Catnip may drive your cat crazy, but it’s a sedative for chickens. Lavender, bee balm, and chamomile are relaxing for people, and hens too. If you keep chickens, or want to add some to your garden, then you will want to read about the health benefits of culinary herbs for chicken-keeping. If herbs for hens can help prevent mites and stimulate laying, then it’s worth adding these herbs to your chicken garden (or perhaps adding some chickens to your herb garden)!

There are a load of benefits to having chickens in the garden, including keeping soil healthy and gobbling up unwanted insects. If you have ever wanted a practical guide to gardening with and gardening for chickens, then you will love expert chicken-keeper Lisa Steele’s book, Gardening with Chickens: Plans and Plants for You and Your Hens. This book is filled to the brim with the answers to all your questions about how to create harmony in the garden with chickens. There are creative garden plans to help you design a “Garden for Orange Yolks” and a “Nesting Box Herb Garden.” Her love of chickens in the garden pours through on every page, which are so well written that you gobble them up like hens gobble up herbs.

Today, Lisa has joined us to share her guide to 43 herbs for hens and the health benefits of them.

Health Benefits of Culinary Herbs for Hens

From Gardening with Chickens by Lisa Steele

I grow a wide assortment of herbs to use in cooking and also in conjunction with raising our chickens. Overall, I find herbs boost my chickens’ immune systems and keep them healthy naturally. I put fresh herbs in the nesting boxes to calm setting hens, repel insects and rodents and add an aromatic scent to the chicken coop. I brew herbal tea for our chicks and put fresh herbs in their brooder to give them a good start in life.

In short, all of the culinary herbs are perfectly safe to use around the chickens. Toss a variety of herbs into your coop and nesting boxes any time you trim your herb plants. Offer them fresh from the garden or dry some and add them to your chickens’ feed. If you’re looking for herbs for a more specific use, read on to see 41 different healthy herbs for hens and their specific benefits.

COMMON HERBS AND THEIR BENEFITS

1. Basil – antibacterial, improves mucous membrane health, repels flies and mosquitoes
2. Bay Leaves – antiseptic, antioxidant, immune system booster, insect repellent
3. Bee Balm (bergamot/monarda)- antiseptic, antibacterial, calming,  respiratory health aid
4. Borage – high in calcium, beta carotenes and niacin, soothing, supports cardiovascular health, antioxidant, aids in mucus membrane health, insect repellent
5. Calendula – heals wounds
6. Catnip – sedative, insect repellent
7. Cayenne pepper – aids circulation, appetite stimulant, antiseptic, improves digestion
8. Chamomile – kills mites and lice, repels fleas, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, calming and relaxing, detoxifier
9. Chervil – heals bruises, thought to prevent illness, high in vitamins and minerals, aids in mucus membrane health, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, overall health tonic
10. Chives – aids digestion, stimulates appetite, good source of iron
11. Cilantro – antioxidant, fungicide, builds strong bones, high in Vitamin A for vision and Vitamin K for blood clotting
12. Cinnamon – promotes healthy breathing
13. Comfrey – pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, heals wounds, high in protein and Vitamin B-12, promotes muscle, cartilage, and bone growth
14. Dandelion – general health tonic, laying stimulant
15. Dill – antioxidant, relaxant, aids in respiratory health, stimulates the appetite, aids in digestion
16. Echinacea – antibacterial, aids in respiratory health, strengthens the immune system
17. Fennel – laying stimulant, insect repellent
18. Garlic – laying stimulant, anti-fungal, benefits circulatory and respiratory system, relieves diarrhea
19. Ginger – stress reliever, appetite stimulant, antioxidant
20. Goldenseal – antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, useful for treating wounds
21. Hyssop – improves circulation, heals wounds, detoxifier
22. Lavender – stress reliever, increases blood circulation, highly aromatic, insect repellent
23. Lemon Balm – stress reliever, antibacterial, highly aromatic, rodent and insect repellent, calming
24. Lemon Verbena – aromatic, fly repellent, antiviral
25. Lemon Grass (citronella) – fly repellent
26. Lovage – aids respiratory and mucous membrane health, blood detoxifier, anti-inflammatory
27. Marigold – produces vibrant egg yolks, feet and beaks, insect repellent, antioxidant, laying stimulant
28. Marjoram – laying stimulant, anti-inflammatory, decongestant, improves blood circulation, detoxifier
29. Mint (all kinds including spearmint, peppermint, orange mint etc.) – insect and rodent repellent, antioxidant, aids in respiratory health, digestive aid, results in larger eggs, thicker eggshells and increased egg production.
30. Nasturtium – laying stimulant, antiseptic, antibiotic, insect repellent, wormer
31. Oregano – combats coccidia, salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu, blackhead and e-coli, strengthens immune system
32. Parsley – high in vitamins A, B,C calcium and iron, aids in blood vessel development, laying stimulant
33. Peppermint – anti-parasitic, insect repellent,
34. Pineapple Sage – aids nervous system, highly aromatic, antiseptic
35. Plantain – Antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant, prevents infection
36. Raspberry Leaf – antioxidant, relaxant, supports healthy reproductive system
37. Rose Petals – highly aromatic, high in Vitamin C, antioxidant
38. Rosemary – pain reliever, aids in respiratory health, insect repellent
39. Sage – antioxidant, anti-parasitic, general health promoter, laying stimulant, thought to combat Salmonella
40. Spearmint – antiseptic, insect repellent, stimulates nerve, brain and blood functions
41. Tarragon – antioxidant, appetite stimulant
42. Thyme – aids in respiratory health, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-parasitic, laying stimulant
43. Yarrow – antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, clears sinus and respiratory systems, stress reliever

Note: While not much research has been done on the benefits of herbs to poultry specifically, the overall benefits of herbs are widely known and studied, and benefits generally apply to both humans and animals. I will continue to add herbs to my chickens’ diet and environment, since I’ve had such wonderful results with my flock’s health over the years incorporating these herbs.

For more information on feeding your flock, check out this list of 55 common foods from the kitchen that are healthy for hens

Reprinted with permission from Gardening with Chickens: Plans and Plants for You and Your Hens by Lisa Steele © 2016. Published by Voyageur Press. Photography courtesy of Voyageur Press.

About the Author

Lisa Steele is an enthusiastic chicken keeper extraordinaire and the darling of the backyard chicken community. A 5th generation chicken keeper, Maine Master Gardener, aspiring herbalist and coop to kitchen cook in addition to being a top-selling author and the creative mind behind the Better Homes & Gardens award-winning blog Fresh Eggs Daily®, Lisa engages fans worldwide on her Facebook page of the same name with her easy, fun and accessible approach to raising backyard flocks naturally. She inspires both the newcomer and the seasoned chicken keeper alike to grab a pair of kitchen shears and head out to the herb garden on their way to the chicken coop.

Lisa is also the author of Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens…Naturally (St. Lynn’s Press, 2013) and Duck Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Ducks…Naturally (St. Lynn’s Press, 2015). Her writing can also been found in such publications as Chickens, Backyard Poultry, Molly Green and Hobby Farm magazines as well as at HGTVGardens.com and BHG.com. She has appeared on numerous national radio and television programs and most recently is hosting her own television show called Fresh Eggs Daily with Lisa Steele.