In all my years of raising chickens and diving deep into many different social media chicken keeping pages. Along with The Backyard Chickens website, I have never heard about the benefits of giving chickens Aloe Vera until a few nights ago. Which lead me into doing far more Googling and research than I was prepared for. Thanks to our amazing friend Cecil who is from Jamaica!
I was telling him about how important chicken health is to me and my concerns about the rise of H5N1- Avian Influenza. And he said, listen here baby (all Jamaicans call a woman baby), when I was a kid my grandmother made me give our chickens Aloe Vera. It is good for internal parasites, overall internal health and well being.
I watched as his beautiful eyes searched for his childhood memories; caring for chickens in a time and place when a person had to utilize and take advantage of what only Mother Nature could provide. He stated that he had to squish the Aloe from the plant into their drinking water and then toss the leftover leaves to the birds to peck through. He chuckled when he said how much the birds loved the leaves, but had to add in the cringe of how mean game cock birds are.
Cecil gave me a beautiful reminder that we can not always rely on antibiotics, modern medicine and Veterinarians. He spent his childhood in a place without those luxurious amenities and yet he, his family and his livestock thrived! Cecil also reminded me that preventative care is an important element when striving to keep your flock healthy and one the most overlooked resource is Mother Nature herself.
Within my inspired research I found that Aloe Vera has numerous health benefits for not only humans, but for chickens too!
Improves intestinal micro flora
Reduces intestinal pathogens
Enhances immune system
Improves growth rates
Reduces Coccidiosis
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-bacterial
Better feed conversion rates
I could go on and on about all of the wonderful things I read about Aloe Vera for our chickens, but I do encourage everyone to do their own research, as I am not a veterinarian.
For my family, all I’ve ever used Aloe Vera for was a sun burn. I’d snap off a hearty leaf, break it open and smear that ooey-gooey goodness on my kids and myself.
So I decided to take my new knowledge as a sign to dig into my own Aloe Vera Mother Plant!
My mother plant is a pretty darn old lady. I was gifted a start from a family member over 25 years ago.
Aloe Vera is a super easy plant to grow!
Basically set and forget; kind of like a Brinsea incubator, but even they do end up needing some maintenance along with a thorough cleaning.
Roughly once a year I do have to divide babies from their mother and find new homes for them. Or... fill ten new pots and find any extra shelf space to grow more!
Right now I have 8 Aloe plants started and another 10 babies that do need a pot to call their own. Aloe Vera is truly the “gift that keeps on giving”! It’s even better than the Jelly of the Month Club!
If you can not pot all of your Aloe starts for yourself, please do share the goods!
They can patiently and happily wait until their proper adoptive home can claim them. Simply moisten a paper towel to wrap their tender bottoms in and secure them in a ziplock with their tips poking out of the top.
I once again do encourage ya’ll to do a little research on your own to learn more about the amazing and wonderful health benefits that Aloe Vera can offer to all of us.
~Many blessings and much love