Erin Snyder: I like to do raspberry leaf, but if you do raspberry leaf you want to mix it with peppermint else it tastes very bitter and my flock won’t drink it. So if I do a teaspoon of raspberry leaves and a teaspoon of peppermint leaves together, it works well.
[00:00:15] Josh Wilder: Welcome to the Mother Earth News and Friends podcast. At Mother Earth News, for 50 years and counting, we’ve been dedicated to conserving the planet’s natural resources while helping you conserve your financial resources. In this podcast, we host conversations with experts in the fields of sustainability, homesteading, natural health, and more to share all about how you can live well wherever you are in a way that values both people and our Mother Earth.
[00:00:43] Jessica Anderson: We’d like to thank our sponsor for this episode, Brinsea. That’s B R I N S E A, chick incubation specialists. They’ve been focusing on egg incubator design continuously since 1976, resulting in egg [00:01:00] incubators, chick brooders, and incubation accessories. They offer unparalleled practicality, reliability, superior hatch rates, and healthy chicks. Innovation you can trust.
[00:01:14] Josh Wilder: Hello, and welcome to this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. I’m Josh Wilder, content director for Mother Earth News, and with me today I have Erin Snyder. Hi, Erin.
[00:01:24] Erin Snyder: Hi, Josh. Thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.
[00:01:27] Josh Wilder: Thank you. Today we’re gonna be talking about herbal teas for chickens. And Erin, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your history with poultry?
[00:01:35] Erin Snyder: My family and I have been raising chickens and ducks for nearly 20 years. I started introducing herbal tea to my chickens several years ago because I was having a lot of problems where they didn’t want to… They were having bacterial infections, and crop problems, and dying earlier deaths than I wanted them to.
[00:01:56] So I started adding herbal tea when I read about it in [00:02:00] my Fresh Eggs Daily book by Lisa Steele.
[00:02:03] Josh Wilder: Great. So what is the season that you’re usually giving herbal teas, and what is the main purpose per season?
[00:02:11] Erin Snyder: I give herbal tea year-round to my flock. I started doing it because in the winter they started having more problems, and I wanted to get them ready for spring, and that way they’d be healthier for their egg-laying time.
[00:02:24] So I, in the s- winter I do it to keep them healthy because they don’t get a lot of the nutrients from pasture and fresh herbs like they would have the other times of the year. And then in spring I do it to help them with their egg laying and bacterial, ’cause the ground’s more wet in the spring, so I feel like bacterials and yeast are more of a thing.
[00:02:46] And then I also give it to them in the summer. That’s a lot of bacterial and anti-coccidial, ’cause my chickens have had problems with that in the past, so I usually try to give them oregano, that sort of thing in the summer. And then in the fall I do [00:03:00] it to help them with their molting and then to prepare them for winter
[00:03:04] Josh Wilder: Great.
[00:03:05] And, okay, so what age do you start giving them? As pullets, as chicks, at what age do-
[00:03:12] Erin Snyder: is it appropriate? As chicks. Okay. I usually start them off day old. As soon as they come, they’re being introduced to the good stuff.
[00:03:18] Josh Wilder: Great. So what are the two primary reasons why you would serve herbal tea over offering fresh plants?
[00:03:27] Erin Snyder: I serve herbal tea versus fresh plant… you can do fresh plants, and I do fresh plants, too. You definitely should. But in addition to the fresh plants, I give herbal tea so that way I know that all my flock is getting equal amounts, because sometimes higher ranking flock members or with the flock bullies, they eat all the good stuff, and sometimes you also have picky hens.
[00:03:49] I’m dealing with two very picky hens, and they don’t wanna eat their herbs. So this way I can know that everyone is getting the good stuff. And I also do it especially in winter and [00:04:00] spring, because if you live in a northern climate like I do, they don’t- you can’t grow herbs year round, so then they still get the benefit.
[00:04:09] Josh Wilder: That’s great So how long can brewed herbal tea be safely stored in the refrigerator?
[00:04:17] Erin Snyder: It can be stored in the refrigerator for, I do mine for five to six days. I definitely wouldn’t do more than seven, but I make up my entire week’s worth of herbal tea on the weekend, ’cause like most people, I have more time then.
[00:04:31] And I, So I usually keep it five to six days. I store mine in mason jars in the back of the refrigerator to make sure it stays nice and cold. But if you don’t, just serve it fresh. Two things you wanna look for is to make sure it doesn’t smell weird or funky, and you wanna make sure there’s no mold growing.
[00:04:48] And always use a clean mason jar. I wash mine out every time before I refill them.
[00:04:53] Josh Wilder: Okay. And in the winter is there anything different you’re doing to the herbal teas [00:05:00] than you would to water to keep it not frozen?
[00:05:03] Erin Snyder: No, it’s pretty much the same thing. I usually place my waterers, whether they have herbal tea in it or not, in tough stuff.
[00:05:12] I forget what they’re called. It’s some sort of, it’s like a rubber black dish. I place my waterers in there. I actually find they don’t freeze up as fast, and it’s been great.
[00:05:21] Josh Wilder: All right.
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[00:05:56] Josh Wilder: So then after you serve it, how long should the tea be out before [00:06:00] replacing it with clean water or tea?
[00:06:02] Erin Snyder: That depends on what time of day you’re serving it.
[00:06:05] If you’re serving it during the hottest part of the day, I do eight hours. If you’re doing it a cooler part of the day or cooler months, you can leave it up to 12. And I also have them that they have their herbal tea and then they get plain water after that. I don’t constantly just give them herbal tea, ’cause I think they need plain water too.
[00:06:26] Sure. And you can mix herbal tea with probiotics, but you shouldn’t mix it with apple cider vinegar.
[00:06:34] Josh Wilder: Okay. So what are some examples of some of the teas that you make?
[00:06:39] Erin Snyder: In the spring I like to make my spring herbal tonic tea. It’s a mix of dandelion leaves, dandelion roots, chickweed, and nettles.
[00:06:52] That’s the other one. And it’s really helpful to them in the spring because the dandelions are a diuretic, so it helps them clean out their kidneys [00:07:00] and get them up to snuff with that. And it also has lots of calcium and vitamins and minerals that they’re probably lacking now because they didn’t have that all winter long.
[00:07:11] And it also is anti-inflammatory and really great for reproductive health. So with laying hens, it works well for them. I also do oregano. I do a lot of oregano tea. Very good. It’s anti-coccidio. It’s anti-viral, which I feel like is especially important with bird flu going around, especially in the spring migration.
[00:07:30] It’s really big then. And I like to do raspberry leaf, but if you do raspberry leaf you want to mix it with peppermint else it tastes very bitter and my flock won’t drink it. So if I do a teaspoon of raspberry leaves and a teaspoon of peppermint leaves together, it works well. I do parsley tea, fennel.
[00:07:50] My chickens are a big fan of fennel seed tea. They like fennel seeds in general actually. So anyways, that’s probably my most, but you can use almost any [00:08:00] culinary herb for them for a herbal tea. There’s one exception. You wouldn’t want to use lavender ’cause it contains that toxin. I forget what it’s called, but it’s safe in small quantities, but I wouldn’t make it into a herbal tea ’cause I feel like it’d be more concentrated then.
[00:08:16] Josh Wilder: So when you’re making these teas, are you sourcing the herbs yourself, or growing them yourself, or foraging? Where do you source most of your herbs?
[00:08:26] Erin Snyder: I usually buy m- get dried herbs online. That’s where I buy mine. I do grow some, but my girls eat them mostly fresh versus dried in the tea, so that’s what I do.
[00:08:37] Okay. But, yeah, you can grow them or whatever. I know people do like in the winter they’ll do container herbs on their windowsill, but my cat prohibits that. Yeah. She’s a hands-on gardener.
[00:08:51] Josh Wilder: So if there’s an instance where there might be, like, say you have a couple difficult hens right now, what w- what do you do if you’re just seeing that they’re not even [00:09:00] not liking the tea, if there’s a few birds that aren’t interacting with it?
[00:09:04] Do you do anything special in those cases?
[00:09:07] Erin Snyder: Yes. I would either… you can try halving the amount of tea you put in a gallon of water. I usually do about a cup of tea, but you can do half a cup, because some teas they do much better if I add less of it, and I figure at least they’re getting some of the benefits.
[00:09:22] And also, I recommend whenever you introduce a new kind of tea or if you’re introducing herbal teas for the first time to your chickens, that you have a water source that’s clean without tea, so that way, that you don’t have to worry about your flock becoming dehydrated and not drinking.
[00:09:39] Josh Wilder: That’s good.
[00:09:40] That’s a good tip. As far as be- first time, teas for folks what do you recommend people start with?
[00:09:48] Erin Snyder: I would probably start with oregano or dandelion, because I feel like most chickens do well with that. You could also do fennel seed, but I feel like most people don’t grow that as readily as oregano or [00:10:00] dandelion.
[00:10:00] So that’s probably the two that I would start with.
[00:10:04] Josh Wilder: Okay. And have you used herbal teas just for chickens, or have you used it for any other type of bird in the past?
[00:10:10] Erin Snyder: I use it for both my chickens and my ducks, and they both do really well
[00:10:15] Josh Wilder: with it. Okay. Are there any special recipes that you use for the ducks, or is it just the same types as the chickens?
[00:10:20] Erin Snyder: It’s just the same type as the chickens. I make one for all of them.
[00:10:25] Josh Wilder: Okay.
[00:10:26] Erin Snyder: The ducks really like the dandelions more than the fennel, so the opposite of the chickens.
[00:10:30] Josh Wilder: Yeah. Great. And is this a great way for folks to avoid using pharmaceuticals and those sorts of things?
[00:10:42] Erin Snyder: Yeah, I think that you can definitely cut down on the pharmaceutical need if you feed herbs.
[00:10:46] I find my chickens are healthier, and even when they are sick, I feel I know it sounds strange, but even when they die, I feel like they’ve suffered less than they used to before I gave them herbal tea. [00:11:00] So I feel like I probably have cut down vet visits. I kind of work hand on, hand-in-hand with both.
[00:11:06] If my chickens are sick, I don’t hesitate to take them to the vet, but I feel like I have cut down on the number of vet visits I need to make.
[00:11:14] Josh Wilder: Great. Is there anything else you would advise to first time folks who are trying this for the first time?
[00:11:21] Erin Snyder: Take it slow. Keep an eye on your chickens.
[00:11:23] See what they like and don’t like. Each chicken is different, has a different personality, so just see and make sure that you have fresh water alongside that’s clean, so in case your chickens don’t like it, they don’t become dehydrated.
[00:11:38] Josh Wilder: Great. Thanks so much. I appreciate your time. You’re welcome.
[00:11:42] Thank you
[00:11:43] Erin Snyder: for having me.
[00:11:43] Josh Wilder: Absolutely
[00:11:47] Jessica Anderson: Thanks again to Brinsea, our sponsor for this Mother Earth News and Friends podcast episode. You too can experience the Brinsea difference and maximize your hatch rates with Brinsea incubators that [00:12:00] monitor temperature and humidity and are made of antimicrobial materials.
[00:12:04] Brinsea ships worldwide and provides stellar customer support to answer all your questions. Hatch your chicks with Brinsea, the leader in innovative incubation research. Learn more at Brinsea.com. Again, that’s www.Brinsea.com.
[00:12:27] Jessica Anderson: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. To listen to more podcasts and get connected on our social media, visit www.motherearthnews.com/podcast. You can also email us at podcast@ogdenpubs.com with any questions or suggestions. Our podcast production team includes Alyssa Warner and myself, Josh Wilder.
[00:12:50] Music for this episode is the song Hustle by Kevin MacLeod. The Mother Earth News and Friends podcast is a production of Ogden Publications.
