Free-range systems offer significant welfare benefits over intensive alternatives but require careful management to realize their full potential.
Free-range production represents a genuine welfare improvement over cage systems for most species, but the welfare benefits are not automatic — they depend critically on the quality and extent of outdoor access provided. Free-range hens that have access to well-managed, enriched outdoor areas with shelter from aerial predators and vegetation for dust bathing express a much wider range of natural behaviors than those confined to barns. However, keel bone fractures — a major welfare problem — affect free-range hens at similar or higher rates than enriched colony cages due to perching collisions. Addressing this highlights that free-range certification must continue improving rather than being seen as a welfare endpoint.