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Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I didn't realize they don't have free range chickens in Norway, Tor. Mind you, "free range" doesn't necessarily mean chickens are outdoors here in the U.S., so you can't assume "free range" chickens in the U.S. have it much better than Norwegian chickens:
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Ah, when I think of free range, I usually think of how it's regulated by the European Union.
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The European Union regulates marketing standards for egg farming which specifies the following (cumulative) minimum conditions for the free-range method:
- hens have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities,
- the open-air runs to which hens have access is mainly covered with vegetation and not used for other purposes except for orchards, woodland and livestock grazing if the latter is authorised by the competent authorities,
- the open-air runs must at least satisfy the conditions specified in Article 4(1)(3)(b)(ii) of Directive 1999/74/EC whereby the maximum stocking density is not greater than 2500 hens per hectare of ground available to the hens or one hen per 4m2 at all times and the runs are not extending beyond a radius of 150 m from the nearest pophole of the building; an extension of up to 350 m from the nearest pophole of the building is permissible provided that a sufficient number of shelters and drinking troughs within the meaning of that provision are evenly distributed throughout the whole open-air run with at least four shelters per hectare.[10]
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> Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_range
Of course, Norway is not part of the European Union so exactly what free range chicken means here, I don't know. They do exist here, but it's a relatively rare sight. The last time I went to find free range chicken in the store around the corner, they didn't have any. Poor chickorinos.