Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. The principle is to allow the animals as much freedom as possible, to live out their instinctual behaviours in a reasonably natural way, regardless of whether or not they are eventually killed for meat. In practice, there are few regulations imposed on what can be called "free range," and the term may be used misleadingly to imply that the animal product has been produced more humanely than it actually has been.Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.In ranching, free-range livestock are permitted to roam without being fenced in, as opposed to fenced-in pastures. In many of the agriculture based economies, free-range livestock are quite common. Some animals like the goat will only thrive on a free-range diet.Salmonella infection rate in free-range and organic chickens have been found to be comparable to those produced in typical poultry production houses.

Chef and free-range campaigner Jamie Oliver has fallen "fowl" of his own campaign after his restaurant in Cornwall used battery eggs. The chef's programme on Channel Four about UK egg production highlights the plights of battery chickens.

debate about free range chickens on uk business forums .co.ukreally interesting about the free range egg farm.

Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That’s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project.

The results are in: Eggs from hens allowed to peck on pasture are a HECK of a lot better than those from chickens raised in cages. Highlights include 1/3rd less cholesterol, 1/4 the saturated fat, and WAY more vitamin A, E, omega-3's, and beta carotene. Is YOUR health worth an extra $1?

Amsterdam's famed coffee shops are turning to free-range eggs for their hashish "spacecakes" to reduce the suffering of chickens.