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What's in our natural egg feed? And why is it in there anyway?

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

March 29, 2024

chickens-on-pasture.jpg

New & Honest Egg Feed

Our egg farmers recently switched to a new, natural, and 100% honest feed supplier (read the juicy details in last week's blog post). We are thrilled that they'll work with us to create a feed that fits our natural requirements:

  • Chemical-free
  • GMO-free
  • Soy-free
  • Corn-free
  • Ingredients from local, traceable farms as much as possible; certified organic if from a distributor
  • The least amount of synthetic ingredients possible
  • Provides optimal nutrition for our birds
  • Produces eggs packed with the most nutrition possible

This will be a long process and may take up to a year to get a blend that everyone is satisfied with. But, we've made good progress so far. 

The current feed contains:

Oats, rolled wheat, peas, alfalfa hay leaves, barley, fishmeal, sesame meal, raw liquid goat whey, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.

It’s important to note that most farms would simply list the ingredients like they're shown above. But, at Miller’s Bio Farm, we provide full transparency. And that includes doing the research and providing you with all the nitty gritty details about the feed, including the ingredients in the ingredients (view the complete list at the bottom of this post).

When you do it this way, you can be surprised at what you find. And then you start to ask questions about how to most naturally provide optimal nutrition for the birds, which then transfers optimal nutrition to the eggs.

I've emailed back and forth with the egg farmers and the new feed supplier. I read the technical sheets for every single ingredient (and reached out to the companies if I needed more info). I had a 45-minute phone call with a feed specialist from Fertrell. I've done some additional research online. Everything has been very enlightening. 

From all that research, I was able to answer all the questions from our amazing and thoughtful customers.

Top Laying Hen Feed Questions & Answers

What can’t the hens just forage for food naturally?

Birds in the wild eat a very diverse diet. They are foragers and eat a range of grasses, seeds, bugs, and other things they can find. They would be fairly happy this way, especially in the warmer months. But… when the grass isn’t growing, they may not find enough food. They may not produce many eggs (if any at all) in the winter. And finally, they may fall into poor health.

This is not what we want. Our eggs are farmed eggs. We want to provide optimal nutrition and a happy lifestyle to our birds year round. I mean, this is the least we can do to thank them for providing us with beautiful eggs!

Why do you need all those extra vitamins and minerals?

The nutritionist from Fertrell said that the hens aren’t eating a diverse enough diet. They’re mainly being sustained on a handful of different grains. And because of generally depleted soils, the grains don’t have as much nutritional value compared to a hundred years ago.

It’s not enough, so the feed needs to be supplemented. If we didn’t supplement, hen health and egg production would go down a lot. And that means that our egg price would go up a lot.

The new feed supplier has this in mind and is considering adding other ingredients to the feed to increase its diversity. Here’s some of the ingredients being considered:

Cricket powder, black fly larvae, flaxseed, cod liver oil, dried herring, dried beets, dried pumpkin, dried cucumbers, dried broccoli, dried kale, sprouted sesame seeds, oregano, hemp seed oil, nutritional yeast, parsley, nettle, chlorella, and chaga mushroom.

The hope is that, by diversifying the ingredients, we can reduce the amount of supplemental vitamins in the feed.

Why do you need synthetic vitamins and supplements?

A majority of the supplements added to the current feed are natural. But, there are a few that are synthetic (DL Methionine amino acid and the B vitamins). The nutritionist from Fertrell said that they could make us a special nutri-balancer without the synthetic vitamins, but they wouldn’t stand behind it as a complete supplement. The birds wouldn’t maintain good health, and egg production would drop by 5-20%.

We will work to reduce synthetic supplements by diversifying the feed with natural ingredients. It will take time.

*Interesting fact: Poultry diets are the only diet in ā€œcertified organicā€ where synthetic amino acids are allowed.

Why are egg yolks yellow or orange?

The color of the yolk corresponds to the chemical compounds present in what the birds are eating.

When birds are pasture raised, they eat a variety of foraged foods like grasses, seeds, and bugs. In the warmer months, these foods naturally contain carotenoids (fat-soluble pigments) that make the yolks darker. But, when birds are primarily fed a diet of wheat, corn, and soy, their yolks are lighter in color.

Big ag has caught on to consumer demand for darker yolks, so they figured out how to add synthetic colors (chemicals like Rovimix Carophyll Yellow or Lucantin Red) or natural colors (like marigold or paprika) to make the yolks dark… even if the birds aren’t on pasture.

Is yolk color an indicator of a nutritious egg?

Because of added feed colorants (which is super common now), sadly a dark orange yolk no longer means a more nutritious egg.

Today, the only way to know how nutritious your eggs are is to know your farmer. Truly pastured eggs offer more nutrition (more vitamins, omega-3s, antioxidants, etc) because the birds are naturally healthier. That health is transferred to the egg and then to you.

Will you continue to add natural ingredients that make the yolks orange year round?

Yes and no.

Marigold and paprika have been removed and most likely won't be added. Although they add antioxidants and vitamin A, the only real reason they’re in the feed is for the yolk color.

Instead, we’re looking to feed fresh or dried greens to the birds year round (kale, chard, alfalfa etc). This not only is something that the birds love but it also adds quality natural nutrition. Greens also contain the same carotenoids in marigold and paprika that make the yolks darker.

Will the egg price change with the feed changes?

Yes. The new feed will be a higher quality and more natural. And, that costs more. Egg prices will go up this year. We're anticipating the increase to be around $1 per dozen, but we just don't know exactly how much yet.

Complete List of Current Egg Feed Ingredients

*updated 3/29/24

MAIN FEED INGREDIENTS

This makes up 90%+ of the feed. About 20% of the grains below are sourced from local chemical-free farms and about 80% come from certified organic farms that we don't personally know. All ingredients are GMO-free. 

  • Oats
  • Rolled wheat
  • Peas
  • Alfalfa hay leaves
  • Barley

SUPPLEMENTAL FEED INGREDIENTS

All supplements are certified for organic and GMO-free. There are no added oils or additives (like preservatives or anti-caking agents). The loooong lists below are exactly what's in them. There's a nutritional reason for each and every one.

  • Poultry Nutri-Balancer (from Fertrell): Monocalcium Phosphate, Organic Dehydrated Kelp Meal, Salt, DL Methionine, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper
    Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Active Dry Yeast, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product.
  • Fishmeal (Fertrell's FERFISH): 100% whole sardine meal that is wild-caught off the coast of South America. The fishery has a sustainability certificate so they only harvest what they can take to sustainably keep the fish population going for the future. We used mixed tocopherols as the preservative (the only preservative allowed under Organic Regulations) and never use Ethoxyquin. The fish meal is used in the ration both as a great source of protein and amino acids, but also because it attracts the birds to their feed and actually helps them digest it better.
  • Sesame Meal (from Tipple M Farms): Ground sesame seeds
  • Aragonite: This is just ground aragonite rocks
  • York Calcium Chips: Limestone
  • Monocal Phos (from Fertrell): Monocalcium phosphate (which is phosphorous and calcium that has been chemically bonded together)
  • Spnutzym Nutri-Zyme (from Fertrell): Enzymes derived from lactic acid bacteria and ground limestone. The enzymes are grown on dairy but there's no dairy in the final product.
  • Goat Whey (raw from a local farmer): From local pasture raised goats.
  • Redmond Salt: Unrefined ancient sea salt from Salt Lake City, Utah which contains 60+ naturally-occurring trace minerals.

More from the blog

Sugar. What's the big deal anyways? Does refined vs natural matter?

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Also known as Mexican brown sugar.  āœ… Applesauce & Mashed Bananas: great for baking swaps  āœ… Raisins & Dates: natural sweetness with fiber and nutrients  **Side Note: I grew up with this!! I didn’t know that this entire time my family has been using a better version of sugar all long!! It was really cool to learn this. Final Thoughts: Be Smart About Sugar  Look, I’m not saying you need to swear off sugar forever (I mean..churros exist). But being mindful of sugar intake and choosing better alternatives can make a huge difference in your health.  A few key takeaways:  Sugar is addictive and offers zero nutrients. Too much sugar affects your weight, brain, mood, and energy levels.Natural sugars are better, but should be consumed in moderation.Avoid refined sugars and opt for natural sweeteners when possible. And honestly, give yourself grace. Changing habits takes time. I’m still figuring it out myself, but the goal isn’t perfection. It’s making small, healthier choices every day.  So, what are your thoughts? Are you trying to cut back on sugar too? What are your favorite alternatives? Do you have any recommendations?  ----- References https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/health/family-health/children-and-sugar-how-bad-it https://www.westonaprice.org/... https://thinkvida.com/blog/why-you-should-avoid-refined-sugars/ https://kaynutrition.com/what-is-the-healthiest-sugar/ https://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/outreach/nutr-health-info-sheets/consumer-addedsugars https://www.hartfordhospital.org/about-hh/news-center/news-detail?articleId=27851&publicid=461 https://thegreatbritishporridgeco.co.uk/blogs/news/natural-sugars-vs-added-sugars... https://veggiesandvirtue.com/blog/how-much-sugar-can-kids-have https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/

Our bone broth tested A+++ for heavy metals 🄳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

*Originally published on 3/14/25. Updated on 4/15/25. Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the body. Depending on the metal, it can accumulate in the bones, muscle, skin, brain, etc. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment.  And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you use apple cider vinegar to draw everything out and make it thick and gelatinous and nutrient rich (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead:  (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. And, as we know, our poor planet is becoming more and more contaminated with toxins like these toxic heavy metals šŸ˜¢ What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We need to stay vigilant and test from time to time. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study.  Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We actually tested twice. As it turns out, the first test results from March had a LOQ (limit of quantification) that was to high. So, we sent new products in April for testing at a lower LOQ. The results are in! Our bone broth tested A+++ for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the actual Eurofins test results right here! For easy reference, here's a chart summarizing the results: You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<2.0 μg/kg" and "<4.0 μg/kg".  The "<" indicates the limit of quantification (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So if a "<" result appears, it means that none of that metal was found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQ. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that's not provided by the test. It's also important to note that a Ī¼g/kg is a part per billion (ppb). So, for 1 μg/kg, in every billion grams of that food, there would be one gram (or 0.0000001%) of that particular heavy metal. The small numbers matter when it comes to toxic heavy metals, since it doesn't take all that much for your body to become inundated and start experiencing issues or damage. These results are excellent. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals and are within safe levels.  Our amazing customers mentioned Mike Adams to me numerous times after we released the first set of broth results. Mike Adams is an outspoken consumer health advocate, investigative journalist, activist, and science lab director. It turns out Eurofins, the lab we used, is a lab that he recommends.  Moreover, our results land us in his highest rating when it comes to heavy metals! I think we're doing pretty great when it comes to providing clean, natural food. But, one result did make me pause. You might be thinking what I first thought -- "But wait, you got a reading above 4.0 μg/kg for arsenic. Isn't that bad?"  Let's dive in -- What's up with arsenic? First off, it's important to note that there are organic forms of arsenic as well as inorganic forms. Our body can handle the organic kind pretty well. But, the inorganic kind is carcinogenic. Our test results show the level of all arsenic, and it doesn't divide inorganic and organic. Second, as you can see from the Health Ranger rating above, your body can tolerate way more arsenic than the other three toxic heavy metals. It can handle 6x more than cadmium, 25x more than lead, and 103x more than mercury.  Third, it was a mystery to me how arsenic had a reading in the ground beef but not the beef bone broth. Thankfully, that has a pretty easy explanation. Whereas lead mainly accumulates in the bones, arsenic accumulates more in the organs and muscles. And, of course, meat is muscle. And finally, it was also quite perplexing how arsenic showed in our beef as well as our chicken. You see, our beef and chicken are grown on two separate farms (hours apart) and are processed at two separate processors (also hours apart). They're fed two completely separate diets, too! My only explanation is farmland in general or maybe even our environment in general.  Organic arsenic has always been naturally present in the soil and water. It's just there in small amounts. But, levels nowadays are likely higher due to overuse of products laden with inorganic arsenic over time. Starting in the 1940s, conventional farmers would include drugs filled with inorganic arsenic in the feed for pigs and chickens and turkeys to encourage fast growth and prevent disease. Ugh. This actually led to concerns about arsenic poisoning, and that that practice was banned recently, in 2016. It makes me think that all the agri-waste has contaminated our farmland a bit, perhaps in both the soil and water. And then of course there are synthetic pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that may contain inorganic arsenic. And their use on conventional farms might runoff everywhere else. Since our meats are grown on farms that have been naturally managed for some time, I think that's why our arsenic levels were so low, especially compared to conventional meat.  Now, let's compare our results to food in general. Ours are extremely low. The data below is based on a few scientific studies: Arsenic: Rice contains anywhere from 90-450 ppb (that includes that rice cereal for babies, too). Meat and poultry in general typically contain 100-200 ppb. The max ours has is 6.8 ppb.Cadmium: Spinach contains 117-222 ppb. Rice contains 6-19 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10 ppb. Our has less than 2 ppb.Lead: Meat and poultry in general contain about 25 ppb. Our has less than 4 ppb.Mercury: The larger the fish, the more time it has to accumulate mercury. Swordfish and king mackerel can have about 1,000 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10-50 ppb. Ours has less than 2ppb. Wow! Putting that into perspective, it looks like our broth and meat are quite clean and extremely low in toxic heavy metals! Are you satisfied with our heavy metal results? Do you think we should take further action? Should we test other products?  Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us šŸ˜Š ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research ReviewInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herd Consumer Wellness Center Labs Heavy Metal RatingsArsenic in Meat and Animal ProductsInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herdArsenic in brown rice: do the benefits outweigh the risks?A Survey of the Levels of Selected Metals in U.S. Meat, Poultry, and Siluriformes Fish Samples Taken at Slaughter and Retail, 2017–2022Arsenic in your foodDietary exposure to cadmium from six common foods in the United StatesMercury Content in Commercially Available Finfish in the United States Author links open overlay panel

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

I was misinformed. At some point, I read that raw milk contains lactase. As it turns out, this is not true! It is true that raw milk contains many live enzymes that are inactivated during pasteurization. But, what about lactase? I’ve heard many anecdotal stories from people who are lactose intolerant... but can handle raw milk or fermented dairy. If raw milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheese doesn’t contain lactase, then why is that?