Ah, I should have specified the pasture-raised standards:

R 1: Pasture area

a. Must consist mainly of living vegetation. Coarse grit must be available to aid digestion of vegetation.

c. The minimum outdoor space requirement is 2.5 acres (1 hectare)/1000 birds (~109SF).

g. Birds must be outdoors 12 months per year, every day for a minimum of 6 hours per day. In an emergency, the hens may be confined in fixed or mobile housing 24 hours per day for no more than 14 consecutive days.

Free-range are only required to have 2SF and don’t have a mandatory outside time.

Certified humane (pdf): https://certifiedhumane.org/wp-content/uploads/Standard_LayingHens-2023.pdf

“Go outside” for free-range is also a tiny little pen that chickens don’t really know how to use.

There’s another option: Pasture-raised, certified humane. They have >100SF of outdoor space per bird, shelter, and eat a mix of insects and supplemental feed.

Aldi sells them for about 75% more than conventional eggs.

Find pasture-raised eggs at your grocery store. Added bugs to the diet helps with the rich yolks.

“I’ve got some bike parts and NO I won’t tell you what brand they are. Why should it matter?”