Oregano Essential Oil for Chickens: Benefits, Uses, Safety

Interested to know more about oregano essential oil for chickens? Oregano is a broad Spectrum Natural Antibiotic, it’s given to chickens and other animals to help strengthen their immune system and guard against various ailments.

Personally, I love using natural remedies and solutions where possible. I've been experimenting with essential oils with my chickens and other areas of my life for years.

In this article, I'm taking a closer look at what oregano essential oil is, the benefits it offers chickens, and how you can give it to your chickens as well.

Table of Contents

What Is Oregano Oil and Its Benefits?

I figured I'd start out by providing a little information on what oregano essential oil is, as not everyone is familiar with using essential oils.

Oregano essential oil is made by extracting liquid from the oregano plant. There are essential oils made from just about every plant you can think of, and each has its own unique benefits.

According to VeryWellHealth.com, studies have proven oregano essential oil to have antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. It also has antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Pretty powerful stuff! You can see why it’s commonly used in aromatherapy and has a number of other positive health uses for us.

So, I know what you’re here for; how do these health benefits translate over to use with chickens?

Let’s find out:

Related - Here’s why I give my chickens apple cider vinegar, too.

Is Oregano Oil Safe for Chickens?

First of all, when giving anything to chickens we have to talk about safety first.

Nothing here is intended to be professional veterinary advice, but I have run this past my own avian vet, and I've been assured that oregano oil is completely safe.

Plus, I've been using it for years with no ill effects. I’ve also discussed its use with many other chicken owners who have also used it for years, and it's been fine.

In fact, it's been better than fine as I'll be explaining in this article.

What Does Oregano Do for Chickens?

I think it's fair to say the chickens aren't the most sickly of animals, at least not in my experience. Maybe that just means I’ve been fortunate - or maybe it’s the result of proactive measures like using oregano oil!

Either way, when chickens do get sick it can spread quickly throughout the flock and cause some serious problems.

Not to mention disrupting egg production, which is usually one of the first signs something is up with a chicken.

The saying, ‘prevention is always the best cure’ definitely rings true with chickens.

The best part is that there are a number of herbs and other remedies that provide a perfectly natural and effective solution to help keep your chickens healthy. So, don’t go ordering expensive medications just yet.

Oregano oil is one such herb. It contains a number of properties that hold health benefits, a couple of which are strong antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Meaning, you can simply give it to your chickens as a preventative measure against illness and to help strengthen their immune systems in general.

We know that oregano helps aid indigestion, soothe all kinds of gastrointestinal issues, can be used to treat fungal and bacterial infections, and speeds up recovery from various illnesses.

This has all proven to be true when giving it to chickens, too, not just for human use.

Some of the most common illnesses that affect backyard chickens, all of which can be prevented or guarded against by giving them oregano oil includes:

Avian influenza
E.coli
Avian bronchitis
Respiratory Illness / CRD
Internal parasites
Salmonella

How to Give Oregano Oil to Chickens

First of all, I'll point out that you can use fresh or dried oregano leaves if you can’t get hold of oil or if you’re growing oregano.

I covered the benefits of fresh oregano for chickens in this post, as well as some details on how you can feed it to them.

Using oil is the easiest method though, and because it's far more concentrated you only need a small amount.

You only really need to add a drop into your chickens’ waterer. Alternatively, you can add a few drops into their feed if you're sure it's going to get.

I know someone who has made a spray bottle mixing a few drops with some water. They then spray this over their chook’s feed, which is a pretty good idea and gives it a nice even distribution.

Essential oils are pretty powerful, as long as you can be sure that they’re getting some into their water or diet, you can be sure they are benefiting from it.

Related - Some interesting benefits of other herbs like basil and fennel explained here.

Where to Buy Oregano for Chickens?

If you can find some near where you are, that's great. I do almost all of my shopping online for convenience sake; here is the oregano essential oil I last purchased available on Amazon:

It's best to stick with natural, therapeutic-grade oils. Not all essential oils are safe for consumption, but this one is perfectly safe for chickens in small amounts as explained above.

In Summary

I love using natural remedies and supplements to help keep my flock strong and healthy.

Oregano essential oil is one of the best natural supplements to give your flock’s immune system a boost, help guard them against illness, promote better wellbeing - and I can’t speak highly enough of it.

Remember, healthier chickens mean happier chickens, healthier and happier chickens mean they’ll lay eggs at their best, and that means you get better tasting, awesome eggs!