Definition: You’ll see this label on eggs and poultry. In conventional operations, chickens typically are raised indoors – either in grow-out houses (for broilers – chickens raised for meat) or battery cages (for egg-laying hens, although this practice is changing). The USDA requires that free-range chickens spend at least part of their time outdoors, but there is no unifying standard for the label beyond that. The terms can be confusing. Cage-free birds don't live in a cage, but they might not have access to the outdoors. Another common label for eggs is “barn roaming,” which applies to egg-laying chickens that are confined to a barn but not a small cage. Free-range has nothing to do with a chicken’s diet, so it might be fed conventionally grown feed and low levels of antibiotics, unless it's also certified organic.
The term also doesn’t regulate the size of those noncage spaces. Chickens can still be crowded into barns, and the outdoor space required for free range eggs doesn’t necessarily have to be large.
What it means for you: Eggs aren’t cost prohibitive to begin with, and many retailers already prohibit selling battery eggs. But a free-range label doesn’t necessarily equate to chickens roaming around freely (where, after all, they might be subject to predators).
