Six contract growers for Perdue Farms said their experience with raising broilers with free-range access has been an overall good thing, citing very few drawbacks.
Speaking at the 2020 Perdue Animal Care Summit on October 22 were growers Amanda Hawkins, Austin Good, Beth Jernigan, Alvin Warner, James Martin and Kim Iler. Some of these growers have several decades of experience in raising chickens, while others are still relatively new to the industry. But despite their differences, they all seem to agree that they enjoy raising chickens with outdoor access and see it as better for the birds.
Here is what the growers had to say:
Alvin Warner
Warner, of Milford, Delaware, has more experience with growing poultry than any other member of the grower panel. He has been raising chickens for 43 years, but only started a free-range operation four years ago.
He acknowledged that he had not that long ago acknowledged he was considering retiring. But the switch to giving the birds an option to be outside rejuvenated his interest.
“It’s exciting for me,” Warner said. “When we let those birds out it was like when regular kids go out to the playground. They’re able to do a little bit of something that they want to do, whereas in the old way, we pretty much controlled their environment. Now they’re kind of back to natural, and they’re kind of excited about it.”
Warner said he has houses that share a pasture, and he said he wasn’t sure if now, birds originating from one house might not go over to the other house to socialize.
Warner said now that his birds go outside, they are happier and healthier.
“My philosophy of life is exercise, sunlight, nutrition and rest, and these birds are getting that,” he said.
Warner would like to see all of his birds go outside, but he isn’t sure if they all take advantage of that opportunity.
There is a little more work involved in this type of operation. At first, Warner thought it needed to look like a lawn, but now it looks more like a pasture. He mows some areas, but sees that birds do still like being out in the taller grass.
Austin Good
Good, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a third generation farmer who raises chickens on the same farm where his grandfather raised birds 57 years ago.
For the past six years, Good has raised the chickens in an operation with access to the outdoors.
He said the change has been good for the birds, and they especially seem to like going outside when the weather is cooler.
One of the better things about raising chickens with outdoor access is it allows them the chance to explore and satisfy their natural curiosity, Good said.
“Chickens are curious. We saw that while growing, even before we were putting birds out on the range. If you are working on a chicken house and you had tools, if there are small pieces, you got to keep track of them, or birds will come over and take them. They’re just naturally curious,” he said.
Good also feels giving birds outdoor access is better for the birds that choose to remain in the house. With more birds outside, there are fewer inside and therefore there is less competition to get to the water or the feeders.
Like Warner, Good said there is a little more work involved in terms of maintenance and groundskeeping, particularly since he has some outdoor enrichments that will occasionally need moved or mowed around. However that extra amount of work is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme, he added.
Kim Iler
Iler, from Cromwell, Kentucky, has been growing chickens for seven years. She has been raising birds with free-range access for one year, and has noticed how much the chickens seem to enjoy going outside.
“They’re in their natural habitat. They absolutely love the sunlight,” she said, adding that the chickens are “in the yard all the time.”
“Every bird I see goes outside,” she said.
And while outside, the most enjoyable activity seems to be foraging for bugs.
Moving the birds outside has also been good for Iler as a mother, as she said her 8-year-old daughter will go outside and watch the birds, “and she has fun with it.”
Beth Jernigan
Jernigan, from Windsor, North Carolina, retired two years ago and is now continuing the family tradition of raising chickens of the family farm for the 31st year. The chickens have been given outdoor access for the past year.
In her observations, being outdoors has definitely been better for the chickens.
When she sees her chickens going outside, it reminds her of her grandmother, who used to always tell her to get outside and get some sunlight, because it was good for her.
James Martin
With 30 years of experience in raising chickens, Martin is one of the most seasoned of the panel members. For Martin, of New Holland, Pennsylvania, more than half of those years have been dedicated to free-range broiler production.
Eighteen years ago, Martin started raising free-range chickens for the Coleman brand. He feels like one of the biggest benefits to having chickens with outdoor access is better public relations.
“When people drive past, I think it makes a good image,” he said.
Amanda Hawkins
The rookie of the group, Hawkins, of Harrington, Delaware, has been growing chickens for two years, and during both of those years, she has raised chickens with free-range access.
While she can’t compare it to raising broilers entirely indoors, having them outside is important to her.
“The best part of the day is when I open the doors, she said. “It’s exciting to see how many get up and how many go outside.”
