The Best Vitamins for Chickens: Happy and Healthy in 2022

If your chickens can roam freely and safely and there are greens and bugs for them to scratch up and eat year-round, they probably don’t need vitamin supplements. However, under normal conditions where there is some confinement for safety or due to changing weather, or for chickens who eat commercial feed, adding vitamins to their food is essential.

Without enough vitamins and minerals, your laying hens may produce small or thin-shelled eggs. They might peck at eggs you don’t collect, trying to regain some of the nutrients. Other signs your chickens need a vitamin supplement include poor feathering or slow growth.

Chicken feed has some crucial vitamins and minerals, but chickens require 38 unique nutrients each day to grow strong, lay eggs, and remain vibrant. Vitamins are particularly essential for laying hens who need a boost to maintain optimum health.

Our 2022 reviews are updated to look at the best vitamins available on the market, so you have what you need to keep your chickens in top shape.

1. Overall Best Vitamins for Chickens: Fresh Eggs Daily Coop Kelp Organic Chicken & Duck Supplement

In our review, the overall best vitamins for chickens are Fresh Eggs Daily Coop Kelp Organic Chicken & Duck Supplement for its quality mix of vitamins and minerals and the addition of kelp sourced from the icy waters of Norway. 

Fresh Eggs Daily Coop’s organic daily feed supplement is designed to work with other supplements. It supports your chickens’ immune health and egg quality, including bright orange yolks. You can feed it to your flock through all life stages.

In addition to vitamins and minerals that help improve feather appearance and help with weight gain, the Coop Kelp formula includes prebiotics that feeds the helpful bacteria in your chickens’ gut to aid a healthy digestive system.

This daily feed supplement provides essential elements and minerals, including Calcium, Copper, Folate, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Riboflavin, Vitamin K, and Zinc.

Overall Best

Fresh Eggs Daily Coop Kelp Organic Chicken Supplement

• This organic mix of vitamins and minerals contains Norweigan kelp
• Supports chickens' immune health and egg quality
• Supports bright orange yolks
• Suitable for all stages of life
• Improves feather appearance and assists with weight gain

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2. Best Value: Rooster Booster Poultry Booster Pellet Vitamin Supplement 

Rooster Booster Poultry Booster gives your chickens all the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids necessary for healthy, happy fowl. It’s suitable for fowl of all ages but is most important for laying hens.

One benefit of the Poultry Booster formula is it includes probiotics. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that support a healthy digestive tract. A good balance of beneficial bacteria in your flow keeps their immune systems strong and optimizes feed efficiency.

The formula also includes calcium to support strong bones and eggshells. The pellets are easy to mix with food.

Best Value

Rooster Booster Poultry Booster

• Provides all the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids your flock needs to be healthy
• Includes probiotics for healthy digestion
• Provides calcium for strong bones and eggshells
• Easy to mix with food
• Suitable for fowl of all ages

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3. Best Supplement for a Stressed-Out Flock: Rooster Booster Cell Liquid Vitamin Poultry Supplement

Rooster Boosters Liquid Vitamin Supplement delivers crucial nutrients like iron, vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids in a bioavailable liquid form. It contains vitamins A, D, E, essential B-vitamins, and 400 mg of iron to aid your flock during stressful times like illness, molting, or weather extremes.

This liquid supplement is different from others on our list, which are daily supplements that support flocks of any age, especially laying hens. The purpose of this supplement is to support your chickens as they recover from health issues and stressful times, including a vitamin deficiency or wry neck. 

Best Supplement for a Stressed-Out Flock

Rooster Booster Cell Liquid Poultry Vitamins

• Features critical nutrients like iron, vitamins, minerals, and essential acids,
• Bioavailable formula
• Contains vitamins A, D, E, essential B-vitamins, and iron, which support fowl during stressful times like illness, molting, and extreme weather
• Appropriate for chickens of all ages
• Not intended for daily use during non-stressful times

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4. Best Vitamins With Electrolytes: Happy Hen Treats Vita-Hen Vitamins & Electrolytes Chicken Supplement

Happy Hen’s easy-to-use pouches each mix with one gallon of water. They add electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals in a convenient powdered form.

This formula helps keep chickens hydrated and healthy during stress or extreme weather. It’s designed to help your flock bounce back from challenges.

In addition to electrolytes and trace minerals, Vita-Hen Vitamins include D3, vitamin C, A, E, B3, B5, B9, K, B12, B2, B6,  and B1.

4. Best Vitamins With Electrolytes

Happy Hen Treats Vita-Hen Vitamins & Electrolytes Chicken Supplement, 0.35-oz, 8 count

• These easy-to-use pouches mix with a gallon of water
• Includes electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals in a convenient powder
• Also includes D3, vitamin C, A, E, B3, B5, B9, K, B12, B2, B6, and B1.
• Keeps chickens hydrated and healthy during stressful times and extreme weather
• Designed to help fowl bounce back from challenges

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5. Best B-Vitamin Supplement With Added Omegas: UltraCruz Omega Boost Poultry Supplement

UltraCruz Omega Boost provides vitamins B3, B7, and B12 as well as omega fatty acids and vitamin E. It is designed to boost the energy of your flock – both young and old. 

Made in the USA, this formula supports a vibrant, silky plumage. Its liquid form makes it easy to use.

Best B-Vitamin Supplement With Added Omegas

UltraCruz Omega Boost Poultry Supplement, 1-qt bottle

• Contains vitamins B3, B7, and B12
• Includes omega fatty acids and vitamin E
• Formulated to boost your flock's energy
• Supports vibrant, silky feathers
• Suitable for chickens of all ages

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Choosing the Best: What to Look For

Unless they are free-range, chickens need supplemental vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. When choosing the best vitamins for your chickens, there are many to choose from, and it can get overwhelming.  

You want supplements that are:

• Easy for your chickens to absorb
• Deliver the vitamins and minerals that match your flock’s needs

There are some products that specifically help your chickens recover from or endure stressful conditions like winter and others that are suitable to serve all year long.

Others have additional ingredients like probiotics or omegas. As long as the supplement is absorbable and contains the vitamins and minerals your flock needs, these additions will benefit your chickens.

The Different Types of Vitamins for Chickens: Pros and Cons Compared

While there are a variety of formulas available, there are three main types of vitamins for chickens. They are pellets, powder, and liquid.

Here are some pros and cons of each type.

Pellets

Pellets are easy to mix with the feed and distribute when you feed the flock. However, if they don’t like the taste, they’ll eat around the pellets and won’t benefit from the supplement. 

Powder

Powdered vitamins mix with your chicken’s water or can be coated onto their food. Some formulas don’t dissolve completely in water, which can be wasteful. If it gets damp, it will go bad.

Liquid

Liquid supplements are bioavailable and easy to mix with your flock’s water. They can be expensive.

Essential Vitamins for Chickens

In general, vitamin C is the only vitamin your chickens don’t require from their diet (most animals can produce their own vitamin C – unlike people who have to ingest vitamin C and cannot produce it). Here are the vitamins that are essential to your flock and the benefits they provide.

• Vitamin A: Aids in egg production and your chicken’s growth
• Vitamin D: Strengthens eggshells and increases egg production
• Vitamin E: Aids in general growth and reproduction
• Vitamin K: Supports healthy blood and muscles
• Vitamin B1: Helps with metabolizing carbohydrate
• Vitamin B2: Supports growth

The most important time to supplement is during harsher winters, while laying, or if you use homemade feed without additional supplements.

Signs of Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency in Chickens

A single vitamin or mineral deficiency in your flock can have a cascading effect. It can interfere with your chickens’ ability to absorb the nutrients you give them. Deficiencies won’t show up immediately, but the following are visible signs:

• General poor feathering
• Poor or reduced laying
• Inhibited growth
• Lack of appetite
• Weight loss
• Wryneck
• Deformities
• Lethargy

Verified Review: User Experience

Users of Fresh Eggs Daily Coop Kelp Organic Chicken & Duck Supplement report improvements in their flock. One who started giving it to their chicks and has continued as they grew said he has zero problems with his flock. Another user reported that her neighbors’ chickens had a tough summer, with low laying rates and a few dying while her flock was fine. Other reviewers report brighter eyes, shinier feathers, and more energy.

Rooster Booster Poultry Booster Pellet Vitamin Supplement got strong positive reviews. Most users say their chickens eat the pellets, though a few say they mix it with water instead of feed. One user said her chickens were laying small eggs with soft shells and saw larger eggs and harder shells after using this supplement. Another user’s chicken had trouble growing feathers on her neck, and the supplement solved the problem. She is now fully feathered. The main complaint is that sometimes the package comes open during shipping.

Users of Rooster Booster Cell Liquid Vitamin Poultry Supplement say their chickens got healthier. They say chickens like the taste of the supplement, and egg production is up. Another with 10 ducklings and 16 chicks reported zero losses when using this supplement.

Happy Hen Treats Vita-Hen Vitamins, and Electrolytes Chicken Supplement helped a flock get through a heatwave. The reviewer reported using the powder in one container of water and leaving the others plain and repeatedly seeing their chickens drink the treated water and leave the rest. Other users report excellent results year-round. The only complaint is the added food coloring.

One UltraCruz Omega Boost Poultry Supplement user reported that egg production was down in the winter, and this supplement boosted production and improved the look of their feathers. Other users echo this result – improved production and better appearance. One reviewer on Amazon received expired bottles, which was the only complaint.