Why the omega 6/3 ratio matters? How to get balance in your eggs and diet?

written by

posted on

May 8, 2026

You've probably heard a lot about omega-3s. Take more fish oil. Eat more salmon. Walnuts are great for you. And all of that is true! But here's what often gets left out of the conversation: omega-3s don't work in isolation. They work in relationship to omega-6s. And that relationship (the ratio between the two) is one of the most important (and most overlooked) factors in your long-term health. Simply adding more omega-3s without reducing omega-6s doesn't fix the balance. And since omega-3s are PUFAs too, piling on more of them without addressing the bigger picture just adds to your overall PUFA load. It's not about more. It's about balance.

If you're raising backyard chickens, this matters to you in a very direct way. Because the ratio in your eggs is almost entirely determined by what your hens eat and how well they digest it. That puts you in a position of real power (more on that in a minute.) It also makes the feed decision a lot more interesting than most people realize.

First, What Are Omega-3s and Omega-6s?

Both omega-3s and omega-6s are polyunsaturated fatty acids (AKA PUFAs). Both are essential, meaning your body cannot make them on its own and must get them from food. They're involved in building cell membranes, regulating blood pressure, supporting brain function, and managing the body's inflammatory responses. In other words, they're not optional. You need both.

Here's the thing: omega-3s and omega-6s compete for the same enzymes in the body. When omega-6s dominate, those enzymes go toward producing pro-inflammatory compounds. When omega-3s are well represented, the same enzymes produce anti-inflammatory ones. The two fatty acids are constantly in conversation, and the ratio between them determines which direction that conversation goes.

This is why the total amount of each fatty acid matters less than the balance between them. You can eat plenty of omega-3s and still have a problematic ratio if your omega-6 intake is through the roof (spoiler: for most Americans, it is).

This is also where a lot of well-meaning advice goes sideways. You've probably heard "eat more omega-3s" a thousand times. And yes, omega-3s are wonderful. But simply piling on more fish oil or omega-3-rich foods without also reducing your omega-6 intake doesn't actually fix the ratio. If your omega-6 intake stays at 20:1 territory and you add more omega-3s on top, you might nudge the ratio slightly... but you're still wildly out of balance.

There's another layer to this, too. Omega-3s are PUFAs (yes, that buzzword), which means if you're loading up on omega-3s to compensate for a high omega-6 diet, you're not just improving your ratio, you're also increasing your total PUFA intake. And as we've talked about before (read the PUFA blog post here), high total PUFAs come with their own concerns: oxidative instability, inflammation potential, and a fat profile that doesn't look much like the one humans evolved eating.

The goal isn't to drown out omega-6s with omega-3s. It's to bring the whole picture back into balance --> the ratio between them AND the overall amount of PUFAs you're consuming in the first place. Less of the bad. More of the good. Not just more of everything.

The Ratio That Got Away from Us

For most of human history, people ate omega-6s and omega-3s in a relatively balanced ratio. Anthropological research suggests our ancestors ate somewhere between 1:1 and 4:1 (omega-6 to omega-3). Hunter-gatherers eating mostly land animals tended toward 2:1 to 4:1. Populations eating more seafood leaned even further toward omega-3s. Either way, the ratio was in a range the human body is built to handle.

Then the 20th century happened.

The industrialization of the food supply brought with it a massive expansion in the use of seed oils (corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, etc). These oils are heavily skewed toward omega-6s, and they found their way into virtually everything: processed food, restaurant fryers, salad dressings, crackers, bread, sauces. Margarine replaced butter. Crisco replaced lard. And the omega-6 load in the average American diet climbed dramatically.

The result? The typical Western diet now provides an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of approximately 20:1. Some estimates put it even higher. Against the historical norm of 1:1 to 4:1, that's not a small drift. It's a sea change. And the research connecting that drift to chronic disease (inflammation, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune conditions, even depression) is substantial and growing.

Omega-6s and omega-3s compete for the same enzyme binding site, and depending on which is bound, the resulting fatty acid signals either a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory cascade. When omega-6s dominate at a 20:1 ratio, that cascade tips heavily toward inflammation. Not the acute, useful kind of inflammation that helps you heal a wound or push out a splinter. The chronic, low-grade kind that quietly drives disease over years and decades.

Think about the last time you ate something you probably shouldn't have. Fast food, gas station snacks, that entire sleeve of crackers. You felt it, right? The bloating. The sluggishness. The brain fog that rolls in a few hours later. The mood that just... tanks. It's easy to blame the gluten, or the dyes, or the preservatives, or the glyphosate. And maybe some of that is part of it. But here's something worth sitting with: a meal loaded with seed-oil-heavy processed food is also a massive omega-6 dump. And that omega-6 overload triggers a measurable inflammatory response in the body. The bloating, the fog, the funk... it might not be entirely what you ate. It might be the ratio of what you ate. That's not a small distinction. Because if inflammation is the mechanism, then every meal is either helping or hurting. And the ratio in your food is one of the levers you actually control.

It Didn't Just Happen to People. It Happened to Animals Too.

Here's where it gets directly relevant to your backyard flock (and your beef and your pork and your dairy... but let's focus on the chickens).

The same shift that transformed the human food supply transformed animal feed, too. As industrial agriculture scaled up, livestock diets were rebuilt around the same cheap, high-yield ingredients that were flooding the human food supply: modern hybridized corn and soy. These weren't just incidentally used. They became the dominant base of virtually all conventional animal feed (for chickens, pigs, cattle, dairy cows, and farmed fish).

And the ratio in the feed became the ratio in the animal.

Modern hybridized corn has an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of approximately 50:1. Conventional soybean meal runs around 7:1. When those ingredients make up the bulk of what a hen eats, the hen and her eggs reflect that. Conventional eggs from hens on a standard corn-and-soy diet carry an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of roughly 20:1. Pastured eggs, even from well-managed farms, typically land around 7:1. The feed is the ceiling.

This is why simply choosing pasture-raised or "natural" eggs doesn't automatically solve the ratio problem. What those hens eat on pasture (and what they're supplemented with) determines the outcome. Grass, insects, and forage are excellent. But if the supplemental feed is built on modern hybridized corn and soy, the grazing doesn't fully offset it. You are what you eat. And so are your chickens.

So How Do You Actually Get Balance in Your Eggs?

This is where it gets practical. And a little more complicated than "just add flax" (more on that in a moment too).

It starts with the feed... but not just any "better" feed.

The path to a better omega ratio in your eggs starts with what goes into the feed. You want a feed that's lower in omega-6-heavy ingredients and higher in omega-3 sources. Here's a look at how common feed ingredients stack up:

Ingredient	Omega 6/3 Ratio
Modern hybridized corn	~50:1
Barley	~20:1
Wheat	~9:1
Soybean meal	~7:1
Peas	~2:1
Kelp	~1:1
Flaxseed	~1:4 (omega-3 dominant)
Fishmeal (sardines)	~1:2 (omega-3 dominant)

Remove modern hybridized corn and soy, and you've already done a lot. But here's the part that often gets missed: not all corn-and-soy-free feeds are created equal. Some manufacturers replace those ingredients with other high-omega-6 alternatives (sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, safflower, canola) and the ratio barely improves. The label tells you what's been removed. The ingredient list tells you what replaced it. Both matter.

Some omega-3 sources come with trade-offs.

Flaxseed is widely used in chicken feed to boost omega-3 levels, and it does work. Its ratio is strongly omega-3 dominant. But flaxseed is also one of the richest sources of phytoestrogens (specifically lignans) of any food, and those compounds transfer into eggs when hens eat flax-based feed. The full picture of what that means for human health is nuanced enough to deserve its own post (maybe coming soon). But it was enough of a consideration that Merry Natural chose not to include flaxseed in the formula. We get our omega-3 boost from fishmeal made from wild-caught sardines instead. It's high in omega-3s, no phytoestrogen concerns. And of course we watch the balance of other grains for the ratio, too.

Digestion is the other half of the equation.

Here's the part that really sets the conversation apart. It's not enough to put the right ingredients in the feed. The hen has to actually absorb them.

A hen with suboptimal gut health won't fully convert and utilize the omega-3s in her feed. Digestive efficiency directly affects the nutritional profile of her eggs. This is why Merry Natural feed is designed not just for what's in it, but for how it's digested. The feed is ground finer than conventional feeds for better digestibility. A robust probiotic blend supports gut health. And raw liquid goat whey is added last to activate fermentation in the hen's crop through her own natural digestive moisture (not through external water, but through the process that happens inside the bird herself).

A hen that's digesting optimally is a hen that's getting the full benefit of every omega-3 source in her feed. And that shows up in the egg. Every. Single. Time.

Where Merry Natural Eggs Land

When eggs from hens on Merry Natural feed were tested, they came back with a 4:1 omega-6/omega-3 ratio. Here's how that compares:

Conventional eggs: ~20:1
Standard pastured eggs: ~3:1 to 7:1 (depending on feed)
Merry Natural eggs: 4:1
Optimal range for human health: 1:1 to 4:1

Right at the upper edge of the ideal range. Not by accident. By design.

The formula — no modern hybridized corn, no soy, no direct seed oils, no flaxseed, wild-caught sardine fishmeal, a diverse grain base, and a digestion-first approach — produces an egg whose fatty acid profile reflects every single decision that went into it. That's the whole point.

The Bottom Line

The omega 6/3 ratio is a way of measuring whether your food is working with your body or quietly working against it.

Too much omega-6 relative to omega-3 (which is where most Americans are, by a wide margin) creates a chronic pro-inflammatory environment that underlies a startling number of modern diseases. And it shows up in subtler ways too: the afternoon slump, the bloating, the mood dip, the brain fog you've maybe just accepted as normal.

It doesn't have to be normal. And as someone raising your own chickens, you're in a genuinely good position to do something about it. Your hens eat what you feed them. Their eggs reflect that. A feed formulated with the ratio in mind, combined with real support for how the hen digests it, can produce an egg that actually moves the needle.

Balance is the goal. And a well-fed, well-digesting hen turns out to be one of the best tools you have to get there. Who knew the answer was in the coop all along?

Resources

Why low PUFA eggs matter and how to get them with your backyard flock.

People come to backyard chickens for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you're deeply into nutrition and want to know exactly what's in your food. Maybe you care about how animals are raised and want full visibility into that. Maybe you've lost faith in the food system and decided to opt out of as much of it as you can. Maybe it's a little of all three, with some friendly chicken chaos thrown in. Whatever brought you here, one of the best things about raising your own chickens is knowing exactly what goes into your eggs. You chose this life (or this hobby, or this slightly-out-of-control flock situation), and with it came something most people don't have: direct control over what your hens eat, and by extension, what ends up on your plate. And if you've been hearing more about PUFAs lately, you're probably wondering: does my flock's feed actually affect this? And what can I do about it? Short answer: yes, and a lot. Let's dig in. What Are PUFAs, Anyway? PUFA stands for polyunsaturated fatty acid. It's a type of fat characterized by multiple double bonds in its carbon chain, which makes it chemically less stable than saturated or monounsaturated fats. The two main families are omega-3s and omega-6s. Both are essential fatty acids, meaning your body can't produce them on its own and has to get them from food. Here's a practical way to think about it: PUFAs are essentially what we know as seed oils. Corn oil. Soybean oil. Canola oil. Sunflower oil. Safflower oil. Cottonseed oil. A useful rule of thumb? If an oil is liquid at room temperature, it's likely high in PUFAs. There are two notable exceptions: avocado oil and olive oil, both of which are liquid at room temperature but are primarily monounsaturated fats (oleic acid), which are much more stable. But most other liquid vegetable oils are predominantly PUFA. Before seed oils took over, the everyday cooking fats in most American homes were butter, lard, tallow, and ghee. Stable, traditional, naturally low in PUFAs. Then came the 20th century food industry, which told us those fats were dangerous, and swapped in margarine (in place of butter) and Crisco (in place of lard). Both are made from partially hydrogenated or refined seed oils, and both dramatically increased Americans' intake of omega-6 PUFAs. And it didn't stop at the grocery store shelf. These fats worked their way into everything. The oil you cook with at home. The crackers, bread, and sauces in your pantry. The fryer oil at every restaurant you've ever eaten at. By the mid-20th century, high-PUFA seed oils had become the default fat in virtually every food context, homemade, processed, and restaurant alike. Which means most people are getting a heavy dose of omega-6 PUFAs at every single meal, whether they realize it or not. Here's the thing: PUFAs aren't bad. Omega-3s are PUFAs. DHA (the fatty acid your brain depends on) is a PUFA. The problem isn't PUFAs themselves. It's the balance, or more accurately, the imbalance most Americans are living with right now. Historically, humans ate a roughly 1:1 to 4:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. The modern Western diet has pushed that closer to 15:1 or even 20:1. That dramatic skew toward omega-6s has been linked to chronic inflammation, which underlies a long list of health issues: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, joint problems, and more. On top of the ratio issue, PUFAs are prone to oxidation (thanks to those unstable double bonds), which can generate harmful compounds in the body. And here's the part that often gets missed: this shift didn't just happen to the human food supply. It happened to animals, too. As industrial agriculture scaled up after the mid-20th century, livestock feed followed the same playbook, replacing traditional forage-based and diverse-grain diets with cheap, high-yield, PUFA-rich ingredients built around modern hybridized corn and soy. It wasn't just chickens. Pigs, beef cattle, dairy cows, and farmed fish all saw their diets transformed in the same direction. The animals that used to eat grass, forage, insects, and diverse grains were switched over to concentrated feed rations optimized for cost and growth rate. The fat profile of those animals changed with their diets. And then we ate them. Reducing total PUFAs, and bringing the omega-6/omega-3 ratio back into balance, is one of the more actionable things you can do for your long-term health. And it turns out, your backyard flock is one of the most powerful tools you have to do it. The Feed-to-Egg Connection Here's the part that doesn't always make it into the seed oil conversation: animals absorb and reflect the fatty acid profile of what they eat. Feed a hen a high-PUFA diet, and she produces high-PUFA eggs. It's that direct. What makes eggs particularly significant here is that dietary fatty acids transfer into egg yolks with unusual efficiency. The yolk is essentially a concentrated lipid depot, and it mirrors the hen's diet quite closely. This effect is actually more pronounced in eggs (and dairy) than in meat. When a hen eats a high linoleic acid diet, that linoleic acid shows up directly in the yolk. Muscle meat has somewhat more buffering, but eggs and dairy are highly responsive to changes in the animal's diet. Which means if you're eating eggs every day (and most of us are), the fatty acid profile of those eggs matters more than you might think. This is why you can eat pasture-raised eggs and still end up with more PUFAs than you'd expect. Pasture access is wonderful. But if a hen's supplemental feed is loaded with modern hybridized corn and soy, the grazing doesn't fully offset it. The feed is the foundation. As a backyard chicken keeper, you have something commercial egg producers generally don't: the ability to choose exactly what your hens eat. That's not a small thing. That's everything. What to Avoid in Your Flock's Feed If lowering PUFAs in your eggs is the goal, the ingredient list on your feed bag is the first place to look. Here's what to watch for: Modern hybridized corn. Conventional layer feeds are often 50-60% corn by volume. Modern hybridized corn is high in linoleic acid, the primary omega-6 PUFA, and it transfers efficiently into the egg yolk. The more hybridized corn in the diet, the higher the omega-6 load in the egg. (Worth noting: this isn't true of all corn historically. Heritage corn varieties have a different, more balanced fat profile. But modern hybridized corn, which is what virtually all conventional feed uses, is a different story.) Merry Natural feed contains no corn. Soybean meal. Another staple of conventional feed, and another significant source of omega-6 PUFAs. Soy-free feeds tend to have meaningfully better fatty acid profiles for this reason. Merry Natural is soy-free. Seed oils added directly to feed. Some feeds add soybean oil, sunflower oil, or corn oil as an energy source or to help pellets bind. These are concentrated sources of omega-6 PUFAs and go straight into the bird's fat stores (and your eggs). Merry Natural adds no direct seed oils. Here's the part that trips a lot of people up: not all corn-and-soy-free feeds are created equal. Removing corn and soy is a meaningful step, but it doesn't automatically make a feed low in PUFAs. Plenty of feeds replace those ingredients with other high-PUFA alternatives: sunflower seeds or oil, safflower, canola, peanuts, or other grain and oil combinations that are just as high in linoleic acid. The label "corn and soy free" tells you what's not in the bag. It doesn't tell you what is. You have to look at the full ingredient list and think about the fatty acid profile of each ingredient, not just whether the two most well-known culprits are present. This matters for everything from commercial feed to your own DIY grain mixes. Swapping modern hybridized corn for another high-PUFA grain or oil doesn't solve the problem. The goal is a feed built from ingredients that are genuinely lower in omega-6 PUFAs, not just labeled differently. What to Look FOR in Your Flock's Feed Now for the more useful part. Instead of just swapping out the bad, look for feeds that are intentionally formulated for a better fatty acid profile: Omega-3 sources. Fishmeal (especially from wild-caught fish like sardines) and hemp are strong sources. These ingredients actively bring the omega-6/omega-3 ratio back toward balance. Merry Natural uses fishmeal from wild-caught sardines as a primary omega-3 source. A note on flaxseed. Flax is widely used as an omega-3 source in chicken feed, and it does increase omega-3 levels in eggs. However, flaxseed is also one of the richest sources of phytoestrogens (specifically lignans) of any food, and those compounds transfer into eggs when hens eat flax-based feed. The full picture of what that means for human health is a nuanced conversation worth its own blog post. But it was enough of a consideration that we chose not to include flaxseed in Merry Natural feed, opting for fishmeal from wild-caught sardines as our omega-3 source instead. Low-PUFA fats, thoughtfully used. Feeds that use oils like wheat germ oil or sesame oil in controlled amounts, rather than high-PUFA seed oils, are working with the bird's biology, not against it. Sesame is particularly interesting: when seeds are processed to separate the oil, the resulting meal can actually help reduce the total PUFA load in the finished feed. Merry Natural processes sesame this way, adding only some of the oil back specifically to manage the PUFA contribution. Whole grains over hybridized-corn-heavy bases. Oats, barley, and wheat tend to have more favorable fatty acid profiles than modern hybridized corn as a primary grain. A feed built around a diverse grain base will generally produce eggs with lower linoleic acid. Merry Natural's base includes oats, rolled wheat, peas, barley, and alfalfa. Probiotics and digestibility support. Feeds that support optimal gut function help the bird actually absorb and utilize the good stuff in the diet. A hen that's digesting well is a hen converting her feed efficiently. Merry Natural includes a robust probiotic blend and uses raw liquid goat whey (added last to coat the feed) to support fermentation and digestibility in the bird's crop. Transparency. Look for a feed company that can tell you exactly what's in their product and why. If a company can't explain their formulation, that's useful information too. What Qualifies as a Low PUFA Egg? There's no official government standard or certification for "low PUFA eggs" the way there is for, say, "organic." The term has developed organically (no pun intended) from farmers and researchers who have started testing eggs and publishing their results. But based on the data that exists, a working framework is emerging: A note on how these numbers are expressed: PUFA content in eggs is typically reported two ways — as a percentage of total fatty acids, and as grams per 100g of whole egg. Both matter. The percentage tells you how the fat profile is composed. The grams tell you how much you're actually eating. (The figures below are based on approximately 10g of total fat per 100g of whole egg, which is a standard figure for large eggs.) Conventional eggs — the baseline most low-PUFA eggs are compared against — typically test at 23% or higher total PUFAs (roughly 2.4g or more per 100g of egg), with linoleic acid in the 16-26% range (~1.6-2.6g per 100g), and omega-6/omega-3 ratios that can reach 20:1 or worse. Low PUFA eggs are generally considered to fall below 20% total PUFAs (under about 2g per 100g of egg), with linoleic acid under roughly 15% (~under 1.5g per 100g), and an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of 4:1 or better. This is a meaningful improvement over the conventional baseline and aligns with what researchers consider a healthier range for human dietary fat intake. Very low PUFA eggs — from farms that have pushed even further — tend to come in under 10% total PUFAs (under ~1g per 100g of egg) and under 8% linoleic acid. These are typically from operations that are extremely deliberate about every ingredient in their feed, often with a premium price to match. Here's how eggs from hens on Merry Natural feed compare: MetricConventional EggsLow PUFA RangeMerry Natural EggsTotal PUFAs23.6%+ (~2.4g+ per 100g)Under ~20% (~under 2g per 100g)18.37% — 1.8g per 100g ✓Linoleic Acid16–26% (~1.6-2.6g per 100g)Under ~15% (~under 1.5g per 100g)10% (~1.0g per 100g) ✓Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio15:1–20:14:1 or better4:1 ✓Sat Fat / PUFA Ratio1.3 or lessHigher is better1.93 ✓ Merry Natural eggs land clearly in the low PUFA category. They're not the most extreme low-PUFA egg you'll find — there are farms focused specifically on minimizing total PUFAs above all else, and that's legitimate and valuable work. But they check every box for what the community considers low PUFA, and they do it while also delivering an exceptional omega balance and a broad vitamin profile. For us, it's always been about the whole picture, not just one number. How Merry Natural Feed Gets You There Merry Natural feed was formulated with all of this in mind. No modern hybridized corn. No soy. No direct seed oils added. No flaxseed. The grain base includes oats, rolled wheat, peas, barley, and alfalfa, and the formula uses fishmeal from wild-caught sardines as a key omega-3 source. Sesame seeds are processed to separate the oil before being included, with only some added back, specifically to reduce the PUFA contribution while retaining the benefits. The oils in the formula (sesame, fish, hemp, and wheat germ) are applied as a protective coating for the feed's nutrients and probiotics, not as a PUFA delivery vehicle. Eggs from hens on Merry Natural feed were tested by Dr. Stephan Van Vliet, PhD, Director of the Food Metabolomics Lab at the University of Utah. The results: 18.37% total PUFAs, 10% linoleic acid, and a 4:1 omega-6/omega-3 ratio. Every other egg tested came in at 23.6% total PUFAs or higher, with linoleic acid between 16-26%. That 4:1 ratio sits right at the upper end of what researchers consider optimal for human health. It didn't happen by accident. It happened because of what went into the feed, and just as importantly, what was left out. The Bottom Line If you're raising backyard chickens, you're already ahead. The eggs you collect are almost certainly better than what's on most grocery store shelves. But feed matters a lot. The same birds on different feeds will produce eggs with meaningfully different nutritional profiles. And "corn and soy free" alone isn't the whole answer. What goes in matters as much as what's left out. You can't out-forage a bad feed. But with the right feed, your hens don't have to. Want to see the full test results? Read about them here and see the actual spreadsheet of data here. Resources Miller's Bio Farm: Egg Test Results — Yolk Color Does Not Matter Miller's Bio Farm: Miller's vs Angel Acres Eggs — Comparing PUFAs and the Omega Ratio NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Omega-3 Fatty Acids — Health Professional Fact Sheet Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute: Lignans MDPI: Fatty Acid and Antioxidant Profile of Eggs from Pasture-Raised Hens Fed a Corn- and Soy-Free Diet What Do Low PUFA Eggs Mean? Understanding Egg Nutrition ScienceDirect: Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens Fed Flaxseed — Highlights on n-3 Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Lignans and Isoflavones Merry Natural: Egg Test Results

To ferment or not ferment chicken feed? Not necessary with Merry Natural.

If you're anything like many other backyard chicken keepers, you've probably stumbled down the fermented feed rabbit hole at some point. You're scrolling through chicken forums at 10 PM (again), and everyone's talking about how they're soaking their feed for three days, stirring it twice daily, checking the pH, making sure it smells like sourdough and not like a science experiment gone wrong. It sounds amazing (healthier chickens, better eggs, happier hens). But also... exhausting. You've got a full-time job. Kids. A garden that needs weeding. A coop that needs cleaning. And now you're supposed to add "fermentation project manager" to your resume? We get it. You want to do right by your flock, but you don't want feeding your chickens to feel like a part-time job. Here's the good news: With Merry Natural feed, you don't need to ferment. Let us explain. Why Do People Ferment Feed in the First Place? Fermented feed has become wildly popular in the backyard chicken community, and for good reason. When you soak feed in water for a few days, beneficial bacteria (mostly lactobacillus) break down the grains, making them softer and easier to digest. The process also produces probiotics (those "good" bacteria that support gut health and immunity). Here's what fermentation does: Makes feed more digestible: Soaking breaks down phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that can interfere with mineral absorption. Your chickens get more nutrition from the same amount of feed. Introduces probiotics: The lactic acid bacteria that develop during fermentation promote a healthy gut microbiome, which strengthens the immune system and helps ward off pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella. Adds interest: Chickens enjoy the tangy, slightly sour flavor. It's enrichment, especially for hens stuck in a run without access to pasture. Easier on digestion: The softened feed is gentler on the crop and gizzard, making it easier for chickens to process. Sounds pretty great, right? And it is (if you're feeding conventional feed that's pelletized, heat-processed, and basically designed to sit in a bag for months without spoiling). But here's the thing: Merry Natural feed is not conventional feed. How Merry Natural Feed Is Different Most commercial chicken feeds are formulated to be shelf-stable, easy to ship, and as affordable as possible. And that's about it. They're not designed with your chicken's digestive system in mind. That's why so many chicken keepers have turned to fermenting. They're trying to "fix" feed that was never optimized for digestion in the first place. Merry Natural feed works differently. We formulated it to work with your chickens' natural digestive process, not against it. Here's what makes it unique: 1. It's Designed to Ferment (Starting In Your Chicken's Crop) Your chickens already have a built-in fermentation system. It's called the crop. The crop is a specialized pouch in the chicken's throat that holds and moistens food. It's packed with beneficial bacteria (especially lactobacillus, enterococcus, and other lactic acid bacteria) that naturally ferment feed and produce short-chain fatty acids. These acids provide energy and support overall gut health. When your chicken eats Merry Natural feed, here's what happens: The feed enters the crop, where it's moistened with saliva and water. Our whey coating rehydrates and "wakes up" the probiotics we've added to the feed. Fermentation begins, right there in the crop, exactly where nature intended. The beneficial bacteria get to work breaking down nutrients and producing those gut-healthy acids. We're not asking you to ferment the feed in a bucket. We've designed the feed to ferment naturally in the bird, giving your chickens all the benefits of fermented feed without you lifting a finger. 2. Probiotics Are Already Included Merry Natural feed contains the same strains of beneficial bacteria that would naturally develop if you fermented feed yourself: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus subtilis. These probiotics are protected by a unique oil and whey coating during storage. When the feed hits the moist environment of the crop, the coating activates, the probiotics come to life, and fermentation kicks in. You're getting the probiotic boost of fermented feed (without the three-day waiting period, the daily stirring, or the risk of accidentally growing mold instead of beneficial bacteria). 3. Whole, Digestible Ingredients (Ground Finer) Unlike pelletized feeds that are heat-processed and compressed, Merry Natural feed is made with whole grains like oats, wheat, and barley. These ingredients are already more digestible than conventional feeds, so your chickens' systems don't have to work as hard to break them down. We also grind our feed finer than most commercial feeds. This increases the surface area of each grain particle, making it easier for your chickens' digestive enzymes to access and break down the nutrients. Better breakdown means better absorption. And better absorption means healthier, more productive hens. Add in alfalfa hay leaves, peas, fishmeal from wild-caught sardines, sesame meal, and raw liquid goat whey, and you've got a feed that's not just nutritious. It's designed to be easy on your chickens' digestive systems from the start. 4. Formulated to Support Natural Digestion Here's where it gets a little nerdy (but we promise to keep it simple): We separate the oil from sesame seeds, then add just enough back to coat the feed. This does two things. First, it protects the nutrients and probiotics during storage. Second, it keeps PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) in check. Lower PUFAs mean better omega ratios in your eggs. Unlike many commercial feeds, we don't add any direct seed oils. That's a common industry practice to boost calories cheaply, but it can throw off the nutritional balance of your eggs. We skip it. Then we add raw liquid goat whey at the very end of the mixing process. The whey dries around the outside of the feed, creating a protective layer that "comes to life" when it hits the moisture in your chicken's crop. It's like a time-release capsule for probiotics, designed to activate exactly when and where your chickens need it. The result? A feed that supports fermentation in the bird, giving your flock all the digestive and immune benefits of fermented feed without you having to do the fermenting. So... Is Fermenting Merry Natural Feed Necessary? Nope. Your chickens are already getting the benefits of fermented feed because the feed is designed to ferment naturally in their crop. You don't need to soak it, stir it, or worry about whether it's fermenting properly. But Could You Still Ferment It If You Wanted To? Sure! Some chicken keepers ferment feed because their hens love the tangy taste and extra moisture, especially in hot weather or if they don't have access to pasture. If you want to ferment Merry Natural feed for enrichment or hydration, go for it. The cool thing is, you're starting with probiotics already in the feed. So when you ferment Merry Natural feed, you're not just relying on wild bacteria from the air. You're supercharging it with the strains we've already added. It's like fermentation on easy mode. But here's the truth: You don't have to. Your chickens are already getting everything they need from the feed as-is. The Bottom Line Fermenting feed is a great practice (if you're feeding conventional feed that wasn't designed with digestion in mind). But Merry Natural feed? It's already doing the work for you. We've formulated it to activate in your chickens' crop, support natural fermentation, and deliver probiotics right where they're needed most. So skip the jars, the stirring, and the three-day waiting period. Your chickens will be just as healthy. And you'll have more time to actually enjoy your flock. That's the Merry Natural difference. Feed that works with your chickens, not against them. And a little less work for you. Resources Frontiers | Impact of probiotics on chicken gut microbiota, immunity, behavior, and productive performance—a systematic review Frontiers | Chicken Gut Microbiota: Importance and Detection Technology Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Their Manipulation for Improved Growth and Performance in Chickens Fermenting Poultry Feed: Simple Steps to Healthier Birds and Higher Yields - NC State Extension How to Ferment Chicken Feed For Healthier Hens and Eggs - Homestead and Chill Function of the digestive system - ScienceDirect Intestinal microbiome of poultry and its interaction with host and diet - PMC Biointerfacial self-assembly generates lipid membrane coated bacteria for enhanced oral delivery and treatment - Nature Communications

Yes, what a chicken eats affects the yolk color. Here are examples.

Did you know that you can affect the color of your yolks by what you feed your chickens? It's true! Back in the day, it was true that pasture raised chickens, actively foraging, produced eggs with darker yolks. From a nutrition standpoint, this was a great indicator of egg nutrition. Pasture raised eggs from naturally tended birds are more nutritious. So naturally minded consumers sought out eggs with darker yolks. But... as time went on, the farming industry caught onto this consumer demand. They started adding colorants to chicken feed to make the yolks a consistent shade of yellow or orange. Synthetic carotenoids like apo-ester can be added. And more natural ingredients like marigold and paprika can be added, too. They have no necessary nutritional value. They're there specifically for yolk color. In today's world, a deep orange yolk doesn't necessarily mean a bird lives outside, is on pasture, or is foraging. It doesn't mean the egg is more or less nutritious. Yolk color has become superficial. At Merry Natural, this is a sad thing. You're losing such an important indicator of what your chickens are eating. That's why we choose to add ZERO colorants to our feed, even the natural ones. Whether foraging in your yard or pastures or eating kitchen scraps, what you feed your birds affects the yolk color. Of course, the exact color and difference depends on how much yours birds are eating of each thing, the variety, the stage of growth, etc. But isn't it neat to see the changes? Here are some examples: Grains (like Wheat, Oats, and Barley) = Pale Yellow Yolks Dandelion = Yellow Yolks Corn = Yellow Yolks Zucchini = Yellow Yolks Sunflowers = Yellow Yolks Alfalfa = Golden Orange Yolks Green Peppers = Golden Orange Yolks Kale = Golden Orange Yolks Clover = Golden Orange Yolks Chickweed = Orange Yolks Grass = Orange Yolks Sardines = Orange Yolks Watermelon Rinds = Orange Yolks Carrot Tops = Orange Yolks Pumpkins = Orange Yolks Tomatoes = Orange Red Yolks Red Peppers = Orange Red Yolks Marigolds = Orange Red Yolks Grapes = Green Brown Yolks Acorns = Green Brown Yolks Rosemary = Gray Yolks Cabbage = Blue Green Whites

Why the omega 6/3 ratio matters? How to get balance in your eggs and diet?

First, What Are Omega-3s and Omega-6s?

The Ratio That Got Away from Us

It Didn't Just Happen to People. It Happened to Animals Too.

So How Do You Actually Get Balance in Your Eggs?

It starts with the feed... but not just any "better" feed.

Some omega-3 sources come with trade-offs.

Digestion is the other half of the equation.

Where Merry Natural Eggs Land

The Bottom Line

Resources

More from the blog

Why low PUFA eggs matter and how to get them with your backyard flock.

To ferment or not ferment chicken feed? Not necessary with Merry Natural.

Yes, what a chicken eats affects the yolk color. Here are examples.

Browse & Grow

Ways To Buy

Policies

Follow Us

Join Our Newsletter

Merry Natural