I am Kate from Childhay Manor who supplies Farmers Choice with all their whole free range chickens.
I can fully understand your concerns as I also watched the documentary about chickens with hock burns. I do hope I can put your mind at rest. The burns you are referring to are caused in different ways in conventional rearing and free range which the documentary did not explain.
In conventional rearing the chickens are limited for space and do not have any other option but to lie down all day and they also may not have clean bedding. The chickens are finished within 6 weeks and the weight ratio occuring so quickly can cause burns from little or no movement.
Our chickens are reared over 12 weeks and have a slower growth rate which does not affect their movement, as they are free-range they have a great deal of space. Each morning the doors and windows of the hutchs are opened and new bedding is put in. We alow the chickens the choice to either go outside and roam freely ,or they can stay inside and lie down all day.
If it is wet outside or we have a thunder storm they may go under the trees and this maybe muddy, when this dries it can peel off and leave a graze on their hocks. If a chicken has choosen to lie down more and a build-up has occured, this can cause a similar affect to hock burns. I do hope this answers your concerns.
Yours sincerely
Kate
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