Nearly two-thirds of the public said that they choose free range because they think it is better for the hens, while half added that they also want to support free range egg farmers who maintain high bird welfare standards.

But the survey reveals that the nation is still undecided on its favourite way to eat the humble egg, with scrambled and fried fans tied neck-and-neck.

Myles Thomas of the Love Free Range Eggs campaign said: “British Egg Week is a wonderful celebration and serves to highlight the importance of one of the most versatile and nutritious staples of our daily diets.

“It’s great news to see that such a huge amount of people are now looking for free range eggs regularly or every time they shop. Free range egg producers work really hard to produce a great-tasting egg which is nutritious, safe to eat and has fantastic welfare benefits for the hens that lay them.”

To celebrate British Egg Week, which runs from 5-11 October and incorporates World Egg Day on 9 October, the Love Free Range Eggs campaign has produced two videos which delve into a day in the life of a chicken and also a free range egg farmer.

“Chickens are wonderfully inquisitive animals and free range egg farmers try to encourage them to display all their natural instinctive behaviours such as scratching, pecking and dust bathing,” Mr Thomas added. “We want to show shoppers how they do this with a fun video which also has the important message that farmers take their job very seriously.”

Watch the two videos here:

• Secret Life of Free Range Chickens
• A Day in the Life of a Free Range Egg Farmer