When you see the words ‘Free Range’ on the side of an egg carton, you probably think that the hens responsible for those eggs are living their best life — free to roam around at their leisure.
You would sadly be wrong.
Free range sheds can contain up to 13 large chickens. To consider a chicken ‘free range’ the chicken simply needs access to an outdoor space of at least 1 square meter for half of their life. That’s it. In reality, most chickens never get a chance to ever go outside because of the mass amount of chickens that are grouped together.
The rules and regulations regarding the ‘free range’ term are so ridiculous and so far from ‘free range’ that it’s pathetic. The world and the egg consumer is being completely fooled into thinking they are paying more for a product that came from a well treated animal.
Now that you understand that ‘free range’ chickens are not really ‘free’ at all, it’s sadly a better alternative than caged hens. Caged hens live their entire lives producing eggs inside tiny cages that barely fit around their body. Often times, these are where the cheaper eggs at a store come from.