Top 8 Essential Oils for Chickens
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Have you ever wondered if you can use essential oils for chickens?
The answer is yes! We use essential oils to repel insects, soothe injuries, and support healthy immune function for our laying hens. Here’s a list of our favorite essential oils for chickens.
Click here for my favorite way to purchase essential oils.
Top 8 Essential Oils for Chickens
1. Oregano
Why it’s good for chickens: Oregano is a powerful oil for strengthening the immune system.
How to use it: Keep your chickens healthy by adding one drop Oregano oil to 2 gallons of water each time you refill their water supply. We typically add 2-4 drops Oregano oil to a 5 gallon bucket of water.
2. Lavender
3. Melaleuca
4. Frankincense
Why it’s good for chickens: These three oils are wonderful for all kinds of skin irritations. This combination soothes troubled skin and promotes skin repair. We use it when a chicken has suffered an injury or lost feathers in an attack by other chickens or our dog.
How to use it: Add one drop of each oil to about 15 drops of carrier oil (we use fractionated coconut oil) and apply topically to areas of concern twice per day.
5. Peppermint
Why it’s good for chickens: Peppermint oil helps to repel flies. We add it to our homemade bug spray for humans, too!
How to use it: Mix 30-40 drops Peppermint oil with 2.5 gallons water and spray it around the coop and chicken run. Reapply after every rain or heavy dew.
6. Melaleuca (Tea Tree)
Why it’s good for chickens: Melaleuca oil helps to ward off mites.
How to use it: Mix 20 drops Peppermint oil and 10 drops of Melaleuca per gallon of water. Spray heavily inside coop. Do this during the day when the chickens are outside the coop, and then allow time for the coop to air out before the chickens return. We also sometimes lightly spray the chickens when we suspect they’ve got mites, carefully avoiding their heads.
7. Lemon
Why it’s good for chickens: Use an easy spray with Lemon oil to clean and disinfect the chicken coop.
How to use it: Mix about 30 drops Lemon oil with 8 oz. vinegar and 8 oz. water in a spray bottle. After cleaning out the coop, spray liberally with Lemon spray. Do this during the day when the chickens are outside the coop, and then allow time for the coop to air out before the chickens return.
8. Wild Orange
We haven’t tried this spray yet, but plan to keep it handy the next time we introduce new chicks or hens to our flock. Any citrus oil should work: Wild Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit.
Why it’s good for chickens: Use citrus oils to make an anti-peck spray. Chickens don’t like citrus flavors, and will stay away from the hens who smell like citrus oils.
How to use it: Spray diluted citrus oils on hens being pecked by their coopmates. Start with a few drops of citrus oil in a spray bottle of water. Increase ratio if necessary. Spray carefully on the victimized hens, avoiding the head area.
And just for kicks, here are 35 more ways to use Wild Orange…
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Hello! What oils can be usefur for energy on roosters? TIA.
Could you spray chickens with TerraShield to help with gnats?
We’ve never tried that, Creighton. Have you tried Peppermint? Peppermint works well for gnats on people, so I imagine it would help with chickens too. 🙂
The tea tree and peppermint spray (#6), our girls lay eggs in the coop. Is there any worries of them coming in to lay eggs after you have sprayed coop down?
What kind oil can u use i found some but say for aromatherapy use only is it safe or i need the skin oil
Doterra oils are the best and safest for people and animals
This post was most helpful and encouraging! We just started raising chickens but love essential oils and use them fit my family all the time. They are part of God’s medicine cabinet!
Blessings
What is the best way to get rid of mosquitoes in my chicken coop and their water?
The best way to prevent mosquitoes is to change out the chickens’ water every day.
I don’t mean to offend you but there are some brands of oils like Simply Earth that are just as pure. And Simply Earth is not a MLM or pyramid scheme. They also are a lot more affordable, plus they donate 13% of the proceeds to stop human trafficking.
Pyramid schemes are illegal. doTERRA is an MLM but not a pyramid scheme, and also donates to stop human trafficking. I’m not here to argue the best brands of essential oils. Do your own research, choose the brand you like best, and I’ll do the same.
Geranium Oil is great to deter mosquitoes also. Mix with water and spray on chicken or surrounding areas.
good to know!
Hello, my name is Christine and I live in Italy. Thank you so much for all the inspiring ideas to cure chickens in a natural way. I would like to know if I could use a diffuser with essential oils and out it in their house during the night? One of my hens sneezes for over a year now and no antibiotic helped. So as from now I would like to cure them with essential oils. Thank you so much for your advice!
If you don’t create an emulsion if your oils to go in the water feeder, then don’t they just stay separated?
They make a product called DUNKS. I buy mine on amazon but they should have them at Walmart or TSC. I drop one in my bird bath and in our rain gutters on the house and they’re safe for animals. I change their water every day so I don’t use them for my chickens but could if I needed to.
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Thank you for this article. We have pecking going on in our flock, pretty bad right now. We live in NH and the poor hen’s rears are all exposed! If we spray them with wild orange (I use doterra) and water, will they get cold from me doing that in the winter? it’s currently 20 degrees out right now! How often would you need to spray them?