Anyone Adding Dried Herbs & Spices to Chicken's Feed?

[tmrutter3]

Hi, we are new to this thread & can't wait to check out some of the suggested sites. We wanted to share that the May/June 2014 issue of Chickens Magazine has a great article on the benefits of different herbs for chickens & also a how to sprout winter wheat for greens.

 

[bahamabanty]

I add coconut water (from fresh young coconuts out my yard) to their drinking water and let them eat the young coconut flesh
it has many benefits.
http://blakliz.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/how-coconut-benefits-game-fowl/

I did notice a slight difference in the egg tast. (positive difference)

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I think you people got it all wrong; you're sposed to put the herb on the chicken when you eat it, not feed it to the chicken.

 

[TTeddyAU]

NO WAY would i add any essential oils. You have to be VERY careful when using these on humans and other pets.

 

[TTeddyAU]

aaahhh, but if you do it before, you won't need to add it later

 

[TTeddyAU]

I'm adding Turmeric now and thought I would research others.
LOVE this site!!! http://fresheggsdaily.com/2013/05/adding-dried-herbs-to-your-chicken.html

This is my chicken feed...

Karen’s All Natural Chicken feed

Like all my animals, they receive an All Natural Diet

I always have these ingredients available as we eat them ourselves

Kale
Silverbeet
Carrots
Potato - cooked
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn
Rice cooked. (White or brown)
Linseed
Omega 3 - either sardines or Omega 3 liquid form
Turmeric (large pinch)
Cooked pasta (wholemeal/wheat is best)
Psyllium husk
Minced lean beef
Lentils - cooked or canned
Beans - canned, fresh or frozen. Or 4 bean mix - canned
ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) Organic with sediments is best (lid full)
Dried garlic
Green Tea Leaves (used)
sunflower seeds - shell off or on (crushed)
Boiled egg - (include the shell) - Mashed
lettuce - NOT cos as this can cause diarrhoea in animals and has very little nutritional value)
tomato - No leaves as these are toxic
bread soaked - (wholemeal or wholegrain)
Natural yoghurt

The vegetables can be cooked or raw. I personally prefer raw as this keeps in all the natural nutrition and they get 100% value from them. I do however cook the potato (they get this when i cook it for myself. NO peel tho cooked is fine, but I find it easier to just omit altogether)
Chop everything up as small as you can. (Don’t use a food processor for this)
Add everything and give a good mix. Keep in a very cold refrigerator.

 

[Spangled]

I'm wanting to supplement my chicken's feed with some natural antibiotics, healthy herbs and spices. Is anyone else doing this? Would love some advice please on amounts per kilo of food. The herbs and spices I'm particularly looking at, at the moment, are dried oregano (can't afford the oil) and cinnamon.

I've been supplementing with herbs for over 5 years now. Although if it's just standard in their homemade feed (based on Nat'l Academy of Sciences publication, 1994), I'm not sure I should call it "supplementing." We add very little. I researched the herbs and spices literature (studies online by universities) back 5 or so years ago; there's probably more info and less info online now. (Meaning that some of the literature has now been taken off the internet or is now being charged for and some new studies have been completed and published.)

The recommendations at the time indicated that I could give the chickens (in a 100 pound (about 45 kilos) batch of feed) 5 Tablespoons of powdered turmeric, 1 heaping Tablespoon of cinnamon, and 1 heaping Tablespoon of cayenne without supposedly negative consequences. If there have been negative consequences with my chickens, I haven't noticed them. I have doubled up on all of those at times and have given a couple tablespoons of cayenne into just 5 pounds (about 2 kilos). This has been in their standard feed for over 5 years contiuously. Not all the chickens are over 5 years, but a few are.

I would have started putting in a pound of green tea into their feed at a rate of 1 pound per 100 pounds (1/2kilo for 45kilos) if I could justify it because some serious study claimed that green tea could keep certain worm varieties out of a chicken's ileum (part of mid- or small intestine), but you can read anything on the internet. NOTE: I lost my copy of that article in a computer crash so I can't give you the source and haven't been able to find it online again. Regardless, I tend to take it all with a grain of salt.

I give the chickens ginger bits and peels with no ill effects, but it's only at most a tablespoon for 20 or so chickens. You know, when we eat it or make ginger tea. I'm sure you do, too. (Or would)

I mixed into their feed mix some expired oregano leaves a while back. I didn't go over a pound per 100 pounds (1/2kilo per 45kilos) because I was clueless as to what would be okay for them. I figured the oils had probably already dissipated (better word?) and that was why we were going to use it, but I didn't want to throw it away when I guessed that the chickens could derive a bit of benefit from it and that it wouldn't hurt them, but I'm not a certified chicken nutritionist or herbalist--I just pretend to be one here at home. So, of course, take all I say with a few grains of salt, also.

I drink herbal tea most days, with all sorts of crazy stuff in it--devil's claw, cat's claw, ginseng, yucca root, lemon myrtle, rose petal, blackberry leaf, lemongrass, chamomile, rosemary, thyme, eucalyptus, nettle, thistle, etc., etc., etc., cherry tree bark powder. I open all the used bags and dump them in the kitchen scraps and feed them all to the chickens. Each chicken only gets a few bites of it, so I can't imagine it ever hurting them. (It's like I'm their "medieval royal food taster" for them anyway. If it doesn't poisin me, it's probably safe for them.) Yet, they are getting miniscule bits of minerals, etc., from leaves of plants that they would never have any access to ever if I didn't give it to them. Their feed is usually just grains, legumes, sunflower, kelp, vitamin/mineral mix, alfalfa. They are probably lacking something if they eat only that day after day all their lives. I figure they are much better off with a little bit of odd herbs from other soil/countries in their diet to actually give them a broader variety of nourishment ... even if it's on a super small scale. Plus it makes their eggs a little healthier for us when it comes right down to it.

Edited to fix glaring error.

 

[Northie]

Saw this thread and immediately thought of "pre-seasoned" chicken... Silliness I know but it made me giggle so I had to share

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with using herbs with chickens. While, yes of course, it's not "scientific", personal experience says a lot! Lots of people are still skeptical of "scientific research" because so often the results can be misleading, misinterpreted or simply just don't pan out with common sense.

I'm curious, what were the supposed general "negative consequences" of using the tumeric, cinnamon and cayenne? Was it using all 3 of those herbs in those quantities they said had negative consequences, or was it something different? I know it was 5 years ago, but perhaps you have a better memory than I do!

As for adding a POUND of green tea to feed, my, that would be expensive. Even cheap green tea isn't all that cheap. And I don't think growing tea is all that easy, if I understand it correctly. I suppose it might be worth it if you could determine that you had the specific worm species in your chickens. If you ever come across that article again, please do post it, I'd love to read it.

 

[Spangled]

I'm curious, what were the supposed general "negative consequences" of using the tumeric, cinnamon and cayenne? Was it using all 3 of those herbs in those quantities they said had negative consequences, or was it something different? I know it was 5 years ago, but perhaps you have a better memory than I do!

That was a typing error. It was supposed to be "withOUT supposedly negative consequences." Sorry for the confusion.

Personally I think a larger amount of dried, powdered tumeric, cinnamon, and cayenne can be used, but those studies (from years ago) indicated those amounts were the upper limits for inclusion in dry feed. But the studies did claim that a difference was made in chicken health with only that small amount, which is good news by way of thinking.

Additionally my layers get hot/mild pepper tops/stems and seeds often in addition to the dry powder in their feed about every other day--the most is probably the remains of about 8 peppers for about 20 chickens. I have never detected flavor issues. I have no way to prove that anything I am feeding my chickens is beneficial ... other than they act like my idea of what chicken do ... lay eggs, scratch the ground, grow feathers, roost at night, eat, etc.

I will post that article about green tea and worms in the ileum if I ever come across it again. It bothers me that I lost my copy of it because it's pretty amazing info. I hope I'm not remembering it incorrectly!