What does the term free range mean?
Eggs described as ‘Free Range’ must be produced in poultry establishments in which the hens: • Have continuous daytime access to open air runs • Have access to ground mainly covered with vegetation • Each hen has at least 10 square metres of ground available. In addition, their building has either: • A stocking density of no more than 7 hens per square metre of floor space and at least one-third of this area is covered with litter material such as straw and a sufficiently large part of the floor area is used for the collection of bird droppings, or • A maximum stocking density of no more than 25 hens per square metre of floor space and the building is fitted with sufficient perches to ensure not less than 15cm for each hen.
