My chickens free-range exclusively, so when bad weather keeps them confined to the coop and run, my Italian maternal instincts kick in and I go into care-for-them-with food mode. Knowing that my flock’s health and egg production rely on eating a balance, nutritious diet, I limit treats and ensure that the ones they receive are power-packed with healthy ingredients. Healthy chickens=healthy eggs.
With Blizzard Nemo bearing down on us in New England right now, my flock is in lock-down, so I just whipped up a batch of chicken soup soup for my chickens. To say that they appreciated it is an understatement! With Blizzard Nemo bearing down on us in New England right now, my flock is in lock-down, so I just whipped up a batch of chicken soup for my chickens. To say that they appreciated it is an understatement!
With Blizzard Nemo bearing down on us in New England right now, my flock is in lock-down, so I just whipped up a batch of chicken soup soup for my chickens. To say that they appreciated it is an understatement! I share my “recipe” with you below, and I know from having shared my Flock Block Substitute recipe previously, that those of you who wish to make Chickens’ Soup for your flock may have questions about substitutions.
Please know that you can make any substitutions, additions or omissions you like. I used what I have on-hand, cleaning out the freezer and vegetable drawer in the process. The only required ingredient is water. We know that water is critically important to our flocks, so I’m happy to encourage my pets to drink a nice, warm, nutritious broth on a wicked, winter day.
Chickens’ Soup Ingredients
2 cups leftover meat scraps, chopped
3 carrots, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
Asparagus bottoms, chopped
1 cup calendula petals
2 cups scratch
2 cups Happy Hen Treats Party Mix
2 cups Purina Flock Raiser
Warm water to cover
Oregano Oil **please see advisory, below**
Mix all ingredients together and serve warm. The water is only warm enough to thaw the peas. This soup is not to be cooked and is not to be served hot.
Oregano oil is making it into a recipe on my blog for the first time since I read a New York Times article in December that featured a chicken farmer in neighboring New York who, in a laudatory attempt to reduce antibiotic use in his flock, has been adding a special type of oregano oil to his flock’s feed.
The scientific testing has just begun, but farmer Scott Sechler is encouraged by the results on his flock the past three years. “You can’t just replace antibiotics with oregano oil and expect it to work,” said Sechler. [He] maintain[s] strict sanitary practices, provide[s] good ventilation and light for [his] animals, and make[s] sure water lines are always clean.”
HEALTH ADVISORY: Oregano & oregano oil are not used as replacements for antibiotics for sick chickens.
I have not indicated the amount of oregano oil I used in this recipe intentionally. It is not my wish to be quoted as suggesting that any amount of oregano oil is an antibiotic substitute. Oregano and oregano oil are not replacements for antibiotics for sick chickens. The addition of a specific type of oregano oil, added in precise amounts to feed, not water, is being studied as a way to keep chickens healthier so that commercial poultry farms do not have to resort to using antibiotics as often. If you choose to use oregano oil in your flock’s diet, please do only after having performed your own research, including consulting with a veterinarian in order to form your own conclusions about what a safe dose is for your flock, if any.