Pests can be such a pain especially in the nesting boxes of your coop! Here is how I stay ahead of the pests!
I use dried herbs in my nesting boxes year round, this not only keep the pests out but keep the hens nice and relaxed while laying eggs!
Herbs have so many wonderful properties that can help aid with sickness, prevention of illness, and keeping the pests at bay.
For my herb nesting box mix I have used the following herbs each with a purpose:Organic Peppermint Leaf, Organic Chamomile Flowers, Organic Eucalyptus Leaf, Organic Spearmint Leaf, Organic Lemon Balm, Organic Levander Flowers, Organic Catnip Leaf, Organic Tansy , Organic Wormwood, Organic Pink Roses, Organic Lemon Grass, and Organic Calendulas Flowers.
Organic Peppermint Leaf helps to support the upper respiratory system along with cooling down the body and acts as a rodent deterrent. This is useful in the coop because respiratory systems in chicken can go down hill fast and issues can come on with out much warning if any at all, so having Peppermint leaf around is great! The cooling factor is wonderful in keeping the hens cooled down after laying an egg so they wont go broody after laying and wont to sit on the nest. Best of all it helps to deter rodents! No one likes to go out to the coop to find mice running about.
Organic Chamomile Flowers act as calming, comforting, and an anti-inflammatory for your hens. Keeping you hens stress free and calm with laying eggs will only help them and encourage them to lay. Its never a bad idea to keep and anti-inflammatory around. Chickens are curious by nature and like to get into all kinds of things and you can never be to sure what they have been in so having an anti-inflammatory around to keep any cuts or scraps they may have from swelling is a wonderful idea.
Organic Eucalyptus Leaf is also an anti-inflammatory, along with being an antiseptic, decongestant, deodorant, and an antibacterial. This is one of my all time favorite herbs for my hens! Having a decongestant and a deodorant all in one is amazing! Not only does the coop smell great but my hens can breath better too! What’s not to love!
Organic Spearmint Leaf relieves fatigue and stress, aids in helping with respiratory systems, helps with digestion, and its a rodent deterrent. Spearmint is my second favorite herb for my hens. Laying eggs is tiring and stressful so this herb helps to keep them relaxed and boosts energy after they are done laying so they can go about there little day eating bugs and worms to lay more yummy eggs the next day! The second thing I love about Spearmint is the fact that it helps with your hens digestion. Hens spend 90% of the day eating, so anything that can help them digest food better is a plus.
Organic Lemon Balm reduces stress and anxiety, helps relaxation, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort from indigestion. Lemon Balm just like Spearmint helps with digestions, I can’t stress enough how wonderful it is to have herbs around that help the hens with digestions. We live in the city and do our best to keep our yard very clean but every now and then they get something odd someone has thrown in our lawn and having these herbs in the nesting box has helped them digest whatever they have eaten.
Organic Lavender Flowers help relaxation, pest control, cool the chickens down, act as an anti-inflammatory, and aids circulatory system. I have already spoken about why pest control, relaxation and anti-inflammatory herbs are important, but I have not gone over why aiding in circulatory system is important. Since hens are laying eggs and eating all day they are using a lot of energy to do so, so aiding in their circulatory system helps them to stay active and alert as they go through their day.
Organic Catnip Leaf acts as a mosquito and flies repellent, aids in cooling and calming, along with aiding in digestion. Mosquito are the worst, I hate them with a passion! Not only do they carry diseases, but their bits leave you itchy! Catnip mint is wonderful! I actually grow a few plants in my hens runs to keep the mosquitos out as well as put the dried herb in their nesting boxes as well. Anything to help my girls out.
Organic Tansy is an insect repellent, parasites/worms deterrent and aids in treating parasites/worms. Tansy is the jack of all herbs! De-worming chickens is time consuming and costly especially if you sell your eggs. Tansy will help keep the hens worm and parasite free!
Organic Wormwood is a pest repellent, expel tapeworms, threadworms, and especially roundworms. Just like Tansy, Wormwood keeps out the worms and expels tapeworms if the hens get one! Wormwood in a must have in my option, and it looks nice.
Organic Pink Roses smells great and it helps to claim your hens. A great smelling coop is a wonderful thing, not only will it keep out the flies but it will make you want to spend more time with your girls too!
Organic Lemongrass helps with insomnia, respiratory disorders, fever, aches, and infections. Chickens, just like humans, need to sleep and if they are too stressed, or anxious, they wont get good sleep, so lemongrass helps aid them in sleep. I put more lemon grass in my mix during winter as they are literally cooped up more than they are in the summer which causes stress.
Calendula Flowers are an anti-inflammatory, it helps blood flow, has anti-fungal properties, and so much more. Calendula’s flowers are wonderful and your hens can get them for even more health benefits and they are so pretty in the nesting boxes!
To purchase my unique nesting box herb mix CLICK HERE
Happy Chicken Rising!
CB-Chicken Keeping 