The trouble with
cooped up chickens (
cage-raised chicken) is that they often have a higher
fat content, they are given
hormones to simulate
muscle production, rather than building it up
naturally and often they end up sitting in their own
chicken shit for hours or days leading to a more
contaminated meat.
In 1987
60 Minutes did a section called "
Fecal Soup" exposing the
gory side of the
chicken farming industry. Along with the work of countless
activists, free-rage chicken was popularised.
According to the
USDA a Free-Range Chicken is any chicken with access to the
outside. It’s important to note that a chicken may be
free-range and still raised in
filthy conditions hopped up on
growth hormones and
antibiotics.
Free-range chicken has a stronger
flavour than cage grown chicken and it tends to be more
expensive. So if you are
rich it’s probably a better more humane bet when it comes to getting your daily
protein.