In 1916 the question was not whether you should pay more for eggs that were laid by chickens who not kept in tiny cages, but whether the chickens would lay more eggs under more comfortable circumstances. For more that two years scientists studied groups of chickens that were kept either in an open grassy field (2 acres) or in a smaller enclosure. Ninety-nine hens were kept in a gravelled pen that was 13 X 60 feet and a house of 30 X 60 feet. Another 103 hens were kept in an open range, with access to a house of 30 X 60 feet, as well as two pens with gravel.
The mortality of the penned hens was lower than that of the range hens, and although the scientists did not blame the pens for all the deaths, hens which were exposed to bad feed survived better on the range than in the pens.
The production of eggs (the purpose of these laying hens) was greater in the range hens, and even considering that the hens could graze on the acreage at the same time as other animals, there would be no lost rental on the acreage. It also cost more to feed the confined hens, who did not produce as many eggs. This study was duplicated with the same results at a later time.
The issue for the scientists was not the cruelty of never letting the hens out of a building or keeping them in filthy conditions for their entire lifespan, as it is now, but how farmers might get a better return on their investment. Even the confined hens in these studies were never used so abominably as hens are now used by large egg producers.