Brand for supplementation of Green Tea

[VDes]

Hello everyone! I’ve recently been reading about the promising effects that green tea offers for flocks and want to incorporate it into my own. For those of you who already utilize it, I was curious on what brands are used and how much y'all are adding in. I’d prefer a powder but am having trouble sourcing ones without additives. Any help is appreciated! Something on Amazon would be awesome!

 

[K0k0shka]

Chickens don't need any of that woo. Just give them a complete formula poultry feed and they won't need any additives. Chickens can't process caffeine and shouldn't be drinking green tea.

 

[VDes]

@K0k0shka
Hey! Thank you for your response. I do feed a complete formula and while chickens may not particularly need supplementation of different means to continue as they are, I believe there are always ways to improve how one does things! And yes, Caffeine is detrimental for chickens at high concentrations! But! Green tea does not normally have a significant amount of Caffeine in it without additives, and there is quite a bit of scientific research that shows green tea in particular seems to be very beneficial for flocks. There are also several people on this forum and off that seem to utilize it, which are the users who I'm hoping to hear from Here are some research and veterinary articles if you want to read up on it! I have a ton more too! There's always so much more to learn with these guys.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102924
https://doi.org/10.1002/vms3.923
https://doi.org/10.2141/jpsa.38.50
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102924
https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11050565
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2025.105071
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-1822-z

 

[Altairsky]

Give them fresh greens and animal protein, if you want to improve their health.
Green tea is unnatural, and a waste of money. Side effects are also not researched, nor are the long term issues since the hens in the study are butchered at 18 months.

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

I agree that green tea can help, I've given some to my chickens myself as I have my own tea plants, but generally there are many other things used to do what green tea might for chickens as well. Some examples are mixed cooked & raw spinach (try frozen to save some $), or marigolds (both tagetes varieties). Additionally, it is a bit impractical, because you'd have to provide normal water on the side for your chickens' health and changing the water more frequently would be in order as the tea can grow mold.

 

[FrostRanger]

Green tea has less caffeine than coffee but it still can have up to 75mg per serving. Birds really don't need caffeine at all. As much as I love green tea personally and believe in its health benefits, I would not give it to my birds due to the caffeine. When it comes to chickens, simple is best. Quality feed, clean water and grit and oyster shell on the side is all they need to be healthy (along with good management of course)

 

[VDes]

@Altairsky
Thanks for your input!! I personally don't view green tea as unnatural, since it's just steamed and dried plant parts essentially added into water, but I suppose as a human-made product it and most things nowadays can all be considered unnatural lol. I'm glad you looked at one of the links I shared! The studies using boilers were cut bit short due to the nature of them being meat birds, and while I do think some of the ones using production hens were a bit longer, it's understandable to be weary without long-term studies. I really do wish such a study with chickens would be done, but the market for such things is usually in regard to viewing chicken as a product rather than living creatures. There have been some longer ones using quail I've come upon, but with them being different species everything for one may not be applicable for another of course.

@Fluffy_Butt_Hutt
That's so neat you have your own tea plants! I've heard of the use of marigolds before somewhere else too so I'll look into that as well! Also, I was more so looking into just occasional supplementation with green tea, not quite something that'd be given daily or whatnot, perhaps I should have made that more clear on my original post. I'm currently in discussion with a Silkie breeder over on another site who supplements it to her birds on a weekly basis as well as adding it as an aid against Coccidia right before and during wet weather. I wonder how much a difference it makes giving it to them via their water verses their food as most of the studies have done.

@FrostRanger
The caffeine amount differs based on how it's processed, I know Gyokuro can have a ton! I think it's actually around something like 120mg? Or more maybe! Then kukicha has some of the lowest numbers. Which I'm sure you probably already knew as a tea drinker yourself! I'm sure different companies with different sources all have differing amounts as well. I've also lived by simple is best for the longest time, but I also believe in trying new things out now and again. Perhaps if not green tea than another one of the suggestions. We shall see! (Also your signature is super cute btw!)

 

[FrostRanger]

(Also your signature is super cute btw!)

Thx! The bird in my profile picture is an easter egger I used to have named Sage. She hated to be touched at all and if I did pick her up she would lecture me in her naturally annoyed sounding voice (she always looked and sounded annoyed even when she wasn't) until I put her down

 

[Ajac]

Hey! Late to the party but just fyi Costco has a large box of green tea bags for a decent price & no additives. Not powder, but an option