Help! Supplement ratios!

[Hakail]

Hi all!
I am looking to start supplementing my chickens with chilli, oregano, parsley and mint. I’m buying in 1kg bags. My feed comes in 20kg bags, how many bags of feed should I expect to mix with my 4kg of herbs and spices to be an appropriate ratio to feed to my flock?

 

[nuthatched]

Can I ask why? None of those are going to be of any use and ground chili can be toxic.

 

[K0k0shka]

Yeah exactly - why? Those are just old wives' tales and feel good extras that make you think like you're doing something. Don't bother. Focus on providing a quality poultry feed, and they'll be all set. Like some seasoned (ha) BYC members like to say, "herbs belong on the chicken, not in it"

 

[Hakail]

Can I ask why? None of those are going to be of any use and ground chili can be toxic.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?...=#d=gs_qabs&t=1739568721460&u=#p=eNj4WkQ7yYwJ, this article links to a number of other articles around the benefits and safety of feeding hot red chilli pepper although I personally have always added it to feed as it deters rodents. The chickens can’t taste the heat but the rodents can. As for the other herbs they have been chosen for their laying stimulant, anti microbial, anti fungal and anti-paracetic properties (I chemically worm and medically treat my birds when necessary and will continue to do so) so hoping to support my flock naturally through that.

 

[nuthatched]

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=red+pepper+powder+chickens&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1739568721460&u=#p=eNj4WkQ7yYwJ, this article links to a number of other articles around the benefits and safety of feeding hot red chilli pepper although I personally have always added it to feed as it deters rodents. The chickens can’t taste the heat but the rodents can. As for the other herbs they have been chosen for their laying stimulant, anti microbial, anti fungal and anti-paracetic properties (I chemically worm and medically treat my birds when necessary and will continue to do so) so hoping to support my flock naturally through that.

Chili peppers contain loads of vitamins and antioxidant but the seeds contain antinutritional properties and toxic compounds. I would recommend against feeding antibiotics, natural or otherwise, continued light use of antibiotics creates resistance, which creates superbugs and if you get an infection in a bird, they'll be immune to any antibiotics of similar types.

Nothing short of a hormone shot will stimulate laying as laying is ovulation and directly related to three things: daylight, adequate nutrition and hormones. It can not be sped up or slowed without messing with hormones.

All herbs investigated for worming properties have been debunked, except for a few found to have useful compounds BUT the compounds are so low in even mass quantities of dried herbs, that even if their diet would consist of 50% or more of herbs, there would be no positive effect. Feeding that much would be disastrous to their health.

Since you want to add herbs, I'd recommend no more than 5% of their diet, out of the usual 10% of extras thats not formulated feed.
It won't help or harm but your feed will smell nice. :]

 

[FrostRanger]

KISS is the best philosophy when feeding chickens. No need to over complicate things. All they need are a quality chicken feed and fresh clean water, the only supplements they need are grit and oyster shell and electrolytes during periods of extreme heat, illness or stress (and even then it should only be for a few days and they should always have a source of plain water). Anything else is unneeded and not particularly helpful

 

[gtaus]

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=red+pepper+powder+chickens&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1739568721460&u=#p=eNj4WkQ7yYwJ, this article links to a number of other articles around the benefits and safety of feeding hot red chilli pepper although I personally have always added it to feed as it deters rodents. The chickens can’t taste the heat but the rodents can. As for the other herbs they have been chosen for their laying stimulant, anti microbial, anti fungal and anti-paracetic properties (I chemically worm and medically treat my birds when necessary and will continue to do so) so hoping to support my flock naturally through that.

Interesting reading. If you look at the ratios in some of those articles, they talk about using 0.1% of red pepper in the mix. That's practically next to nothing.

I have had success with just using a good quality balanced commercial layer feed. It works for me. I hope you have success with your supplemental regime. Best wishes.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=red+pepper+powder+chickens&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1739568721460&u=#p=eNj4WkQ7yYwJ, this article links to a number of other articles around the benefits and safety of feeding hot red chilli pepper although I personally have always added it to feed as it deters rodents. The chickens can’t taste the heat but the rodents can. As for the other herbs they have been chosen for their laying stimulant, anti microbial, anti fungal and anti-paracetic properties (I chemically worm and medically treat my birds when necessary and will continue to do so) so hoping to support my flock naturally through that.

First, you are wasting your money - but its yours to waste.

Second, if you read the studies, as opposed to simply linking to them, you will find that most test concentrations at 1% and 0.5% - though I have seen studies at up to 5%.

5 feed bags of 20kg ea to 1 kg of your herb mix will give you the 1% ratio. 5x20 = 100. 100 to 1 is close enough to 1%

If you keep reading those studies, you will find that the results were - when present at all - extremely minor, and often extremely short term.

But if it makes you happy...

and since I'm actually trying to be helpful, I'd suggest you stop and take a look at your feed bag. Compare the numbers on it to the feeds they are using as a baseline in many of those studies. Most people start with a cheap "layer"-type formulation which they try to improve with loads of expensive dried herbs, whose bioactive compounds are of unknown concentration, because they don't know when and where they were harvested, what parts of the plant have the greatest concentrations of the desired "active ingredients", they don't know how those bioactives were affected by processing, and later by (potentially long) storage somewhere at unknown temperature, humidity, light levels. But again, it makes them happy.

Anyhow, back to my point. The people doing so would be much better off (and so would their chickens!) if they took the money they were spending on additives popular on Facebook and Youtube (because clearly that's where we should get our science from, istead of simply reading the studies ourselves...) and invest instead in a nutritionally superior base feed. Its both cheaper and nutritionally superior to do so.

Like an All Flock-type formulation with a free choice calcium source (such as oyster shell) to support their layers. Studies show that most chickens are quite good at regulating their daily calcium intake to meet their needs, when given the choice.

Here's the numbers for the base feed from one of the first linked studies.

How does your base feed compare?