The American Humane Farm is known to be a product of more than 130 years of applied experience in the domain of farm animal welfare. Since its beginning in 1877, this organization has proactively worked towards ensuring the humane treatment of farm animals.  American Humane Certified free-range eggs come from hens that have daytime access to an outdoor area of at least 21.8 square feet per hen, and sleep in a barn that meets the cage-free housing requirements at night. Hillandale Farms is among the many egg producers in the United States that abide by the American Humane Certified cage free guidelines

Hillandale Farms discusses a few hen feeding and drinking guidelines as per American Humane Cage Free program

Hens laying eggs under the Certified Humane program tend to be raised under a set of standards developed by more than 40 animal welfare scientists and farm animal veterinarians from around the planet.  Hens must be free from thirst, malnutrition, and hunger. They have to be provided with a wholesome diet, as well as have continuous access to fresh water. The diet of the hens should support their well-being and good health.  Water and feed must be distributed among the hens in a manner that they can consume it without undue competition.

The hens must be fed a wholesome diet in sufficient quantity to maintain their good health and to satisfy their nutritional requirements. They should have daily, unrestricted, daily access to food, apart from prior to depopulation or as recommended by the flock veterinarian.

For each hen, there must be a minimum of:

1.5 linear inches of feed trough when double-sided straight troughs are used; and/or

3.0 linear inches of feed troughed just a single side of the trough is accessible; and/or

1.5 perimeter inches of circular feeder space if round pans are used

The feed must also be fresh, and not stale or contaminated. Hens must not have to travel beyond 16 feet in the house in order to reach their feed. The feed should be distributed in an even manner throughout the housing system in order to reduce the competition among birds. Special attention must be provided to the provision of feed areas that are frequented by subordinate hens.

Apart from proper food, the hens should also have continuous access to an adequate supply of clean, fresh drinking water. On-site provisions must also be placed to provide clean, fresh water for the duration of the outage during a shut down or failure of the main water supply, including freezing conditions. The hens must not have to travel more than 26 feet in order to access a drinking point.

Over all, as per the American Humane Cage Free program, the environment in which the hens are kept must take into consideration their welfare needs and be designed as per the best husbandry approaches. These guidelines are met by most of the leading egg producers in the United States like Hillandale Farms. This company also supports the notion of national standards proposed by UEP and HSUS