What Herbs are Your Favorites for your Flock?

[Trish1974]

I use oregano and garlic that I grow myself for immune system support. I can say I've not had a sick bird yet in the 2 years I've been keeping chickens.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Mine seem to like parsley & basil the best.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I think thats a great idea- to feed your birds herbs. I feed mine the flowers buds and any excessive growth when I pinch back my herbs. So fresh herbs : Parsley, thyme, oregano, sweet majoram, lemon balm, rosemary, peppermint, garlic, etc, whatever I happen to have extra of. They love them all. I also sometimes throw different dried herbs in too. I believe herbs are great for humans and animals, I feed different things to my dachshunds too. (Chamomile is great for them I put it in their food if they have upset stomachs)
Does any one know if any certain herbs are BAD for chickens? I guess they probably just wouldn't eat it...

 

[classicsredone]

I think thats a great idea- to feed your birds herbs. I feed mine the flowers buds and any excessive growth when I pinch back my herbs. So fresh herbs : Parsley, thyme, oregano, sweet majoram, lemon balm, rosemary, peppermint, garlic, etc, whatever I happen to have extra of. They love them all. I also sometimes throw different dried herbs in too. I believe herbs are great for humans and animals, I feed different things to my dachshunds too. (Chamomile is great for them I put it in their food if they have upset stomachs)
Does any one know if any certain herbs are BAD for chickens? I guess they probably just wouldn't eat it...

Most of what we eat, they can eat. Some people completely avoid onion and garlic, although I believe that a reasonable amount of garlic is great for keeping birds healthy.I know that there are threads on here that really go into detail about what particular herbs can do for your flock, and which to avoid. Unless you mix it all into their food and they can't pick and choose, they'll do a decent job of avoiding what they should not eat. I usually mix the dry herbs into their food after running the mix through the BlendTech to get a fine powder. I add it to their food dry food and sprinkle the mix on top of fermented food and sometimes snacks. I also make little suet cakes and use the herbs in the oil mix. You can also find powdered vegetables and fruits that mix well into dry foods and other treats such as suet or fermented feed. I'm going to try sprouting some herb seeds, such as coriander and fennel. I'll definitely be replanting all of my perennial herbs that died off while I was unable to garden. The borage and sunflower seeds are going back out, and when it is cooler, things like basil and oregano. We have a long growing season, and I still need to more veggies and melons in the ground. I'll be planting extra to feed the birds, and to make sure I get at least some of the goodies if the chickens are out foraging. Things like thyme, rosemary, basil, chives, etc. are so easy! In fact, most herbs are pretty easy to grow. I love perennials like rosemary and bay leaf that keep on keeping on season after season.

 

[classicsredone]

I have not found a list of harmful herbs. In most cases, if you can eat it, your chickens can eat it. There are some exceptions, though. If you aren't sure, I would make sure to feed whole plant material and not turn it into a powder to incorporate into mash or fermented feed unless you know it is safe. I found a list in the depths of Mother Earth News and searched the forums here before first rifling through my spice cabinet. I am planting a lot of herbs right now, and am trying to pick things that pollinators and chickens like. I usually plant a lot of marigolds as companion plants, and I'm planning on turning an old garden bed into a BOSS bed. We can save the heads to toss into the cattle panel hoop coop and enclosure when the weather is bad and they're stuck in the coop. I hope to be able to dry enough herbs to have plenty for us to use and for the chickens. I don't normally feed corn as a snack, and it is not an herb, but I might look for some heirloom feed corn as winter enrichment/feed supplements.

I think the current mix has the following, and it is simply because this is what was left. I need to get some in bulk and try to find substitutes for what I cannot. I also want to grow as much as I possibly can. Right now I'm looking at Baker Creek seeds to see what I might be able to easily grow. I am a big fan of edible landscaping as well as gardening for pollinators. I'm redoing a long, 6" deep bed along our back fence. My husband is rototilling, ripping out what he can of the caterpillar grass, and then tilling in some composted steer manure and organic veggie fertilizer. When planting, I'm adding a little more fertilizer, with some getting bloom and some getting veggie mixes. The long bed is being split into 4"x6" sections, with 2.5-foot spaces in between to allow us to work reach in from either side to weed, water, and harvest. The back of each section has two tomatoes, and in front of that, at least one flowering plant for pollinators and some herbs. (Many of which I let flower, since pollinators like those blossoms as well.) I did get a LOT of thyme because it requires no attention aside from some water here and there. I don't even really water the thyme out front, and it is dry and HOT here until Halloween rolls around.

When I saw a big chunk of the yard tilled, I got the crazy idea to have a big garden this summer like we did as kids. I am going to plant the sunny side yard and the areas around the cattle panel coop/run and garden in clover and chamomile. We'll plant the existing beds first, while the coop/run is moved over the already plowed area to eat up the BOSS sprouts that came up after tilling, to scratch out more of the caterpillar grass, and to fertilize for a few days. We'll till that in with a slower acting organic fertilizer, and plant the garden. When winter hits, we'll put down some green manure and till that in after the last frost to replant the lawn with a flowering, herbal lawn mix. The only commercial mix that I liked is not suited for zone 9, so I am working on sourcing the seeds on my own. I would LOVE any suggestions for a flowering lawn mix in a Mediterranean climate. (Mild winters with only a few hard freezes, barely any spring, and hot, dry summers that can reach 115*, but often hang in the high 90's and low 100's.) We *might* get a light rain or two all summer, but many years we only get rain December - February, although this year most of our rain came in the late spring. I want to thin out the clover and chamomile in the mix so that we can be in the backyard without full beekeeping suits. I do know that I want crimson clover, but that is my only firm decision right now.