Can Chickens Eat Geraniums?

Geraniums are one of the simplest plants to grow in your garden. They are frequent on chicken keepers’ grounds. If you’ve spotted your hens nibbling on your geraniums, you might wonder whether they’re fine to consume by your flock. Yes, geraniums are perfectly safe for your chickens to eat.

On their daily scouting forays, some chickens may even stop by to bite this delicious plant. But how should you feed these edible flowers to your chickens? Are there any precautions that you must consider?

Read on to know the several ways to feed geraniums to your chickens, along with essential knowledge that’ll help you provide this lovely flower to your feathery friends.

Is Geranium Safe For Chickens?

You’d love to know that geranium flowers are considered edible and are perfectly safe to feed your hens in regular quantities. The blooms contain potent antioxidants, antibacterial agents, vitamin B, and minerals that are beneficial to their health. 

Geraniums are non toxic plants and provide a variety of health advantages, even though they exist in over 200 types. So it’s alright for your hens to eat geraniums as long as they receive their usual, balanced diet. 

Whether your hens are merely nibbling at them in the yard, or you want to chop a couple of these edible blooms up and mix them into your chickens’ food or nutritious table treats, these are perfectly safe for them.

Is Geranium Good For Chicken?

If you have a geranium plant in your chicken coop, your chickens may benefit tremendously. Some of the essential benefits it provides your chickens are:

Activating blood clots:

Geranium helps to restrict blood flow through injuries by causing blood vessels to constrict and speeding up the creation of blood clots. It allows their injuries to heal more quickly. The flower keeps toxins out of the chickens and prevents health issues. 

Increases Metabolism:

Studies have shown that one of the positive characteristics of geranium is that it is prophylactic. It can effectively accelerate the metabolism of your flock. This is necessary for maintaining the health and development of the hen’s body and progenitor organs. It also aids in the regeneration of the body’s dead tissue.

Helps To Relieve Tiredness:

Inhaling the geranium plant’s scent might help lift your chicken’s spirit and relieve weariness. It has a favorable effect on both mind and body. Geranium has a remarkable influence on the neurological system, and it has been utilized in this manner from ancient times. 

You can even make a drink from both the leaves and other parts to give to your chickens. It has relaxing effects and can help to soothe tensions. Geranium oil contains various chemical substances that help maintain healthy mind-body coordination that causes stress in your hens.

Aids In The Detoxification Process:

As a potent antioxidant, geranium has diuretic properties that are particularly beneficial for cleansing the hen’s body. Toxins are created in their body at intervals during cellular metabolism. And some are removed via the digestive system and sweat.

It eliminates toxic free radicals from the body that come along with nutrients from chicken feed. It also aids detoxification by regulating urine frequency. This process of excretion assists the digestive system and flushes out pollutants from the chicken’s body.

Improving Respiratory Health:

The geranium flower can also prove to be an effective remedy for respiratory issues, both for humans and chickens. If your flock is suffering from respiratory illnesses, eating these flowers might help your chickens. 

Helps Restore Skin:

The geranium oil present in the plant is astringent in composition. It causes contractions in many sections of the body and aids in the battle against wrinkles in your chickens. Because this fragrant oil is an organic cleaner, it brightens the chicken feathers well. 

It’s also a cicatrisant, which means it gets rid of acne and scars on the chicken’s skin.

Which Plants Are Not Safe For Chickens?

Your flock will generally avoid flowers and other plants that are hazardous to them. But to be cautious, avoid growing the potentially poisonous plants in locations where your poultry may consume them. 

Some of the blossoms you may want to steer clear of in your coop while keeping chicken are:

• Apricots
• Azalea
• Beans
• Ferns
• Bulbs
• Foxglove
• Holly

These are among the typical plants you must avoid planting in your garden. Ensure you never let your chickens get near these plants and put a fence or chicken wire if necessary. 

There are many other potentially dangerous flowers that induce ill effects and plants that your hens will have a problem with. But your flock will appreciate you if you add geranium plants to your coop, along with marigolds, roses, dandelions, sunflower seeds, lavender, and other flowers.

How To Feed Geraniums To Chickens?

Generally, chickens don’t need any help feeding the geranium blossoms or green stems. However, there may be an instance when your chicken may consume an excess of these edible flowers. 

A lot of any particular food is harmful to not only chickens but also humans. Therefore, you can pluck small amounts of geranium flowers before opening the chicken coop in the morning. And then you can feed some of the flowers to your chickens piece by piece.

You can also make a drink similar to tea from geranium blossoms and give that to your chickens. Grind some dry flowers, mix them in water and boil them. Filter out the leftover particles and cool the tea. 

Place the cold brew in the feeding tray of your chickens. Your chickens will love this new refreshing tea and feel relaxed in the hot summer.

Conclusion

Yes, chickens love eating geraniums in their spare time. However, this doesn’t mean you should neglect the chicken’s diet or overall food intake. Consider geranium blossoms as a treat for your chickens. The points given above will guide you through the process of feeding geranium to your pet chickens.