Why We Pasture Raised Our Chickens Instead of Free Ranging Them

**We don't raise chickens anymore**

There are many reasons why we choose to raise our chickens in a pasture instead of free range. Before I knew anything about chickens I would have thought free range was a good and humane way to raise chickens. I now know that that isn't necessarily true. It makes me sick when I think about what the USDA considers humane. free range just isn't what it sounds like. 

First of all free range does not mean what you think it does. free range simply means they have at least 2 sq ft each they really get very limited outdoor space. cage free also doesn't mean what you think it does they only get 1 sq ft each and no outside space at all they probably don't even get fresh air. Pasture-raised now that means they have at least 35 sq ft of outside space each. when chickens are pasture raise that can mean one of two things. The first thing that is could mean is they live in a pasture that has 35 sq ft for each chicken or more. the second thing that pasture-raised chickens could mean is that they have a smaller amount of space but they move that space around. Now your "tractor" chicken coop does not count it counts as free range though. A flock that is pasture raised in a rotational way has more room then free range requires in just one of the sections that the chickens are rotated in.