Chicken Nesting Box Herbs recipe {make your own blends for less!}

Fragrant pops of color in the nesting box are pleasant for chicken keepers and laying hens both! Aromatic herbs help repel mites and pests while adding a charming feel to the coop. Let me share the dried flowers and plants I use to craft my nesting herbs recipe:

dried flowers in purple, pink, red, yellow and fuchsia are combined with green herbs on a white background in a chicken nesting box herb blend

Nesting Box Herbs Recipe Blends

Making your own nesting box herb blend is easy! You’re going to need some common dried culinary herbs, which may be sold in bulk at your local grocery store, plus a few dried flowers that are inexpensive on Amazon. The best part is you can customize the blend based on your budget! Here are some economical and beautiful nesting herb blends:

two blue and one cream chicken egg in a straw nest with colorful dried flowers and herbs scattered throughout the straw to show how nest box herb blends look in use in the chicken coop

Sourcing Ingredients

Whether you want a mix of subtle sages or a brilliant blend of colorful petals, you’re going to need a few chicken-friendly ingredients. The flowers below are non-poisonous to chickens and edible, because you know they are going to try! Here are links to what I’m using:

Budget saving tip: Calendula is loved by the hens and if you’re only going to purchase one dried flower, I would choose calendula.

Calendula Flowers: A pound of these lightweight dried flowers is a LOT; nearly the size of a throw pillow. I use these for natural soap making plus my hens and each bag is over a 1 year supply for my needs. Opt for 8 ounces (1/2 pound) if only using calendula for your hens.

Dried Lavender: These pretty little buds are so fragrant and are an inexpensive herb to add!

Dried Chamomile: Lovely white flowers with yellow centers add a calming touch to your blends.

Dried Blue Cornflower: This is where the expensive nesting herb blends get that surprising pop of blue-purple! If you’d like a less expensive option, dried Forget-Me-Nots are generally regarded as safe and non-toxic for chickens (who tend to not eat them).

Dried Rose Petals: These should be food grade and can be expensive per ounce. If you must have that blush of pink or red color but want to spend less, check out dried ghomphrena below!

Gomphrena/Globe Amaranth: Get that punch of bright pink or rich red in your blend that is edible and chicken-safe.

Colorful Dried Flower Mixes: If you’re tempted by some of the beautiful dried flower mixes, be sure to check them carefully to ensure the flowers are chicken-safe. Lily/Lillies are almost always not good for chickens to ingest so if you buy a flower mix that includes them, don’t add them to your mix! Please check this list of flowering plants that are poisonous or toxic for chickens before using dried flowers from a mix!

Here’s How to Get our Recipes:

dried strawberry reddish pink flowers with dried yellow calendula flowers and some sage green and white chamomile herbs in a nest box herb blend on a white surface that mimics the color of strawberry lemonade — The recipe for this beautiful “Strawberry Lemonade” blend is one of the 5 included!

Inexpensive & Free Ingredient Options: Tea Bags

If you have unused old tea bags, rip them open and add them to your blends! Peppermint, chamomile, hibiscus, green tea, black tea – all can be used! You’ll never feel bad about “wasting” unused tea again. (This is my favorite way to use up teas I didn’t enjoy!)

Chickens do NOT eat tea leaves, which contain tannins they don’t like. Tea leaves would simply add bulk and fragrance to your blend that may help deter some pests but won’t be eaten by your hens. (The same way they ignore any tea leaves in the compost pile as they scratch through.)

Dried Herbs & Spices

If you have old spices in your cabinet you have not been able to part with, now is the time to use them! Dusty bay leaves, long-forgotten Italian herb blends, old peppermint or rosemary have a new use! Skip anything containing salt, pepper, sugar, or seasoned salt blends; we only want dried garden herbs.

From the Garden

If you have an herb garden (or herbs growing just about anywhere) and an oven, you can dry your own! Set your oven as low as it will go, which is usually 170°F, and then wedge an oven mitt in the door so it is slightly propped open while running. This will create an interior temperature of 135°-160°F which is ideal for drying herbs. Lay fresh herb leaves flat on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven to dehydrate for 1 to 1.5 hours at 130°-165°F.

Wild Foraged & Wild Crafted

If you enjoy hang-drying herbs and wildflowers, this is the perfect way to use up your hand-gathered finds! Twine tied bundles of sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary, chamomile and dandelion look beautiful as they dry. Hung upside down, they should be done in 2-3 weeks (depending on humidity) and ready to use in your favorite nesting herbs recipe.

dried flowers in red, pink, fuchsia, purple and yellow scattered over fresh wheat straw in a chicken nest to illustrate how a nest box herb blend looks in use

Will I Mess It Up?

I promise you cannot mess up nesting box herb blends! If you don’t have enough of one ingredient, you do NOT need to follow the recipe exactly. Use what you have, skip anything you don’t, and enjoy your own custom blend!

Need More Inspiration?

If you want to view some beautiful blends, or just buy them ready-made, here are some lovely options:

Sassafras & Pumpernickel brand Certified Organic Chicken Nesting Herbs

Happy Trees Nesting Herbs

6 Herb Blend Chicken Nesting Herbs

(Amazon affiliate links)

a hand drawn image of rolling pasture hills with trees on a farm

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Chicken Nesting Box Herbs recipe {make your own blends for less!}