Boost Your Flock's Health Naturally: Easy Herbs for Backyard Chickens
Chickens, like any animal on the farm or homestead, can be susceptible to sickness, predators, and pests. If, like me, you prefer a natural, sustainable, and healthful solution to these issues, herbs can be your chickens' best friends! (and yours) Read on to learn how you can use herbs to improve and protect the health of your chickens, and make keeping them that much easier.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.*
This is not at all a complete list of the herbs that can benefit your chickens. And you will see from the list that many of these plants serve multiple purposes because herbal medicine is just that amazing! So don't feel overwhelmed trying to find one plant for this purpose and one plant for that purpose... Just know that adding safe herbs to your chickens lives will improve them in more ways than one.
Methods of Administering Herbs to Your Chickens
First let's cover how you can give herbs to your chickens. There are several methods for how to use herbs in support of your flock. Here is a list of some of the easiest ways:
In Their Nesting Boxes - Place fresh or dried herbs in the nesting boxes to provide a fresh scent and deter bugs.
In Their Feed - Add herbs to their chicken feed or feed them directly as a snack so that the chickens can ingest the benefits plus get a tasty treat.
Hanging Bundles - hang bundles of fresh herbs in their run or near their coops for the chickens to peck at.
In Their Dust Baths - mix dried herbs in the dust bath area to help with external parasites
Plant Around the Coop or Run - use herbs as a scent deterrent for pests and predators as well as a calming scent for the chickens.
Which of the above methods you choose will depend on what health benefit you are trying to reach and what you find easiest to maintain. You can also test a given herb and a given method to see 1) if your chickens like it and 2) if your chickens nibble it or totally DESTROY it. This will in turn influence, for example, if you plant the herb within reach of the chickens, or if you want to control how much they are given access to so that they don't eat the entire plant in one day.
.
Now let's break down the herbs you can use by the health concerns you may want to address.
External Parasites
Some herbs are well suited for repelling or preventing external parasites like mites and lice. Some examples of these herbs include (seeds linked):
These herbs are known for their strong scent and can also repel rodents and snakes from the coop. Planting them around the periphery of the coop or run will help the herb yield this benefit. Keep in mind that plants like mint will grow bigger and bigger and can be hard to control if allowed to grow unchecked, so growing this one in a pot may be a wise choice. These three herbs really do double duty and I would consider them staples for around the coop for protection and odor control!
Internal Parasites
These are a few of the herbs that work well in the chicken's gut to prevent and expel parasites like worms:
Garlic (Fall is the perfect time to plant!!!)
Pumpkin Seeds (this is a chicken supplement option)
These herbs need to be ingested by the chickens in order to work their magic. You can administer garlic by crushing it fresh in the chickens' water (just change it out daily). This acts to deter worms and parasites by making the digestive tract an unappealing environment. The other herbs can be fed dried in the chicken feed or fresh as a snack. Thyme and oregano contain active phenolic compounds, thymol and carvacrol, which disrupt the cell membranes and metabolic functions of intestinal worms and protazoa. This makes them unable to survive effectively inside your chickens. Pumpkin seeds were and interesting find for me. I learned that they contain a specific amino acid called "cucurbitin" that paralizes worms making them unable to hold on to the intestine thus allowing the fowl to expel them from the body safely. Nature is pretty amazing!
Respiratory Health
A number of herbs support respiratory health and immune health in chickens in order to prevent illness and sooth any breathing symptoms. These include:
The same active compounds in thyme and oregano that makes them good for the gut, also have benefits for the respiratory system. Thymol is a natural antiseptic and expectorant which helps keep chicken airways clear. Thymol and carvacrol also reduce airway inflammation and damage bacterial membranes to fight infections effectively. Basil works a bit differently. It helps support a healthy mucus membrane in the chicken respiratory tract to trap and remove dust, particles, and pathogens from their systems. Finally, we have mint! This herb contains menthol which helps break down mucus and phlegm. It acts as a bronchodilator and decongestant to help clear airways in chickens and makes it easier for them to breath during heat stress or during illness. This would be a great herb to turn to during a heat wave for your chickens!
Stress
There are plenty of situations that can cause stress in your flock: new animals, change in season, construction (loud noises), predator attack, to name a few. These herbs can help calm your flock in the aftermath of or during stressful times so that they don't become susceptible to illness with a compromised system:
These are also calming herbs for humans which makes this category easy enough to remember. Lavender relieves stress and improves circulation. Chamomile acts as a mild sedative for highly stressed fowl. And lemon balm has both calming and antibacterial properties which means it gives an immune system boost along with calming your flock. Note: Egg binding is a category that I did not list in this post, but I would definitely consider that a stressful condition for laying hens. Red clover is an herb that helps with muscle relaxation and overall reproductive health, and may be worth offering to hens. (BONUS: red clover is a great nitrogen fixing ground cover for your garden beds)
If I Could Only Pick One!
For this last category, I picked a couple herbs that have so many benefits that I would consider them all-around good herbs. If you wanted to keep it simple, these would likely give you the biggest bang for your buck. I personally would plant these within reach of the chickens wherever they run about.
Nasturtiums
This herb is an excellent nutrient source for your chickens because it boasts high levels of vitamin C, beta carotene, zinc, calcium and iron among other things. Nasturtiums support chickens growth, strong bones, and feather production. This plant also has the antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-parasitic benefits of the plants listed above and therefore it supports respiratory health, healing, and deters parasites like worms and mites. If that wasn't enough, this plant also enhances yolk color and acts as a laying stimulant. Plus, nasturtium is beautiful and vines out in a way that offers chickens enrichment as they peck and play with it, or find shade under it.
Chicory
This is another amazing herb for chickens. It contains vitamins A, B6, C, E and K as well as essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc. It's also a solid plant protein source which improves laying production in hens. Chicory contains inulin, a natural prebiotic fiber that stimulates beneficial gut bacteria in chickens. A healthy gut suppresses harmful pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella, and improves nutrient uptake for an overall healthy flock. What's more, chicory is very hardy so it will keep growing back as the chickens peck away at it...which they will do, as this plant also offers a great source of chicken enrichment.
Hopefully these herbal ideas get you thinking about what natural remedies you can use to better your flock's health. As always, test things out and see what works for you and your chickens, and remember this is not an exhaustive list. The uses of plants and herbs are truly endless and you may find others work better for you, or are even native to your area. Enjoy the journey! Cheers!
Comments