If you’re raising chickens for eggs, naturally you’d want the best eggs possible. However, most people in the US have lived with average to sub-par eggs most of their lives and don’t even know what an amazing chicken egg looks like. If you’re interested in bumping up your egg quality, there are a handful of simple secrets for getting the best possible eggs out of your chickens.
1. Feed Your Chickens Well
Better eggs come from happy and healthy chickens and the easiest way to achieve this is through their feed. This shouldn’t be surprising, but egg quality is directly affected by what the chickens eat. Many people may think they’re already feeding their chickens optimally, but if your eggs leave something to be desired, the first thing you should do is look at your chicken’s diet.
For amazing eggs you need to go the extra mile. This means not only feeding your chickens proper nutritional balance, but also supplementing their diet with treats and specific ingredients to produce a more flavorful and nutrient-rich egg.
Feeding your chickens simple nutritious treats can improve both the taste and nutritional value of the eggs they lay. Giving them treats high in xanthophyll can start to improve the color of your egg yolks and push them from yellow to a rich golden orange color, which is the telltale sign of a more nutrient-rich egg. These treats include items like carrots, apricots, red cabbage, or leafy greens. In countries like Japan they improve egg color with paprika and chilis, though that may be more costly in the US. Additionally, giving your chickens simple nutritious treats of pumpkins, watermelon, or blueberries can also improve both taste and nutritional value in the eggs they lay.
Keep in mind that the above suggestions are specifically treats, and aren’t meant to be made a mainstay of the chickens diet. Many experts caution against overfeeding treats. Even though chickens tend to self regulate their diet, if you continue to offer them treats they may start to eat these supplemental items more frequently than their standard feed. And that’s the final part of the secret – their standard feed should be complete!
If you’re just feeding your chickens a standard homegrown chicken feed you’re not feeding them optimally. Store bought feeds for complete nutrition or homemade mixes that target the perfect balance are both ways to can up your egg quality fast. The key here is that you’re not just giving your chickens the minimum they need, you’re giving them exactly what they need to flourish. While it can be more expensive to get store bought feed or more time consuming to fuss over the exact blend of nutrition your chicken feed has, the outcome is worth the effort and a truly amazing egg is an experience all on its own.
2. Chickens Need Sunlight – Lots of It
Amateur homesteaders often aren’t yet well versed in livestock needs and may not realize just how much sunlight their animals need.
You might think your chickens can get enough sun if you just provide them a run, but that’s not always the case. For optimal egg quality and quantity you need to ensure your layers are getting at least 14 hours of light a day, but optimally they should be getting 17. Chickens who receive less than 12 hours of light a day are even known to stop laying eggs!
Depending on where you live and the time of year you may need to supplement your chickens sun exposure by placing artificial lights in their coop. These can usually be setup on a timer, which ensures that your chickens are getting just the right amount of light. Additionally, the timer keeps the light hours consistent helping the chickens maintain a healthier egg laying cycle.
3. Non-Food Supplements Improve Egg Quality
Non-food supplements for your chickens are vitally important to their healthy life, but we’re not talking about vitamins or medications. These should never be overused with your chickens. We’re talking about grit and oyster shells. Grit is what your chickens use to “chew” their food. Like with many fowl, small bits of coarse material help them digest what they eat. Too little grit and your chickens won’t be getting adequate nutrition in their diets. However, the wrong grit is also a danger — chickens need insoluble grit that can’t be digested as they eat.
Oyster shells, while not often thought of as a food item, are easily digested by chickens helping with egg production. The calcium from the shells allows chickens to make healthy egg shells and stronger eggs. Your chickens don’t need too much extra calcium, and oyster shells are something chickens generally eat as they need.
Both grit and oyster shells should be provided for your chickens separately from their food. Chickens are best at regulating how much grit and calcium they need. Mixing it into their food could cause them to be getting too much or too little. When you’re in control they have no way to correct the imbalance themselves, or let you know about it. Providing separate containers of each for your chickens to dip into as necessary often yields the best results.
4. Happy Chickens Lay Better Eggs
Chickens, like all animals, have physiological responses to stress. Stressed out chickens can have poor health, exhibit odd behaviors, and could even stop laying eggs. To avoid stress in your chickens’ lives, be sure they have everything they need first and foremost. Too little food or water, lack of nutrition, insufficient space, or poor interactions with other chickens can all lead to stress. It’s highly recommended for you to step in to deal with any of these problems, should your chickens exhibit signs of stress.
It can sometimes be hard to tell if your chickens are stressed and what the issues are. One tried and true method is to simply pay attention to your chickens by watching your chickens regularly. If you watch your chickens a little bit every day, you’ll begin to understand how they act normally on a day-to-day basis. Chickens are flock animals, so observing individual behaviors and group behaviors can paint a clearer picture of any potential stressors in your chickens’ lives.
Often, the most stand out indicators of stress are drooping wings, uncleaned feathers, apathy, or unusual aggression. All of these can indicate stress and potentially highlight other health issues that you should examine. If any of your chickens look particularly unhealthy, always contact a veterinarian for further assistance and advice.
Simple Secrets for Super Eggs
These “secrets” aren’t particularly secret, but many new homesteaders don’t realize how vital they are to producing the best quality and quantity of eggs you can. While some of these tips may seem obvious, some may be rather unexpected to novice coop-masters. These secrets are perhaps best positioned as an eye opener for anyone trying to get amazing eggs from their chickens. It’s easy to miss a lot of knowledge that has been built up around chickens for years. With these simple tips we hope that you can raise happy, healthy chickens. We hope you’ll also join us for more great tips on our journey to get homesteading!