Free range versus cage chickens

We just got our new batch of Isa Browns which is always exciting. We keep them in a large enclosed pen which also has a wooden house and laying boxes (a converted dog kennel), nothing fancy but warm. cosy and comfortable.

We bought these ladies from a local cage egg farm, which is a bit strange because I'm completely against cage egg farms. But my reasoning is quite simple. You buy the young chooks from their elevated cages from which they've just been yanked out of by the legs by the staff member. You get them home and let them out of a cardboard box into the yard you have prepared for them. And this is the good part. You watch.

These feet have never stepped on bare earth. They have never pecked at a worm or insect. They have never walked freely!

So, my husband and I both agree it's worth freeing these chooks from a life of misery in a cage and giving them the opportunity to do what comes naturally. This morning they had their first hot mash and were suitably impressed.

I'll discuss egg farms again in a later post, I think it's time for change.