" George Oppenheimer,
general manager of Wellington Farms Free Range, based in Mechanicsburg,
Pa., was cited as candidly agreeing with both hypotheses. (Wellington
Farms was the only free-range bird tested; the other three are
premium-priced.) "
Premium priced often just means more expensive marketing.
Oppenheimer added that
"free-range" was "more of a buzzword" than an animal husbandry concept,
since even if given the chance, chickens don't like to roam around
outside. And that's because birds, by their nature, flock together. They
want to be near their food and water, which are usually inside. "They
don't do any traveling . . . they don't do push-ups or jog."