I want to start off by saying that I do not mean to endorse or oppose any of the brands shown here. I took my camera to a local grocery store, and took photos of labels that I know people have questions about, regardless of the brands.
We’ve all heard about cage free and free range chicken. But does anyone really know what it means?
According to the USDA’s regulations, in order to use the label “cage free,” the entire flock of birds must be able to freely roam in “a building, room, or enclosed area with unlimited access to food and fresh water during their production cycle.” It does not give requirements for how big the space must be, or how many birds can be together.
I looked all over the USDA website, and could not easily find a definition for “production cycle.” In different documents, they talk about this in different terms. One document mentions pregnancy through lactation as a production cycle for dairy cattle, and the start/end of fattening for beef cattle. Another document talks about the production cycle for beef cattle being from conception to slaughter. In the case of laying hens, I would consider the production cycle to start at the time she is first capable of laying an egg. For broiler hens (raised for meat production), you might consider the production cycle to start as soon as they are hatched.
This label includes organic and free range. Again, according to the USDA website, free-range applies specifically to poultry, not other types of animals (like cattle). The flock of birds must be provides shelter in a “building, room, or area with unlimited access to food, fresh water, and continuous access to the outdoors during their production cycle.” There are no guidelines to what type of outdoor area they have access to – it may be a small dirt lot or a large grassy pasture. There is also no requirement that the birds actually spend any time outdoors, only that they have access to it.
One important thing to think about when you are talking about cage-free or free-range chickens is the term “pecking order.” This term came about from chicken behavior. If a chicken gets sick, once the other birds realize it, they will kill the sick chicken by pecking it to death. This is a normal prey response – they are killing off the weak members of their flock so they don’t attract predators. They may also perform this behavior to establish dominance in a group of chickens. When you have a large group of chickens together in a room or an outdoor enclosure, you are more likely to have injuries or illnesses that may result in this type of normal chicken behavior than when chickens are kept in smaller groups in cages. It all depends on the environment and the management.
This label gets me every time. It is not regulated by the USDA. It used to be a common practice to feed animal by-products to animals as a protein source. When mad cow disease was discovered, and we realized that it was transmitted by eating nervous tissue (brain and spinal cord) from animals that already had the disease, this practice was largely eliminated.
Any ruminant (cattle, sheep, and goats) is an herbivore, meaning that left to its own devices will only eat plants. We did change their natural eating habits in confinement by feeding animal by-products as a protein source, but as I mentioned, we’ve gotten away from that practice in order to protect animal and human health.
Chickens are not herbivores. In their own chicken world, they are omnivores, which means that they will eat plants and animals. For chickens, this means they eat bugs and worms. A free range chicken, if it really has substantial access to the outdoors, will spend time scratching in the dirt and finding bugs to eat. So while the farmers may only feed the chicken a vegetarian diet, a free range chicken is probably falling off the vegetarian wagon every time it goes outside.
Do you buy cage-free or free-range chicken or eggs? Why or why not? What about the vegetarian-fed label? I can see how this would have appeal to vegetarians, but they aren’t the ones eating the chicken and beef…
We mostly buy what ever eggs are on sale, from time to time we’ll buy a doz, free range eggs. We are lucky to have a couple of friends that raise free range chickens and drop by a carton of eggs from time to time. The free range eggs have so much more flavor…..we use them for a big breakfast on the weekends or a breakfast for dinner sometimes during the week. We raised free range chickens when I was kid….trading the eggs at several neighborhood grocery stores for other items, when it was time for fried chicken Mom would go out in the chicken yard and grab a hen and ring it’s neck….after flopping around the back yard she would dress or undress the chicken and we have fried chicken for supper….talk about fresh! Don’t know if it was the free range chicken or Mom’s cooking…but the taste was so much different than the fried chicken we have today. I have fried a free range chicken in recent years and find it almost as good as what Mom cooked years ago….so I don’t think it was just Mom’s cooking.
I agree with Dave… I have family and friends with free-roaming, free-range chickens, and anyone that says the eggs don’t taste different may simply have not had the right eggs. HA!!! I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and am grateful for friends that have eggs coming from a very happy place. I’ve seen the nesting boxes, the woods and areas the birds roam, and it is wonderful. As far as WHAT the birds eat makes no difference to me… that’s nature, pure, simple, clean. And that’s what taking care of the animals is all about… letting them be as natural as possible.
I happen to live next door to a chicken farmer. And honestly, I’m not sure if you would call his chickens free range or not. They are outside (and inside if they want) all day – but he always shuts them up in the coop at night. And this isn’t because he is being mean to the animals. It’s actually for their safety. You don’t want a fox to get in your house, and the chickens don’t either.
So – since he shuts the chickens up at night, does that make them NOT free-range? I’m not really sure. What I am sure of, is that to get eggs the size his chickens lay, I have to buy jumbo sized eggs at the store, and the eggs also have a much better flavor than the ones I buy from town.
My mom keeps chickens and also has to shut them up at night to protect against wild animals. Accidents do happen though, she doesn’t contain them at all through the day but usually they stay in their field. She will occasionally lose one to the road or stray dogs. The only time she has trouble with them aggressively acting out towards one another is when there’s more than one rooster. Then it’s dumpling time 🙂 The eggs are huge, the shells are really hard, and it’s pretty normal to get double yolks. I can’t eat eggs from the store anymore, it’s like they aren’t even the same thing.
We have also gotten some eggs from friends who raise “backyard chickens.” I have to admit, that I usually don’t notice much of a flavor difference from the store-bought eggs. Sometimes the yolks will be a brighter color, but not always. Most of the flavor/color/texture difference has to do with the breed of chicken and the diet, not necessarily with the housing conditions. Having said that, I can tell a difference in freshness, even from eggs right from the store compared to the ones that have been sitting in my refrigerator for a week or two.
Stacy, I think it’s great that you can get eggs from someone you know and trust, and where you have seen the chickens’ home. I think it’s important to note that not all “free range” grocery store eggs (or chicken) comes from the idealized woods and pasture areas you can find around southern Indiana. All the labeling requirements include are”continuous access” to the outdoors, with no stipulations on what the outdoor area is like. It’s easy to get the idealized vision of “happy chickens” running around the woods all the time (and it’s great if you can find a place that actually has that), but that’s not the way all of the free range chickens that you find in the grocery store were raised.
Andrea, my interpretation of the USDA requirements for free range include “continuous access,” so since the doors to their coop are closed at night, I think technically that makes them NOT free range. But you’re right – it’s absolutely for their safety. Free range chickens can still be kept inside a fence (with or without a netting covering), so this can provide some measure of protection from coyotes and other predators. We have no shortage of them around here!
Laci, glad to see you here! In our area of the country, it’s pretty normal to have backyard birds that are loose during the day and closed in a chicken coop at night. Some people let their chickens (or ducks) run loose over their property, some keep them more contained inside fences, but most bring them inside a closed coop at night. We do have lots of coyotes and dogs around here, so keeping the birds inside at night is the best thing we can do to protect them against predators. As I said to Dave, I don’t really notice much of a difference between store-bought eggs and “backyard” eggs, but I know a lot of people who can tell the difference. I’m glad you have a local source that you trust.
At our house I don’t hear much about the taste of eggs from the store or from friends raising chickens. The excitement is when there is a double “yoker.” Glad they enjoy the little things….
I buy eggs from the store, and I’m pretty sure they are coming from a chicken farm like Rose Acres. They are a great source of protein, and I love them right out of the carton and into my skillet. We do, on occasion, buy eggs from my husband’s cousin or a somewhat close neighbor, but I am happy to buy them at the local IGA.
Awesome, I am so happy to have this website as a source of information!
Enjoy that while you can. 🙂
Lana, we buy most of our eggs from the local Walmart, and I’m okay with that. We do get the occasional dozen from friends and family, but that’s the exception.
I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
Thank you for writing about these labels. It does get confusing, but you helped clear some of the confusion.
Alice, I’m glad I have helped. Let me know if there are other labels you would like to talk about.
I generally by store eggs these days. From time to time I’ve gotten fresh eggs from a local farmer (or the farm I had worked on at one point). I notice the difference in two ways. Local farmers tend to have different kinds of chickens, which does change the taste/flavor. Also, I notice that local ones are generally fresher. Remember, grabbing them from a friend or local place, eggs are generally ‘harvested’ (what is the proper term for that) daily whereas a larger farm may take more time and so early ones have to sit and wait. Then it’s off on a refrigerated truck for who knows how long and then sits in the store.
Personally, the way I use most eggs in baking and/or cooking with various spices and other strong flavors mixed in, I rarely notice the subtle difference between the two. Mostly only when I’m making egg centric meals (over easy, plain scrambled, quiche, etc)
Thanks for the info Marybeth !!!
The lurking Dibble speaks! Different breeds of chickens can have slightly different flavored eggs. The shells can also be different colors – one of my nephews raises chickens that lay blue eggs! Eggs from your friends/family/down-the-street-neighbor are usually collected (or harvested) daily, and sometimes come right from the chicken coop to you. Eggs are also collected daily from the larger farms, but you are right, they may sit in a refrigerator on the farm for a little while before pick up, and then on the refrigerated shelves in your grocery store for a few days before they make it home. I think the difference in freshness is the biggest difference that people are noticing, and it comes across as a better/more powerful taste.
my mom (crazy xmas cookie baker) says the eggs she gets from the local farmer she knows whip up bigger than store bought eggs, and she winds up with greater yield from her recipes. not sure if this is related to freshness, actual egg size, or something else, but there you go. Also, i love the image of free-range chickens falling off the vegetarian wagon.
Dawn, it is probably related to the size and freshness of the eggs, although I can’t say that with any certainty. Maybe an egg experiment is in order… Glad I could make you smile!
Raising chickens is not only a great way to relax and get back to nature, I think the eggs are much healthier than the ones in stores. I feel sorry for folks who can’t raise backyard chickens because of silly zoning laws and such.