Herb List?

[FalseToast]

Anyone have a list of herbs I could add to their feed, including the benefits? Preferably any store-bought seasonings I could use, or fresh! Just want to pre-season them!

 

[nuthatched]

Store bought dried herbs or even reasonable quantities of fresh herbs won't do anything at all.
Well, other than take away from their nutrition they should be getting from feed.
Unless you plan to use pharmaceutical grade oils or tinctures, which would be tricky since many are iffy for poultry and can only be used for a week or less.

 

[Gax000]

X2

 

[Morrigan]

I found most of my chickens don't particularly like many of the herbs (i.e. basil, mint, sage) in my garden. Although some will nibble on cilantro or parsley, I wouldn't go to the trouble of trying to add them to the food.

 

[FalseToast]

Store bought dried herbs or even reasonable quantities of fresh herbs won't do anything at all.
Well, other than take away from their nutrition they should be getting from feed.
Unless you plan to use pharmaceutical grade oils or tinctures, which would be tricky since many are iffy for poultry and can only be used for a week or less.

Oh! I was looking into some things and a few sites—and people—had mentioned what could be added and the benefits of doing so. Like oregano(fresh, dried, and the oil) is said to be good for the immune system. Is it not correct—? Also, this is mostly to add with their feed or occasionally on the side. Although, my flock is mostly free range.

 

[Folly's place]

Mine have oregano growing where they forage, and they don't eat it.
Herbs stay in my kitchen for cooking our meals, not for the chickens. If oregano actually helps my immune system, how nice. I doubt that there's actual research on this stuff for backyard chickens! Not blogs, actual peer reviewed research.
Mary

 

[Gax000]

Peer reviewed research is the key. Just because one or more people have had a positive experience with it doesn’t make it true for everyone.

Edit: there actually are several peer reviewed studies, but they all involve essential oils at fairly high levels. Basically, supports what @nuthatched states. If you are interested, here is a link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33935403/

 

[Littlefoxhat]

Like @FalseToast, I have seen a lot of people (mostly over on Instagram and TikTok) who add different herbs (usually dried) to their chicken's feed for health benefits. It's interesting that people here send out a resounding 'No' on herbs in the feed for chicken health...but that's the internet for you...

I have offered my birds dried herbs from the garden (mint, lavender, parsley, oregano, calendula, sage, etc) and they mostly just pick at them or throw them around. I have added dried bunches of herbs to their nesting boxes, it makes them smell nice and I think the hens enjoy the variety of things to nest in - though those also seem to get displaced after a few visits....LOL

They have fresh mint and oregano growing around their run and sometimes they pick at it...but I haven't seen them go to town on the leaves, seems more like exploratory pecks.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Due to the rise of antibiotic resistance and restrictions other alternatives have started to be studied in poultry, mainly oregano. I think blogs, YouTube homesteaders and so on are about as factual as toddler babble. However, I do enjoy reading studies and research papers done on certain subjects especially poultry nutrition. I will not state my opinion either way, but here are some links to more recent information on oregano use in poultry.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...ry-nutrition/01D8DC8F03A296709438E07F6B2AB4E9

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.1072712/full

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1056617119312681

 

[Lillith37]

I tried to make my own oil of oregano to support my chickens’ health. I was thinking maybe one drop on a little square of bread once a week. But somehow I messed up the oil making process and it went bad. I haven’t tried again since. But I have read good things about it, as the previous poster said, as an alternative to antibiotics given increasing resistance. Oregano is very powerful and not the kind of thing you want to be giving all the time especially in concentrated doses.

The chick starter I get actually has an oregano product in it as a natural coccidiostat.

I had a variation of mint that my chickens decimated but I’m not exactly sure which it was. All other herbs they tend to try and then leave alone. I do keep fennel to make a tea for anyone who has trouble with their crop.