Flock size was part of the problem, Fossum said. Cages held a maximum of 10 birds. But free-range flocks sometimes contained as many as 35,000 chickens. Even though these chickens had the freedom to hop outside and roll in the dirt, they were more likely to bump into each other, fight, and share diseases. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that free-range chickens are particularly prone to disease and violent behavior, said veterinarian and poultry pathologist Rob Porter, of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. It's hard to evaluate whether a chicken is or can be "happy," Porter added. But other studies have failed to find a difference in stress hormone levels between chickens that are raised one way or the other. "One of the largest attractions of free-range chickens is that it makes people happy to think about chickens outside pecking at the soil," Porter said. "Although the perception of the general public is that these outdoor chickens must be healthier than others, time and time again this is shown not to be true." Nutritionally, Porter added, free-range eggs and meat are virtually identical to the same products from caged chickens. Still, Fossum said, there are ways to keep a free-range flock healthy with a combination of breeding, vaccines, and behavior control. Dimming the lights, for example, can calm a chicken down. And Sweden's experience, he said, offers lessons to chicken farmers elsewhere. Related Links: |
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