Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Other Names:

Common Dandelion, Blowball, Canker Wort, Clock Flower, Dente De Lion, Dudhal, Dumble-dor, Fairy Clock, Fortune Teller, Hokaei-kon, Huang Hua Di Ding, TOE

Benefits

Antiparasitic
Antioxidant
Antitumor
Anti-inflammatory
Hepatoprotective
Gastroprotective
Diuretic
Immunity

Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a well-known hardy perennial herb with bright yellow flowers that is frequently found throughout the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. It was historically used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and by Native Americans to treat a variety of conditions. The roots of the herb are primarily considered for supporting digestion and liver function, while as its leaves are used as diuretic and digestive stimulant. Specific applications studied in poultry include:

Nutrient rich: Dandelions contain a large amount of vitamin A, B, C, and D, as well as minerals, such as iron (Fe), potassium (K), and zinc (Zn).
Ethnoveterinary Medicine: Poultry farmers in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada use dandelions to treat endoparasites in poultry, and as a food for foraging and ground cover.

Poultry Specific Studies

Type	Plant Part	Dosage	Specific use	Results	Ref
Other	extract		antiviral, duck hepatitis B virus	ay contribute to blocking protein synthesis steps and DNA replication	Y Jia et al., 2014
Chickens	leaves	0.5% of diet	GI health	Improved intestinal mucosa in terms of cellular infiltration, architecture of villi, villus height/crypt depth ratio, thereby improving the intestinal health.	S Qureshi et al., 2016
Chickens			digestive stimulant, diuretic	treats indigestion and hepatitis B infection as well as enhances metabolise androgenic hormones.	S Qureshi et al., 2019
Broilers		500 mg/kg diet for 42 days	GI health	enhanced growth performance of broilers by improving the intestinal barrier function. Dandelion can be supplemented in the diet as an antibiotics alternative to enhance production in poultry industry.	J Mao et al., 2022