Pasture-Raised Chickens – What’s the Difference?

Pasture-Raised Chickens

As if the jargon on the top of an egg carton wasn’t already over the top, lately you may be seeing cartons advertising pasture-raised eggs. Pasture-raised eggs are eggs laid by chickens who are allowed to freely roam most of the day outdoors, either in the wide-open or within a large designated chicken yard allowing at least 108 sq ft of yard per chicken. This is very different than cage-free and free-range, and you should pay more for this level of care. These are healthy birds raised in a humane, more natural environment, eating a variety of foods to produce superior eggs. Expect to pay around $3-5 per dozen instead of the typical $1-3 of other eggs.

My own chickens are pasture-raised. I don’t confine my chickens at all during the day, not even within a yard.  Chickens are homebodies, so even though they could roam, they don’t go very far. They’re pretty happy staying within about an acre of our house in any given direction. My dogs keep most predators away during the day, and they are shut in their coop overnight to keep nighttime predators out.

I am not a commercial producer though which makes a big difference. I have a flock of fewer than 20 chickens, so keeping them in enough pasture is easy. Commercial producers could have thousands of chickens. Trying to maintain 108 sq ft per chicken for thousands of chickens would be understandably difficult. This is why pasture-raised eggs are more expensive. It’s hard to do in large scale.

Cage-free, on the other hand, is easy to do in large scale. It just means the chickens are allowed to roam openly within a building instead of being locked in a small pen all day.

These chickens do not typically ever step foot outside. Not to mention that these ladies are usually in such a confined space that they must be fed antibiotics regularly to prevent disease. Paying a premium for these eggs is a waste of money. In many countries, this is the minimum standard of care. Here in the US, though, it’s seen as some big accomplishment. The truth is people do not understand the various terms, and Big Chicken isn’t going to correct this misunderstanding.

Free-range could mean a variety of things depending on who you ask. It technically means that the chickens have “access” to the outside. This could be in the form of a small yard, a chicken tractor, a screened-in porch, or maybe just open windows. While this does provide the chickens with fresh air, it often doesn’t provide them with healthy, natural forage. (Note the lack of vegetation in the picture at right.

There are some companies, however, that are considered “free-range” operations that use pasture rotation to ensure their chickens get adequate natural forage, but they may not meet the requirements to call themselves “pasture-raised.” Unfortunately, unless you do some research, it’s hard to tell which ones put in the work and which companies don’t. You may be paying extra for nothing at all.