Does anyone use essential oils with chickens?

[AryaMichele]

Does anyone use essential oils in their chickens’ water? Or to clean their coup?

 

[AshRosc]

I use a mixture of vinegar and water and add lemongrass oil and lavender oil. I feel like it does a pretty good job of cleaning up the coop

 

[aart]

They need good, plain, fresh water...no need for any additives.
Beware that essential oils can be a respiratory irritant to sensitive bird lungs.
Does more for the keepers than the birds, keep the potpourri in the humans house,
and save the herbs and spices for when you cook them.

There's really no need to 'clean' the coop...
....good bedding/manure management will keep it odorless and healthy.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

When chickens are sick I will put oregano oil and garlic in the water.