Unless you’re living in a cave, you may have heard the term
free-range and cage-free when you’re doing your grocery. Oftentimes, you see
these free-range poultry meats on the premier isle of the store. They are
obviously pricier compared to your regular meat but this is mostly because of
the cost of raising using free-range method. Raising poultry using the
free-range method is much costlier because of certain things that are forbidden
like antibiotics, chemicals, certain vitamins and more.
Another thing that drives the price of raising free-range
poultry is going cageless. You may think that going cage-free is cheaper but it
is actually a lot more expensive. Going cageless would mean that you will let
your chickens roam around inside your farm. This means that you should have a
good size farm. Going cage-free does not mean that you should not install a
fence. You just need to have a respectable amount of land that would seem
endless to your chickens.
Are free-range chickens healthier?
This is a question that is asked frequently by many
consumers. Many consumers today are well-informed about the food that they eat.
Because of the recent health push of most government around the world, consumers
now want to know what is in their food. A good portion of consumers even want
to know how their poultry was raised. This is the reason why free-range meat
sales are consistently increasing.
Now, for the question about whether or not they are
healthier or not, that is a tricky question. For one, studies are still being
made with regards to the health benefits of free-range chicken. If we go with
the preliminary results, the claim has some basis. Many studies have shown that
free-range chickens are indeed healthier than their caged counterpart. This is
in part due to how they are raised. Free-range chickens live stress-free and
have better activity levels overall. This means that they have better muscle
mass and good amounts of nutrients coursing through their body. If this leads
to improved nutrients on the meat they produced, that is still a course of
debate for many.
Physical characteristics of free-range eggs and meat
Free-range meats are juicier and more tender to the taste.
They also pack less chemicals and hormones. Actually, free-range chickens don’t
use hormones to boost their growth at all. This leads to their healthier albeit
slower growth. Because of the slower growth, their muscles are well developed
and it shows in the flavor of the meat.
Free-range eggs have harder shells. They are also yellowish,
almost to the point of being brown. This kind of egg is usually only seen on
rural towns as the ones on the supermarkets are colored white. Those eggs are
produced by poultry farms that use hormones to boost egg production. They are
also known to pump their birds full of vitamins and antibiotics to make them
invulnerable to diseases. This kind of poultry is bad for your health but it’s
the cheapest option.
