Feed Chickens This for Super Healthy Eggs!

I was recently reading a story about a local couple here in California who are selling their designer eggs to upscale restaurants for $20.00 a dozen. Apparently they feed their chickens superfoods such as acerola cherry and camu camu powders (I had to look these up!) and give them coconut water to drink.  While I am in awe that someone would go to such lengths to have healthy chickens and eggs, the truth is, it simply isn’t necessary.  You don’t need fancy products to get healthy eggs.  Here’s what to feed your chickens to ensure their eggs are as healthy as possible.

Free Range Them

The number one thing you can do to promote healthy egg laying is free range your chickens, which allows them to forage for insects, grains, and grasses. Chickens are natural foragers. But if you simply can’t due to the threat of predators, etc. here’s what you should feed your chickens.

Fresh Water

Access to fresh clean water is the number one thing chickens need to produce healthy eggs.  Did you now that an egg is actually half water? Water is incredibly important or your chickens will become dehydrated and your egg production will plummet.

Protein

Insects are high in protein and your chickens will go gaga over them.  You can give them worms or bugs from your garden or purchase mealy worms or crickets for them.  Mine just loved the grubs I found when splitting wood from a dead tree on the farm.  You can also give them cooked eggs, never raw. My chickens love both boiled and scrambled eggs. I also grow wheatgrass from seed as this has a high protein content and my chickens find it very tasty.  Grass hay mixed with alfalfa, something I give my goats, I also give my chickens as it adds needed protein for healthy eggs.

Flowers, Herbs & Vegetables

I give my chickens greens from my garden daily, including spinach, Swiss chard and lettuce.  Other vegetables they love include tomatoes, pumpkin, and broccoli.  (Do NOT give them avocados as they contain a component known as persin, which is lethal to chickens).  In the spring, I forage my farm for wild miner’s lettuce and dandelion greens which they absolutely love to eat.  Herbs are also provided from time to time, including basil, mint and oregano.  Flowers such as nasturtium, calendula are also good for healthy eggs.  Did you know that oregano can help prevent disease in chickens?  Studies show that using oregano as well as garlic can help eliminate the need for artificial antibiotics.  But if giving chickens garlic, be aware that it can affect the taste of your eggs.

Grains

I only feed my chickens organic chicken feed that has good nutritional value.  Other grains you can provide include oats, barley, millet, flax, rye, and sunflower seeds.  If you soak the seeds for 1-4 days they will ferment and this will add probiotics to help protect against harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E-coli. I also give my chickens foraged wild grasses which they enjoy scratching and pecking at to get the grain.

Fruits

Healthy fruits for chickens include watermelon, cantelope, cherries, berries and the like.

Calcium

Calcium is necessary to keep both the chickens and the eggs healthy.  If you don’t feed them enough calcium, you will notice that the shells on your eggs are thin and flimsy.  This can lead to breakage.  I prefer to give my chickens oyster shells which you can purchase at most feed stores or online.  You can also give them ground up eggshells, but I don’t recommend this as it could lead to the chickens pecking at their own eggs if they are looking for more calcium.  A chance not worth taking, because eating their own eggs is a very hard habit to get rid of.

Providing your chickens with a healthy and varied diet will provide you with the healthiest eggs ever.  Try to avoid giving them table scraps or foods with little nutritional value.  And never give them food that is rotting or spoiled.  To find out more about what not to feed your chickens, see 15 Things You Should Avoid Feeding Your Chickens.

Thank you for visiting my blog! Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and healthy chickens and eggs.