Beyond Factory Farming Coalition

Family Farms Not Factory Farms

Overview of ILO issues in Québec

Overview of Alternatives

Free Range chickens and eggs

The Chicken Marketing Board only permits farmers to raise up to 100 broilers (meat chickens) without having to purchase quota. There is no official criteria to define "free range" for chickens, however certified organic regulations have minimum space requirements for chickens that provide for humane treatment.

Outdoor poultry is a seasonal operation, so it is best to find your source of chickens early in the year and place an order for fall butchering. Similarly, free range eggs are more widely available in the warm months.

While there are several farms in Quebec that raise free range chicken and eggs, the provincial government's ban on outdoor poultry flocks threatens the very basis of pasturing poultry: the birds' ability to be outdoors. In fear of avian flu outbreaks, the government requires that all poultry be raised in confinement and limited to one species and age group per farm (i.e., all the birds have to be the same genetic variety and of the same age group).

Pastured Poultry

The "chicken tractor" is a central to pastured poultry . The chicken tractor is a portable pen designed to be moved to a new patch of pasture every day. The chickens eat bugs and fresh grass as they add manure to the ground under the pen, and are protected from predators by the cage.

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