Do you want to make a homemade salve for your chickens? If so, you’ll love this DIY chicken salve using calendula oil.
Calendula oil is easy to add to a homemade salve recipe. And its medicinal properties provide quick relief and help heal minor cuts and abrasions on your birds and on your humans too.
Learn how to make a DIY chicken salve with calendula oil to help your backyard flock stay healthy all year round. Or try making dandelion oil salve.
How to Make Salve for Chickens with Calendula Oil
Here’s how to make your own calendula oil salve.
Calendula Salve Ingredients
You will need the following:
- ¼ cup Beeswax pastilles
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon Vitamin E
- 1 ounce calendula oil oil
- 5 - 7 drops of lavender oil (optional)
Note: You can grow your own calendula, also called pot marigold, to make your own oil. This helps keep your chicken supplies and costs down.
Plus, calendula flowers are a nice treat for chickens in addition to their regular chicken feed and flock block treat, too.
Directions for Making the Salve
Melt coconut oil and beeswax in a glass measuring cup and heat for one minute, stirring, then repeat in 30-second increments.
Tip: Make it in any microwave-safe container or a double boiler. I like using a small glass measuring cup with a spout because it makes pouring into my little containers super easy.
Remove from the microwave and add vitamin E, calendula oil, and any essential oils you may want to add.
Pour into a dark glass container to preserve the quality of your oils.
Allow the homemade calendula salve to cool and firm up.
How to Use This Salve
Soften it on your fingertips and rub it onto your chickens ' combs, legs, or anywhere they have minor scratches or cuts.
Note: you’ll find a “How to Make Calendula Salve for Your Chickens” printable down at the bottom of this post!
Why a DIY Chicken Salve
A few years ago, we introduced cold-hardy chickens to our off grid homestead. During the winter of 2020-2021, we had 40 meat birds and layers in our DIY chicken coop.
The thing about living off the grid in a remote place is that we often have to get creative about solving all sorts of issues. Sometimes it’s hard to find what we need in the closest town.
Also, I prefer natural home remedies whenever possible, not just for my family, but also for our homestead animals. That’s why I love this simple calendula salve for chickens and turkeys. We keep it in our DIY chicken first aid kit.
It’s useful for a variety of wounds. And it also works on other homestead animals such as rabbits. I suppose it might even work on quail.
We’ve used it on everything from simple scratches to combs damaged by the pecking of other chickens, to rashes and scrapes on their legs.
It is made with just four simple ingredients and can be used on fowl, humans, and other animals to help heal the skin.
Keep some on hand in your family medicine cabinet and in your Chicken First Aid Kit.
What is Calendula?
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the daisy family.
It has bright yellow or orange flowers that bloom in the summer and fall. And although calendula is native to Europe, it also grows wild across parts of North America. Though not up in the Northwest Territories where we live.
Calendula flower petals are edible and have a mild flavor similar to chamomile or marigold.
How to Grow Your Own Calendula
If you want to grow your calendula for use in salves, it’s best to start from seed. I did this as part of our indoor herb gardening homeschool activity. Depending on your garden zone, you could also try growing it in your backyard garden this summer.
Plant the seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before your area's last spring frost date.
Keep the soil lightly moist and warm (about 70 degrees). The plants should germinate in 7-10 days. Then transplant them outdoors when all danger of frost has passed. Or move them to a cold frame garden.
Make Your Own Calendula Oil
Calendula oil is easy to make at home and requires just two ingredients: calendula and carrier oil, such as olive or almond. First, pick flowers off the stem and place them in a clean jar.
Next, fill the jar with your carrier oil of choice, leaving about an inch of space at the top. Next, place a lid on the jar and store it away from direct sunlight for 3-4 weeks, shaking daily.
After the infusion period, strain the oil into a clean jar and discard the spent flowers. Your calendula oil is now ready to use!
Buying Calendula Oil
If you don’t want to make your own calendula oil, you can also purchase it pre-made.
Look for products labeled as “calendula oil” or those containing calendula extract—just read the ingredients list to ensure it is all-natural.
I had no problem finding many different brands of Calendula oil on online health food stores and Amazon.
Benefits of Calendula Oil in Salves
Using calendula oil in salves provides a host of benefits to your chickens.
It helps to soothe and heal minor abrasions, cuts and scrapes a chicken might get from other chickens pecking at it.
The oil also contains anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties that can help reduce the risk of infection.
In addition, calendula is known for its soothing effects on the skin, making it an ideal choice for treating irritated skin on chickens.
DIY chicken salves containing calendula oil are a great way to help your birds heal naturally and safely. Whether you grow your own or purchase pre-made, calendula oil treats minor wounds and irritations on your backyard flock.
DIY Chicken Salve with Calendula Oil
Make this DIY chicken salve with calendula oil to treat minor scrapes and other injuries in your backyard flock.
Materials
- ¼ cup Beeswax pastilles
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon Vitamin E
- 1 ounce calendula oil oil
- 5 - 7 drops of lavender oil (optional)
Tools
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Stir stick or wooden spoon
- Small dark jars for storing
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil and beeswax in a glass measuring cup and heat for one minute over medium heat, stirring.
- If using a microwave, heat in 30 second increments, stirring each time until melted.
- Remove from heat.
- Add vitamin E, calendula oil, and any essential oils you choose.
- Pour into a dark glass container to preserve the quality of your oils.
- Allow the salve to cool and firm up completely.
- Store in a cool, dark place.
To use: soften it on your fingertips and rub it onto your chickens, comb, legs, or anywhere they have minor scratches or cuts.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Survival Garden Seeds - Ball's Orange Calendula Seed for Planting - Packet with Instructions to Plant and Grow Medicinal Herb Plants in Your Home Vegetable Garden - Non-GMO Heirloom Variety -
Herb Pharm Certified Organic Calendula Oil, 1 Fl Oz -
Anthony's Organic Calendula Flowers, 12 oz, Whole Flowers and Petals, Herbal Marigold Tea, Caffeine Free
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Sarita Harbour is a long-time freelance writer, blogger, and homesteader who has been creating online content for over 15 years. She’s the founder of An Off Grid Life, where she shares practical advice on self-reliance, homesteading, off-grid living, and homeschooling based on her 11-year adventure living in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories.
