Just like chickens are the gateway animal for raising homestead livestock, I feel like herbs are the gateway plants for homestead gardening. So, it only makes since that chickens and herbs go together! Using herbs for your homestead flock is a great way to help them stay healthy naturally. Herbs are such powerful plants that can be used for both preventing and treating ailments. Giving herbs to your homestead flock can start right in the brooder with these 7 herbs for baby chicks!

Introducing your homestead brood to herbs from a young age is a great way to get them started on the right foot and keep them healthy. As soon as a chick hatches, it is exposed to any bacteria and microorganisms in its environment. Herbs can help chicks build up their immune systems to fight off any harmful microorganisms they are exposed to both in the brooder and outside. Herbs also help stimulate the natural behavior of foraging and will provide endless entertainment for your brood!

The following 7 herbs for baby chicks are herbs that are safe for chicks to consume at a young age and provide numerous benefits for keeping them healthy and helping them grow into strong adults.

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#1. Garlic

Garlic is an herbal powerhouse and is one of my favorite herbs to give both to my homestead flock and baby chicks. While your chicks may not initially love the taste of garlic, it is a good idea to introduce garlic to them at a young age so that they acquire a taste for its strong flavor. Garlic will be beneficial for them during all stages of their life, so starting them on it at a young age will help them stay healthy right from the get-go.

To learn all about why garlic is my go-to poultry herb, make sure you read Garlic 101: Garlic for Homestead Chickens!

Growing garlic on the homestead is a great way to supply both you and your flock with this powerful herb. You can plant garlic cloves in the late summer for an early summer harvest the following year. Garlic is a cold hardy herb that grows and develops over the winter and spring months.

Benefits:

• anti-fungal
• stimulates the circulatory system
• natural antibiotic and prebiotic
• antiparasitic
• antimicrobial
• antiprotozoal
• aids respiratory health
• improves digestion and nutrient absorption
• promotes good gut bacteria

How to Use Garlic:

Crushing fresh garlic is the best way to give your chicks garlic. Once the garlic has been crushed, it allows the beneficial compounds in the garlic to be released and used by the chick’s body. Crushed garlic can be provided free-choice or added to your brood’s water source.

If you add garlic to your brood’s water, you will want to start off adding only a small amount and provide fresh water right alongside of the garlic infused water. It will take a little bit for your chicks to get used to the strong flavor of garlic. As they become accustomed to having garlic in their water, you can slowly increase the amount.

Since chicks are so small, they can’t handle as much garlic as adult chickens. For adult chickens, you can add up to 4 cloves of crushed garlic per gallon of water. For chicks, you will want to start at about 1/2 clove of garlic per gallon and slowly increase it to about 1 clove per gallon of water.

Crushed garlic can be provided free-choice on a weekly basis or added to your brood’s water source once a week. Allow the chicks to have access to the garlic for at least 48 hours so they can get the full range of benefits that garlic provides.

#2. Oregano

Oregano is a very powerful herb and its many benefits will help chicks stay healthy and fight disease. It is one herb that has actually been used in studies done for commercial hatcheries in efforts to find a natural supplement that fights common chicken diseases. Oregano is thought to help combat coccidia, salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu, and E. coli.

Oregano is also a very easy herb to grow on the homestead! It is a perennial herb that comes back every year and it also spreads like crazy! It requires very little maintenance other than some occasional trimming and making sure it doesn’t take over the herb garden.

Benefits:

• natural antibiotic
• antiparasitic
• antifungal
• antibacterial
• rich in antioxidants
• reduces inflammation

How to Use Oregano:

Oregano is a very strong herb and is best offered free-choice to your chicks. They may not even eat any of the oregano at first, but just by foraging in the oregano, crushing the leaves, and nibbling at the plant can provide some benefits.

You can offer fresh oregano or dried oregano to your brood. Fresh oregano will be more enticing for the chicks to explore because it looks a lot like natural forage. If you provide clumps of fresh oregano for your chicks to explore, make sure there is either some dirt stuck to the oregano roots or provide some chick grit for your chicks.

You can also make oregano tea to offer your chicks. To make oregano tea, steep some fresh oregano leaves in boiling water for 10 minutes. The amount of leaves to water ratio will determine how potent the tea ends up. Start off with a mild tea when first introducing your chicks to oregano flavored water.

You will want to let the tea come to room temperature before offering it to your chicks right alongside their fresh water in the brooder. Provide the oregano water for no more than 24 hours.

You can offer oregano tea once a week or provide free-choice oregano for your brood to explore as often as twice a week.

#3. Thyme

Thyme is a hardy perennial herb that doesn’t mind colder weather. It is a great herb to give your chicks for promoting a healthy respiratory system as well as helping them build up a strong immune system to ward off disease and parasites. Thyme is naturally antibacterial and you can use it for keeping the brooder clean and bacteria free.

Thyme is fairly easy to grow in the homestead garden and prefers full to partial sun and well-draining soil. It does spread well and will quickly become ground cover in the homestead garden. Its tiny leaves that grow off of a wooden stem are just the right size for baby chicks to nibble on!

Benefits:

• natural antibiotic
• improves respiratory health
• antibacterial
• rich in antioxidants
• antiparasitic
• insect repellant
• stimulates the immune system

How to Use Thyme:

You can use thyme fresh, dried, as an essential oil, or as an extract. The safest and easiest way to use thyme in the brooder is by using fresh sprigs of thyme or sprinkling dried thyme in brooder. Chicks love exploring anything green and new in their brooder, so hanging bundles of fresh thyme sprigs is a great way to engage your chicks in the herb.

Make sure your chicks have access to dirt or chick grit if they are pecking and nibbling on the thyme sprigs. Anytime your chicks consume a food that is different from their daily chick feed, they should have access to dirt or chick grit to aid with digesting the new food.

As with oregano, you can also make thyme into a tea by steeping fresh or dried thyme leaves in boiling water. Any herbal teas you make for your brood should be room temperature and offered alongside fresh water. You want to make sure your chicks are still drinking even when there are supplements added to the water.

#4. Astragalus

Astragalus is an herb grown mainly for its roots. The root of the astragalus plant provides numerous health benefits and is known for promoting a strong immune system to ward off disease and illness. You can offer your chicks astragalus root to help them stay healthy and strong as they develop.

Astragalus does need a few years to grow healthy, strong roots that can be harvested. As you may have guessed, it is a perennial herb that doesn’t mind full to partial sun and grows good in well-draining soil. When planted in the homestead garden, you will want to nurture the plant for about 3-4 years before harvesting any of the roots. As a side note, the roots of the astragalus plants are what provide the nutrition and benefits. Avoid letting your chickens graze off of the leaves and stems of the astragalus plant.

Benefits:

• immune boosting
• antibacterial
• helps manage stress reactions
• antiviral
• anti-inflammatory
• promotes good cardiovascular health
• rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium
• supports good kidney function

How to Use Astragalus:

Unlike most other herbs, the root of the astragalus plant is the only portion that you want to use for your chicks. Astragalus root contains all the benefits provided by the astragalus plant. It can be used as an extract or the root can be ground into a powder to make tonics and tinctures with.

Astragalus root can be made into an herbal tincture or tonic to use for your chicks. You can add astragalus tonic or an astragalus extract to your brood’s water up to once a week to help boost their immune system. Astragalus tincture is much stronger, but it can be used when you are trying to help an ailing chick who needs an immune boost.

#5. Parsley

Parsley is a very mild herb that is perfect for offering to baby chicks as they first learn to enjoy herbs! It provides numerous health benefits and is overall a very nutrient dense herb being rich in many vitamins and minerals.

Parsley is a biannual herb that is usually grown as an annual herb. It can easily be grown in the homestead herb garden or in container gardens. It flourishes in nutrient rich, moist soil with plenty of sunlight. A couple of parsley plants will provide more than enough parsley for you, your flock, and your baby chicks!

While there are many types of parsley, the two most common types are flat-leafed parsley and curly parsley. Flat-leafed parsley has higher concentrations of essential oils and contains stronger benefits for your chicks and chickens.

Benefits:

• helps with blood vessel development
• provides a source of riboflavin (B2) which is important for nervous system health
• provides the B vitamin choline
• is a plant-based source of protein that helps retain protein in the blood
• promotes good circulation
• rich in vitamins C, A, and K (4x the amount of vitamin C than a lemon)
• immune boosting
• promotes good bone health and growth
• rich in iron, calcium (4%), and essential oils
• helps manage stress reactions
• aids digestion and nutrient absorption

How to Use Parsley:

Thanks to its mild but nutrient dense properties, parsley is one of the safest herbs to give your chicks on a regular basis! It will provide additional vitamins and minerals to the diet and its mild flavor is often more palatable for young chicks compared to stronger herbs.

Putting bundles of fresh parsley in the brooder will provide great entertainment for your chicks, who will forage through the bundles, nibbling at the leaves as they explore the greenery! Of course, fresh parsley will be the most appealing for chicks, but you can also offer dried parsley as a free-choice option too. Dried parsley can sprinkled on your brood’s feed as well.

Parsley can be provided as often as every day for your chicks! You can provide clumps of free-choice fresh parsley, sprinkle dried parsley on their feed, or make a parsley tea for your chicks.

#6. Basil

Basil is a mild culinary herb that many chicks will willing nibble on when it’s placed in the brooder. It is a great herb for helping your chicks keep a health respiratory system and can easily be made into a tea or offered fresh off the plant!

Basil is a trickier herb to grow on the homestead since it does need a warm environment and grows best when it is pruned and trimmed regularly. Make sure you snip off any flower buds as soon as they appear to encourage your basil plant to fill out and grow well.

Benefits:

• antibacterial
• promotes mucus membrane health
• natural insecticide
• reduces oxidative stress and rich in antioxidants
• supports good liver health
• anti-inflammatory

How to Use Basil:

Much like parsley, basil is another milder herb that chicks often enjoy pecking at and consuming. Fresh or dried basil can be offered free-choice to your chicks so they can explore and consume the supplement as they wish. Handfuls of fresh basil leaves will quickly become a main attraction in the brooder. They will get stepped on, nibbled on, and spread all around the brooder…. but the chicks will love it and they will be getting helpful benefits from the basil leaves!

You can also make a basil tea for your chicks. Basil can be offered up to twice a week to your chicks. You may have noticed that many herbs are best offered only once or twice a week (with the exception of parsley). That is because a lot of herbs are very strong and long lasting. You also want to keep your chick’s diet varied, which can be done by switching up which herbs you give them every day.

If your brood is remaining healthy and doesn’t have any ailments, then the herbs will function to help keep them healthy and help them continue to build a strong immune system. When a chick falls ill is when you may consider using herbs in higher dosages and more frequently to treat the ailment.

#7. Dandelion

Everything about the dandelion plant is edible, including the leaves, flowers, and roots! Your chicks will probably find the green leaves and yellow flowers the most enticing to eat and forage through, however, you can also boil the roots to make a dandelion tea for your brood as well.

This perennial herb is generally thought of as a weed, so you may not have a problem with finding wild sources of this herb already growing on your homestead! Just make sure you harvest the dandelion from sources that have not been sprayed or treated with chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Benefits:

• packed with vitamins A, B, C, E, and K
• provides minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc
• antioxidant rich
• good source of plant-based calcium

How to Use Dandelion:

Dandelion is similar to parsley in the fact that it is one herb that can be offered on almost a daily basis! Keep in mind you want to keep your brood’s diet varied, but having a little dandelion each day won’t hurt them. Fresh dandelion leaves and flowers will be the most exciting for your chicks. They will more than likely enjoy nibbling at the mild, green leaves and small, yellow petals on the flowers.

While the leaves and flowers of the dandelion plant can be offered free-choice to your brood, you can also use the dandelion root! Harvest the dandelion root to make dandelion root powder for teas, tinctures, or tonics.

Since dandelions are usually pretty prevalent, you can even pull up the whole dandelion plant and put it right in the brooder, roots, dirt, and all! The dirt clinging to the roost will provide a natural source of grit as the chicks maul the plant and nibble at the greenery.

Other Chick Safe Herbs:

• chervil
• cilantro
• cinnamon
• clover
• cloves
• comfrey
• coriander
• dill
• echinacea
• fennel
• lavender
• marjoram
• nettles
• pineapple sage
• rosemary
• spearmint
• tarragon
• violets
• yarrow

Note: Most culinary herbs are safe for chickens to consume. Keep in mind that young chicks need smaller amounts of herbs than adult chickens because their body size is smaller. When in doubt, just offer the herbs free-choice and let your chicks decided how much they want to consume.

These 7 herbs for baby chicks are perfect for starting your brood off on a natural diet! A natural diet supplemented with herbs will help them ward of disease and mature into strong, healthy adults. Many of these herbs provide supplemental vitamins and minerals, are rich in antioxidants, and help boost the immune system for fighting disease and parasites. Giving your brood free-choice herbs will also keep them entertained and stimulated! Herbs are easy to grow in the homestead garden and are the perfect natural supplement for raising your homestead brood naturally!

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by Alexa