Poultry Plants

To attain and maintain full health, chooks require large amounts of live protein such as worms and beetles, abundant green foods such as vegetables and herbs, and approximately 50g of cereal feed per day. They also like to eat fruit, nuts and seeds. You can plant these trees and shrubs in their pens as forage plants, or free range your chooks in an orchard situation.

Herbs can be used as part of a healthy diet for all chickens. They may be administered in several different forms depending on what best suits the herb, the ailment, and the condition of the bird and/or flock.

Herbs can be planted next to or within in a chook pen so chooks can browse on them and self-medicate. They usually only eat what they require, so you need not be concerned that your chooks will ‘overdose’ on them. However, strong herbs can be chopped finely and mixed thoroughly into moistened feed so no bird eats too much. Fresh herbs can also be hung in bunches or placed on top of feeders for the birds to peck at.

Dried herbs and roots can be ground or crushed and mixed directly with feed for whole flock treatment, steeped in boiling water as a tea and mixed with drinking water for whole flock treatment, crushed and formed into a small pill with water for treating individual birds, or mixed with hot water and applied externally with cotton bandages for a poultice.

Herbal tinctures can be made and diluted with the appropriate number of drops in drinking water for whole flock treatment, or drops can be placed directly in the mouth for individual birds.