Lavender aromatherapy for chickens.

If you want laid-back, healthy hens, bug control in the coop and a pretty run, you can't go wrong with lavender. Here's why.

Lavender aromatherapy for chickens: relaxation.

In humans, fairly extensive research has shown that the smell of lavender can lower the heart rate and reduce blood pressure⁽¹⁾.

There have also been tests on rats which show that being exposed to its oil for seven consecutive days substantially reduced anxiety.⁽²⁾ Similar research on mice and rabbits with both the oil and dried flower buds have produced the same results⁽³⁾.

There haven't been any tests performed on the effects of lavender on chickens, but given its calming effects across the broad spectrum of other creatures, it's probably right to say that it can help calm chickens, too.

At the very least, it will do no harm.

Hens dislike noise and prefer to be undisturbed and relaxed as they lay, so may appreciate an occasional touch of lavender in their nest boxes (although be aware - I've seen it occasionally send them to sleep in the middle of laying!).

Broody hens too will appreciate a bit of calm and relaxation as they hatch and then care for their chicks.

The majority of research has been done using lavender oil, which is extracted from the flower buds. Be careful when using concentrated aromatherapy oils - sprinkle a couple of drops (no more!) on nest-box bedding, but make sure it's mixed in thoroughly.

I occasionally put a few drops in a carrier oil (like sunflower) on a saucer on the window ledge above the nest area (I do not heat it), but more commonly I will add dried lavender buds like these to the bedding (click the photo to buy from Amazon if you don't have your own).

Don't use fresh herbs in nest boxes unless you're prepared to refresh them every couple of days. They can go mouldy and cause the bedding to become infected and smell - but not in a good way.

Lavender aromatherapy: calming aggression.

Lavender research with mice has found that it is able to calm aggression⁽⁴⁾. This goes hand-in-hand with its effects of calming the central nervous system: a less heightened, more relaxed, state of awareness is bound to follow. 

Will it calm an aggressive rooster? 

The evidence is that aromatherapy effects are not particularly long-lasting. So while an aggressive roo may become more mellow when he's in the immediate vicinity of lavender, it's unlikely that he would remain that way once outside the coop.

It's worth a try, but don't expect it to stop that rooster from attacking you if that's what his hormones are telling him to do. Sometimes, the only thing to do with a roo like that is re-home.

The benefits of lavender oil for healing wounds.

Medical research has evidenced the antibacterial value of essential oils⁽⁵⁾, tea tree being the most potent and lavender, along with peppermint and thyme, coming a close second. Tea tree oil, in fact, was found to be effective in combatting bacteria as powerful as MRSA.

So it follows that using a combination of tea tree and lavender oil for any kind of chicken wounds can help.

Lavender as an insect repellent.

Do you have a memory of your grandma's clothes smelling of lavender? That's because it's been used for many centuries as an insect repellent.

People in the know would hang sachets in wardrobes or place them among clothes and linen in drawers to keep moths away.

Chicken coops are notorious for attracting flies, especially in hot summer months. Personally, I dislike fly traps of any kind intensely - I once tried the "red top" and was physically sick.

Apart from the obvious ways to keep flies at bay - keeping bedding clean and dry, scooping poop daily, removing wet or unused food - lavender can help.

So at the end of the day...

Whether you believe in using natural remedies for your flock is entirely a matter for you, of course. There is scientific evidence for the value of lavender, as evidenced here.

But it's not an answer to everything and, as ever, you must make your own decision about what's right for your flock.

I don't believe that lavender will cure all my chickens' ailments, and I may be deluded to think it even makes them relax! But it certainly doesn't hurt and my experience is that it has done some good.

Whatever your views, it definitely makes for a sweet-smelling coop - and a gorgeous-looking run.

And as a bonus - bees love it!

See some other plants beneficial to chickens in this short video.

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Sources and further reading.