Garlic for chickens (2024)

Garlic was used by the ancient Egyptians for medicinal purposes and is still popular as a health supplement.

In European countries where they consume large amounts of garlic in their diet, they have a lower risk of cancer and are less likely to develop heart disease, but what about garlic for chickens?

Some say it even improves the size and quality of the eggs they lay. The sulfur from the feces also decreases after a few weeks, which can make your cage and run smell better.

When garlic is freshly pressed, it releases allicin and allicetoins, which have antibacterial properties. Louis Pasteur discovered this way back in 1858. It is known that it only kills the harmful bacteria or 'pathogens' and not the 'good' bacteria. Still, many believe that allicin is a deterrent to the ectoparasite red mite and the taste of chicken blood.

You'll find garlic in some red mite treatments, such as 'Breck-a-Sol', an acaricide approved for use in Britain.

• Garlic can be used on the skin of birds as an antiseptic for minor wounds and scrapes.
• Added to the diet it can help the intestinal environment, making it less attractive to internal parasites (worms).

• It can be rubbed into the legs to help prevent parasites such as scaly leg mites, and there have been studies showing that it reduces the incidence of northern chicken mites*.
• A few cloves crushed in the chicken water can form a tonic that can help boost the immune system.
• The respiratory system can benefit from inhaling steam containing (fresh) garlic.

Place the bird in an exhibition cage/puppy box somewhere where the top can be easily covered with plastic (there is still plenty of air to breathe) and place a steam bowl under the plastic, but outside the cage (so your bird doesn't get burned). It can promote their breathing as an expectorant and receives the active anti-inflammatory ingredients directly into the lungs.

*Topical application of garlic reduces northern mite infestations in laying hens: Birrencott et al. (2000)

Garlic lowers the sulfur content in eggs, giving them a slightly different taste. Adding a lot of garlic to your chicken's diet will undoubtedly make it taste different.

Clemson University created onetaste test on eggsof chickens fed 3% garlic (which is a huge amount of garlic if you think about it, 600g per 20kg bag of feed) and kept some other chickens in a control group. They offered eggs to tasters from both groups, and they preferred the taste of eggs from garlic-fed chickens.**

I add about three ground cloves to a gallon of water and don't taste any difference in the eggs I eat. However, I would like to get some feedback in the comments below if you can detect any changes in taste?

**Reported in Science Daily, November 19, 1998

I don't think garlic for chickens is a miracle cure, and as with many health remedies, many of the claims are subjective rather than scientific. But if you're open-minded, I'd say there's no harm in giving your chickens garlic (it's cheap enough to try).

There are some scientific studies that suggest that garlic is beneficial for chickens, i.e. for their general health, with a balanced diet (feeding chickens properlyis particularly important), then it will probably help them.

I use garlic occasionally and use it as part of aa versatile healthy approachfor my chickens. The health product that I use more often and that you would also like to try is thatapple cider vinegar. I've seen a fewvery positive resultsover the years I've been using this.