# Stuff and Things > Cooking >  Do You Want Your Chickens and Eggs Free Range?

## sargentodiaz

Yeah. The latest thing. Let's release those poor creatures from those inhumane cages and let them roam free. So you can feel good when you savor that fried leg or egg. Well, here's what that free range looks like:






Or would you prefer this:


 The second shows how all have food and water and far more sanitary conditions than the first.


And yes, this is what I personally prefer and would hope this is what Free Range Chicken really means:

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## squidward

> And yes, this is what I personally prefer and would hope this is what “Free Range Chicken” really means:


How do you protect against hawks ?

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## Roadmaster

On the farm I grew up on all of ours was free reign. About two acre fenced in just for them, with trees and a place to lay their eggs. Had to watch for foxes and bobcats but they roamed somewhat free.

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## squidward

mine get get hit from above on occasion. I plan on using aviary netting. They are secured inside at night.

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## Jen

I have a friend who has her own free range chickens and she hates it when she hears the chicken singing its "I laid an egg" song from wayyy under the deck.

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## Roadmaster

Well now we clipped their wings at birth so they couldn't fly but so high. That kept them in the 8 ft fence and out of the fields we planted.

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## squidward

> I have a friend who has her own free range chickens and she hates it when she hears the chicken singing its "I laid an egg" song from wayyy under the deck.


That's what kids are for !

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Jen (03-13-2016)

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## Kodiak

> How do you protect against hawks ?


We have hawks around here, as well as an eagle or two and they never bother my wife's laying hens.   The girls (as she calls them) will be at the far end of our property with no shelter around and if they see one soaring above, they just slowly head for their coup.   Probably too much natural prey, rabbits, squirrels, etc., for them to mess with our big 'ol hens.

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## squidward

> We have hawks around here, as well as an eagle or two and they never bother my wife's laying hens.   The girls (as she calls them) will be at the far end of our property with no shelter around and if they see one soaring above, they just slowly head for their coup.   Probably too much natural prey, rabbits, squirrels, etc., for them to mess with our big 'ol hens.


that worked for me for a while, but once they caught on to the easy prey I was forced to bring them in. 
I have a gigantic Brahma rooster which is very defensive and kind of nasty, but he just stood there and watched, making an awful ruckus, but pretty useless.

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## Calypso Jones

This is what I see in my mind when free range chicken is mentioned.  Maybe a cowboy or two riding herd on them chickees.

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sandhurstdelta (03-13-2016)

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## Kodiak

We live in the high desert and ours free range on our property, which is mostly desert terrain.  The best thing about them is they are GREAT weed eaters.   The past couple of years the desert has been getting inundated with these non-native, invasive sticker weeds that get huge.   Our neighbors are always out spraying for them, but we never get a single weed.  The hens are constantly pecking the ground getting the seeds before they even sprout.   People can't believe 4 hens can keep over an acre totally weed free.   :Thumbsup20:

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## Trinnity

Mine just roam around the yard. They're locked in the coop at night. Chickens come and go - the foxes and hawks and snakes get one now and then. It's just the way it is. But they're happy chickens hanging out in the yard. /shrug

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## Quark

In Montana free range chickens would last to long with all the hawks, eagles, coyotes, wolves, bears, foxes, etc. A few chickens in the yard maybe safe but range chickens not likely.

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## sandhurstdelta

It doesn't matter how they were kept.

All birds cry just before they are slaughtered.

It is a sad sight.

Seafood and fish is about the only truly guilt free meat.

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## sandhurstdelta

> This is what I see in my mind when free range chicken is mentioned.  Maybe a cowboy or two riding herd on them chickees.


This looks like something out of a Disney movie CJ !!

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## patrickt

I want my chicken fried or roasted.

When I was young, my grandmother would by three flats of eggs around Easter every year. The flats went into racks built into the coal furnace. The flats were turned three times a day. In a few days, we had peeps in the boxes and they went out into the large chicken yard. In a few weeks we were eating chicken every Sunday. Making Sunday dinner started with running the chickens down.

We also had eggs for breakfast and for making cakes.

Those were free-range chickens. Free range meant that the chickens we ate in May could be fried, roasted, stewed, or whatever. But, the chickens we ate in October could only be stewed. A chicken that's been running from Grandmomma for seven months is tough. Tough in every way you can imagine. Strong, stringy. Fry one and you'd never get him eaten.

And, I remember grandmomma cracking an egg into the skillet and having a little baby chicken fall out. "Patrick, I've told you to only get the eggs from the nests in the hen house. Don't go hunting eggs in the weeds and under the bushes." Aha, free range. Another liberal slogan to justify higher prices.

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