How do they manage 400 hens per acre in European “free-range” flocks?
They cheat, that’s how. The EU regulations allow 400 hens per acre but insist that the yards remain green. If that many hens actually went outdoors, the grass would be destroyed in no time. The manure load of 400 outdoor hens is also unsustainable, leading to dead grass, high levels of nutrient runoff, and a disgusting muddy yard in general unless you remove the nutrients from the ground one way or another. On the other hand, if the hens spend almost all their time indoors, the grass can remain green. Since chickens eat and drink many times per day, you can manage their movements pretty well by careful placement of feeders and waterers. The basic scam in Europe appears to involve putting the feeders and waterers as far from the outside doors as possible, to use as few doors as possible, and to make the doors as small as possible. A few hens will wander around outside, providing window dressing, but most will stay indoors. The upshot is that most “free-range” flocks are really confineme
