[danconfessed]

Been thinking about this quite a lot lately.  What do people class as free range?  I'm not too interested what the RSPCA or RED TRACTOR think.  What do you think is free range?

My pigs are reared in an outdoor pen with an arc from March/ April until October/ november weather permitting.  In winter they either go into an open barn with deep straw or into a concrete pen with a large house and deep straw.  This is purely to minimise there time is deep wet sludge and also not to ruin their pens too much.

What size pen would constitute free range?  If you bring them into a stable for farrowing or over wintering does that mean that they are "barn kept"??

Be interested to hear your thoughts

[oaklandspigs]

There is no legal definition of free range, other than for poultry.

So it's whatever you want it to be, and you can freely use the wording.

You'll see lots of clever wording on supermarket pork, such as "outdoor bred" - what does that mean, that they were mated outside?? lived all the time outside??? Just part? or "outdoor reared" which from memory for one supermarket means they spend that last month outside but breeding stock lives indoors !

[Rosemary]

Difficult - as soon as you define something, some folk can make something entirely inappropriate fit the definition. Like free range hens have to have access to the outdoors - the fact that they don't GO out for various reasons doesn't matter.

The welfare of the animal is what matters to me. If it's housed in an approriate group with adequate space to behave normally that's fine with me. A pig up to its belly in cold sludge isn't a happy pig, even if it meets some definition of free range.

HTH

[hughesy]

We use the term free range in relation to our pigs. Ours live outdoors all year round. We give them as much space as possible our boar and his current squeeze have a three acre field to themselves. Groups of growers have less space but are still born and reared outdoors with arks as their sleeping quarters.

[danconfessed]

How do you manage in the winter with all this rain Hughesy??  Im presuming with that much land they dont tend to churn it up as bad?? 

We are on London clay here so the slightest rain and it becomes a quagmire

[Fowgill Farm]

We're on heavy Yorkshire clay too and i wouldn't consider keeping the pigs in the fields mid dec to end feb and mine come into our buildings with big yards to maraud around. As Rosemary said so long as their welfare is paramount and they have enough space to exhibit natural behaviour then thats great. Even when ours are in for winter they still get walked out to the orchard or front lawn for a gruff in the grass every couple of days or so depending on the weather so i think that if your pigs are out at least 3/4 of the year they're free range, and mine definetly are since we found Clover in the conservatory once   and Gerry over a mile across the fields heading for our neighbouring farmers milking parlour!
Mandy

[shygirl]

we free ranged our pigs in acres of woodland with sties but come winter im sure they would have loved a big straw barn. i think being flexible to suit their needs is more important than them standing outside shivering in the mud and rain just so they are "freerange".

[hughesy]

How do you manage in the winter with all this rain Hughesy??

Well I manage with waterproofs and a good pair of wellies. The pigs tend to churn up small areas where they pend a lot of time, like around where they're fed for instance, but given enough space there will be some drier areas. We're on clay soil too. What I would give for sandy soil and some concrete!

[benandjerry]

What about what you feed them?  Free to roam outside, but when you feed them are you putting nasty chemicals inside them?  Just a thought.  That's how I tend to think. 

[Daisys Mum]

What about what you feed them?  Free to roam outside, but when you feed them are you putting nasty chemicals inside them?  Just a thought.  That's how I tend to think. 

Not a lot of choice with feeding pigs, to feed organic would definitely make them too expensive, I have to feed whatever I can source as close as possible to try and keep costs down. Don't think there are too many chemicals in what I do feed?

[Berkshire Boy]

What nasty chemicals would they be.

[shygirl]

acid rain?

[benandjerry]

acid rain?

What nasty chemicals would they be.

I did point out I was  buyer, and in previous post have also pointed out that I am a wannabee small holder and that I have joined to learn.  Perhaps my comments were ill thought out due to no experience of small holding.   But I was trying to be helpful in answering the original question, from somebody who buys meat.  I don't like my meat to be pumped full of chemicals.

Not a lot of choice with feeding pigs, to feed organic would definitely make them too expensive, I have to feed whatever I can source as close as possible to try and keep costs down. Don't think there are too many chemicals in what I do feed?

I found the above quote to be a more educating answer for the uneducated (in this subject) such as myself.

[shygirl]

sorry, i was just being jovial, should have put a smiley up.     didnt mean to offend 

everyones on here to learn, dont worry.

i have fed commercial pig food, aswell as smallholding ranges, and plain barley/sugarbeet. i did find they looked healthier and grew better on the commercial range whilst also being amongst 15 acres of scottish woodland. i think they need a complete specialised diet to cope with wind and rain etc in the winter. especially if young or rearing a litter. it can be wet and windy here.
mind you i take vitamins supplements myself so i guess its kind of comparable. hormones i dont agree with though but i havent noticed that in the ingredients in the feed we have used.

[benandjerry]

sorry, i was just being jovial, should have put a smiley up.     didnt mean to offend 

everyones on here to learn, dont worry.

Thanks,    I would hate to offend as well as I am easy going    I do want to learn, and am meeting a TAS member soon, who has a small holding and will be able to attend courses and stuff soon as well.  Perhaps I was to sensitive being a wannabee and all.