ChickensUpdated 9 days ago

For the best freshness, we recommend using our feed within 3–4 months of purchase.

Think of it this way: the pellets are the healthy entrée, and the botanicals and seeds are dessert. Your hens might reach for dessert first, but they'll come around to the pellets — that's where most of the nutrition is. A little patience goes a long way!

Yes! There's about 120 mg of niacin per pound in our Layer Feed — plenty for ducks and other poultry.

Curious about the details? Read more about niacin levels in our layer feed.

Yes, you can. We'd recommend checking with your avian vet before changing your flock's diet, since they know your birds best.

If you'd like to try it, our Sustainable Scratch or Garden Goodness Layer Feed both work well for fermenting. It takes 3–4 days, and should be fed to your flock within 24 hours once ready, or it will go sour.

For step-by-step tips and recipes, check out our blog on fermenting chicken feed.

Yes! Our starter feed includes prebiotics, probiotics, and natural enzymes to support healthy digestion, along with beneficial bacteria. We also add yucca root, which helps absorb ammonia and support your chicks' respiratory health.

Our chick starter comes in 1/8” pellets, cut short — a size we've refined with customer feedback over the years. It's gentle enough for tiny chicks and won't create dust, though some owners like to crush it slightly for the first couple of days.

You're welcome to make it into a wet mash if you prefer, but it isn't necessary — our chick bits are designed to be dust-free and easy to eat as-is either way.

Not with ours! Our fish meal comes from sustainably wild-caught fish sourced off Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, and it's preserved naturally with vitamin E and rosemary oil rather than ethoxyquin.

Fish meal earns its bad reputation when it's not sustainably caught, comes from poorly-fed farmed fish, is sourced from polluted waters, or includes lower-quality additives — none of which apply here.

Yes — our wheat is completely glyphosate-free. We source it directly from a Pacific Northwest farm that grows it for human food, not as feed-grade wheat, so you can count on higher-quality ingredients throughout.

Feed makes up the bulk of a healthy chicken diet and is built from cracked corn and other grains.

Scratch is a fun treat — tasty, but not especially nutritious, so it's best offered occasionally. It does double duty by encouraging your flock to scratch through their litter, which helps keep their coop cleaner.

For more on feeding basics, check out Fresh Eggs Daily and our Chicken blog.

Starter (1–8 weeks): About 20% protein to support rapid early growth.

Grower (8–18 weeks): About 18% protein as growth slows.

Layer (18+ weeks): 15–18% protein, depending on the product.

Every flock develops at its own pace, so watch for signs your birds are ready to move to the next stage rather than switching by the calendar alone.

Once your hens start laying, feed alone often isn't enough. Most hens begin laying around 20–21 weeks, so we recommend introducing oyster shell around 18 weeks to help them prepare.

Oyster shell provides the calcium hens need to form strong eggshells. Without enough of it, their bodies will start pulling calcium from their bones, which can eventually slow or stop egg production.

Both should be available at all times.

Grit stays in the gizzard and helps break down food, since chickens don't have teeth. Oyster shell dissolves in the gut and provides calcium — hens are good at self-regulating how much they need, so it's safe to offer it freely.