Marigolds for chickens

I was reading about forage plants to sow in the backyard for my chickens. I've read that marigolds are good to feed chickens to keep away poultry mites and makes yolks more orange...in fact Peru plant fields of marigolds for chicken foraging. I read from a blog post that a lady used marigold balm to get rid of poultry mites. I was looking at the Dollar Tree store I found several different varieties and planning on planting them for my poultry.
Have any one else use marigolds to add to chicken feed or as forage plant? If so, how

I haven't but this is good to know!

No, but I think I see a new project coming on!!

oh, I found something on it.
http://www.grit.com/The-Old-Batz-Farm/Marigolds-and-Chicken-Mites.aspx

Give tem the heads, dried of fresh

Keep it a small portion of their diet, or you will end up with yolks that are not of an appealing color. It takes very little Marigold to get a very dark yolk. (We typically use 1lb per ton of mixed layer feed, for each step on the "yolk color fan"). If your birds are pastured, you would want to keep their diet under .09% Marigolds (By weight). If they are not, you could probably go up to .15%- .2%.

animallover505 said:

oh, I found something on it.
http://www.grit.com/The-Old-Batz-Farm/Marigolds-and-Chicken-Mites.aspx

Give tem the heads, dried of fresh

Click to expand...

yes this is exactly where I read it. I'll find something about marigolds for chicken forage in Peru and post up the link

Here are some links to articles related to marigolds for poultry to darken chicken's yolk color

http://www.motherearthnews.com/modern-homesteading/chicken-scratch-zm0z02zsie.aspx#axzz2MAeoAik4-Source from Mother Earth News

http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/30/local/me-12517-Los Angeles Times

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/122359/feed-marigolds-to-chickens-for-darker-yolk-color/20--BYC

This will be my next project to grow feed for my chickens. I have started lemon balm seedlings in January. I'll be starting different varieties of marigolds and spinach mustard next!

Marigolds are members of the chrysanthemum family. Marigold flowers and other flowers of the mums family have been used as a pesticide for at least 400 years.

The ingredient in marigolds that suppresses, kill, and repell lice and mites and darkens egg yokes is Permethrin, the same ingredient found in flea and tick spray. It is also used to kill cockroaches, ants and flies. In a higher concentration Permethrin is found in creams used on adults and children to kill scabies mites and head or body lice.
Bad stuff that Permethrin!

If a commercial cage egg producer sprayed his chickens or their premises with Permeation those eggs or meat birds can not be sold for up to 8 weeks.

But if you call Permethrin a health food then I suppose that you can feed it to your chickens in unlimited quantities as an egg yoke color enhancer, and you can then sell those eggs as "organic" pesticide free eggs like nothing has changed, except that Permethrin color enhanced eggs contrast better with the egg buying publics' green breakfast ham.

Some of us desperately need to think (not rethink) our opposition to things like modern agriculture or commercial egg production because it is clear that we haven't though it all the way through the first time.

yeah, if you feed too much, it can turn the yolks too dark to be appetizing...

I have never had a flock of chickens that would eat marigold flowers.