Free-range egg systems provide hens with outdoor access but welfare outcomes depend on range quality, stocking management and indoor conditions.
Free-range welfare quality varies enormously between farms and even within flocks. Range use depends on predator perception, vegetation quality, distance from pop holes, weather conditions and flock size. Hens that never access the range receive no welfare benefit from its provision. Best practice free-range management includes covered veranda areas near pop holes to encourage range use, vegetation that provides cover and predator protection, and range areas sized and managed for genuine use rather than legal compliance. Keel bone fractures remain the most significant welfare problem even in high-quality free-range systems.