As for "free range": I have a friend in Maine that has a barn with 20,000 hens in it. They are all "free range." But when you look at the barn there's maybe 30 chickens outside in a fenced in area, and the rest are inside.
They are called "free range" because they have the choice to go outside. But almost all of them prefer to stay inside where there's abundant food and water. They don't mind being packed in, wall-to-wall, with other chickens. Not very bright creatures.
As for "free range": I have a friend in Maine that has a barn with 20,000 hens in it. They are all "free range." But when you look at the barn there's maybe 30 chickens outside in a fenced in area, and the rest are inside.
They are called "free range" because they have the choice to go outside. But almost all of them prefer to stay inside where there's abundant food and water. They don't mind being packed in, wall-to-wall, with other chickens. Not very bright creatures.
So "free range" is a marketing ploy.