What is the difference between an organic chicken

[cori]

and a free range chicken. (besides the price) Are free ranges pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones too.?

Free range feed standard feeds like used in battery farm (could be GM, is 70% grain)

Organic SHOULD be concerned with origin and method of production of feeds which should be certified organic grain-based with no synthetic aditives VETERINARY PRACTICES

Free-Range are fed antibiotics conventionally as a pre-emptive strike

Organic producers don't do preventative medicine

Free-range - routinely mutilate birds .. de-beaking and claw clipping

Organic -don't

Free-range lifespan about 56 days.. Organic about 81 days meaning it grows slower and so has less injuries than conventional rearing

More birds per housing unit in free range than organic (almost twice as many)

I wondered that too.

so is free range actually any better than battery farmed chicken?

battery is worst
free range better - but really varies
organic best
(See Twiglett below)

Hugh FernallyWhittingstall did a great programme about where chicken comes from and how it is reared. I made my yr old and 4yr old watch it and it really helped.

These are battery chickens . Cheap chicken is cruel.

They are laying cheap chicken eggs.

Flavour! As well as how much meat you get from it - no shrinkage. May cost more per kilo but you get a heap more chicken for your money that tastes fab.

Yes - loads more meat on an organic one. Had one roasted on Sunday, it lasted for dinner and sandwiches yesterday and DD has just finished the last of it off for her lunch today. And it was only £8 for 2kg (local, instead of ripoff Waitrose price - the Sheepdrove ones are nice but £12??). I would never buy cheap supermarket chicken.

I know what a battery farmed chicken is. But how are free range ones kept?

This is pretty much how the free range chickens near us are kept , most days they roam about the field within fairly large penned off areas on green grass. They have access to large mobile hen barns, which are moved to a new location every so often to keep the gound fresh, this in turn fertilises the ground. They do spend periods shut up in the barn at night and some days, not sure why, but most daylight hours they are out and about.

Here is a free range chicken.
Apparently they should be well-hung and dry-plucked ........(sorry!).. not my idea but Delia's.

Feeling peckish now...

They are shut in at night so the foxes don't eat them before we do!