam freely outdoors rather than being confined by an enclosure for 24 hours a day. Unfortunately it is not a usda regulated term so it can mean different things depending on the brand. Many people who buy eggs believe free range means the hens are not caged true and they are roaming outdoors most of the time eh uncertain. The usda says free range or free roaming chicken must be allowed access to the outside but that can be interpreted in many different.

Free range is another tricky claim. Free range definition is allowed to range and forage with relative freedom. That means that because the usda doesn t regulate the type or amount of outdoor access required these nutritional benefits may not apply to all chicken products labeled as free range.