FAQs

Retailers stocking EB Chicken Food and Chick Food can be found here.

Check back periodically to see updates on our retailer list!

All of the grains used in our diets are sourced from the United States, including corn, soybeans, wheat, and peas. All other ingredients are sourced from qualified sources that have been vetted by our strict quality standards.

Not only do EB Chicken Foods have all of the nutrients your hens need to stay healthy members of your family, but they also contain all of the nutrients which make Eggland’s Best eggs renowned and award-winning country-wide. Our unique formula has prebiotics and probiotics in addition to other nutrients to help your hens’ gut health. Healthier guts provide an increased uptake of essential egg-making nutrients. Having optimal levels of nutrients in combination with a more complete uptake allows the shells to be thicker and the white of the egg (albumen) to be more firm, making your eggs beautifully plump.

Eggs from hens fed Eggland's Best Chicken Food will have the benefit of 10x more vitamin E, 6x more vitamin D, and 2x more vitamin B12 compared to ordinary store-bought eggs. They will be excellent sources of vitamin B2, B5, and selenium and good sources of folate.*

For more detailed information can be found on the Eggland's Best website by clicking here

*Results are for large (50g) store-bought eggs, per the USDA National Nutrient Database. Note that results may vary depending on such factors as total diet and hen health. 

As long as EB Chicken Food or Chick Food is stored in a cool, dry place away from pests, the product will be safe to serve to your chickens or chicks within a year of purchase. To get the maximum nutritional benefits of the feed, especially lutein and vitamin E, it should be used within six months of production. There is a Julian date printed on each bag of Eggland’s Best Chicken Food or Chick Food that represents the date of production.

All of our organic products are Non-GMO Project certified as verified by the independent third party Pennsylvania Certified Organic (P.C.O.). This certification, though originating in Pennsylvania, meets all organic standards across the United States.

Any feed that gets wet through coming in direct contact with water or being exposed to a very humid environment will spoil rapidly. Spoiled feed typically has a strong sour or musty odor and may clump together. White, green, blue, or black molds may be seen as well. If your feed shows any of these signs, do not feed it to your hens. Not only will it lack the nutrients your hens need due to breakdown of the product, it may also contain byproducts of the molds and other breakdown processes that are not good for them. If you notice that your feed gets wet in a food bowl or trough, you can feed it to the hens for that day only, discarding the remainder of the wet food at the end of the day. Always store Eggland’s Best Chick and Chicken Foods sealed and in a cool, dry place to prevent water or excess humidity from coming in contact with the food.

Eggland's Best Chicken Food and Chick Foods contains omega-3 nutrients from canola oil and flax seed (never any fish!), which, if improperly stored, will break down over time. This may result in a fishy odor. This food is still safe to feed. Keep all chicken and chick foods in a cool, dry place and keep bags well sealed to help ensure freshness.

The eggs will be safe to eat, but you should handle the feed with care. Because we use ground soybeans and soybean meal as part of our Chicken Food and Chick Foods, those who are allergic to soy may not want to come in contact with the foods themselves. Unwashed eggs should be handled with care, as they may have traces of feed dust on them. Washed eggs are safe to eat, even with a soy allergy because the interior components are soy-free. Once a hen consumes EB Chicken Food, the soybeans are broken down into their molecular components of fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals, which are absorbed by the hen’s digestive system. When your hens create their eggs, they rearrange these molecular components into something completely new. This transformation changes the soybean such that there will be no soy transferred into the eggs. The eggs are safe for you to eat even if you have a soy allergy.

You’re right- chickens do eat insects as part of their natural diet. However, bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, feather meal, and animal fats and animal by-products are ingredients that can be used in other feed products and poultry diets, and Eggland’s Best believes that these ingredients are not good for your hens’ health or for the quality of the eggs they produce.

Harmful bacteria and microorganisms can thrive in ordinary chicken feed packages. Eggland’s Best’s proprietary pasteurization method alleviates this worry by preventing the contamination and eliminating pathogens, providing only clean, safe and nutritious food for your feathered friends.

A good rule of thumb is to allot one quarter (1/4) of a pound of food per hen per day. If you find that your hens are eating more or less, adjust this amount. Very active hens or hens that are foraging over a great part of their day may expend more energy than their more laid-back counterparts. Smaller chicken breeds, especially bantam chickens, may consume less, but always start with a quarter-pound (¼) per hen per day. If you have roosters in your flock, they can be fed the same as hens.

Because chicks are continuously growing, they will have different body sizes and energy needs day to day. The best way to feed chicks is to offer them as much as they are willing to eat every day, making sure that they don’t run out of food.

You will need to feed your chicks and chickens with the Eggland’s Best Chick and Chicken Foods as the sole ration for 10 days for the benefit of our diets to have their full effect.

Typically, around 15 weeks of age, a young hen’s (or pullet’s) body begins to mature. At this time, she will need a slightly different mix of vitamins and nutrients to ensure that she'll stay healthy while providing strong and nutritious eggs. It is at this time that the switch should be made from Eggland’s Best Chick Food to Eggland’s Best Chicken Food.

You will begin to see egg nutritional and quality benefits from hens that are fed our EB Chicken Food as their sole ration for at least 10 days, regardless of what they were fed as chicks. While generic chick starter/grower can be fed to your chicks, we do recommend feeding Eggland’s Best Chick Food to ensure that your chicks are receiving a balanced ration that will best prepare them to be layers.

While eating EB Chicken Food will not harm your other birds, it is recommended that they are fed a diet formulated specifically for their dietary needs, as each species has different nutrient requirements to live their most healthy and productive lives.

Chickens tend to consume pieces of feed that fit their beak size, and they tend to select down in size rather than up. Our Eggland’s Best Chicken Food mini-pellets have been designed to fit the beaks of full-sized chickens, bantam chickens, and young hens coming into lay.

Our complete formula ensures that your hens will get the nutrients they need to produce your very own Eggland’s Best eggs at home, regardless of whether they are indoors or not. Ingredients like Aztec Marigold and alfalfa meal ensure that your yolks will stay vibrantly colored as long as the feed is consumed. Our unique formula keeps your eggs of very high quality no matter the season or wherever your hens call home.

The nutrients deposited in eggs relate strongly to the diet that hens consume. We can guarantee that if fed as the sole ration, our EB Chicken Foods will help your hens produce eggs with plumper and more vibrant yolks, stronger shells, 25% less saturated fat, 10x more Vitamin E, 6x more Vitamin D, and 2x more Vitamin B12 as compared to conventional store-bought eggs. Your eggs will also be excellent sources of Vitamin B2, Vitamin B5, and selenium, and are good sources of folate. Hens that eat other feedstuffs in addition to this diet may produce eggs with yolks that vary in color, and with nutrient levels that may be slightly different than those stated above and on our package.

Absolutely! Oyster shells provide supplemental calcium to the diet of your hens. As your hens age, you may notice thinner shelled eggs, which is a result of the gals getting older and the eggs getting larger. Our EB Chicken Food provides all of the calcium your hens need for strong shells, but extra calcium offered free choice may further increase the strength of your shells.

Feeding hens scratch grains (corn, wheat, oats, etc..) is a common way to induce foraging behavior and is normally safe. However, these whole grains are incomplete feeds and on their own do not provide the full spectrum of nutrients your hens need to thrive and flourish. The same is true for veggie and table scraps. Offering your hens free choice Eggland’s Best Chicken Food as their primary diet will ensure that hens are receiving the nutrients they need, making incomplete feedstuffs such as scratch grains or veggie scraps more of an occasional treat.

Hens’ bodies work on a seasonal cycle, which revolves on the amount of light they receive. Long days of spring and early summer prompt hens to build their reproductive system and begin to produce eggs, very similarly to how songbirds prepare their nests and lay eggs during these months. As the daylight hours start to decrease in late summer, fall, and early winter, your hens will likely lay fewer eggs, which may be of a lesser quality than what you may have experienced over the spring and summer. Your gals may even stop laying eggs altogether. Hens will also molt their feathers. During this period, the hen’s reproductive system is preparing to take a break so that in the spring, your eggs will be numerous, larger, and of a better quality than what you may have experienced at the end of their annual laying cycle. Most hens will go through this cycle, regardless of diet.