Keeping chickens at home for eggs

Farm fresh eggs

These are produced using the Battery Cage system. Fresh is deemed to mean less than 21 days old. Eggs must pass a grading system with mis-shaped eggs being considered substandard and used for other purposes e.g. mayonnaise and dried egg produce. The hens are confined to a cage size providing 750 cm² per hen. Perching space is available at 15 cm per bird.

Barn eggs

These are produced in industrial units that have perching space and nesting boxes. The hens are housed at nine hens per square metre. There is one nest box per 7 hens.
 

Free range eggs

The regulations specify that an acre of field must be provided for every 400 hens. The hens should be free to roam during the daytime.

The hens kept in large flocks; the industrial buildings used to house them are typically well ventilated and are capable of housing many thousands of birds. There is an area of wood shavings and a place to roost together with an access to food and water.

The industrial units have specially designed nest boxes which are secluded areas for the hens lay their eggs.

Organic eggs

Organic eggs are from hens kept in a similar environment to free range but are fed on organic produce and given access to roam on land classified as organic. They are not fed antibiotics to promote growth.

For organic birds, the flock sizes tend to be smaller giving the birds more space in the house. It is fairly common for the houses to be mobile so that they can be moved around different patches of grass.