It all began when Ong-ard Panyachatiraksa, a farm owner in the north of Thailand who is licensed to grow medicinal cannabis, was wondering what to do with the many excess leaves he had amassed. He asked: could his brood of chickens benefit from the leftovers?
The academics at the university were curious. They have been studying 1,000 chickens at a farm in Lampang to see how they respond to cannabis in their food or water.
The results are promising and suggest that cannabis could help reduce farmers' dependence on antibiotics.
Chickens were observed to see how cannabis affected their growth, vulnerability to disease, and the quality of their meat and eggs. Some of the animals were given water that had been boiled with cannabis leaves, while others were fed a mixture of crushed leaves and water.
The level of intensity given to the chickens wouldn't get them high.
The levels of cannabinoids in the leaves ranged from 0.2 to 0.4%. Chompunut tries to find a level that would help them to improve immunity and performance.
Positive signs have been observed despite the results being yet to be published. The quality of the meat of cannabis-supplemented chickens was better than that of non-supplemented chickens.
According to Chompunut, the local wisdom of Thai people is to use cannabis leaves as a food Additive to make Chicken Noodles. It's put in the soup to make it better. She wanted to know more about the science behind the practices.
Thailand has relaxed its laws on cannabis over the last few years, first legalising marijuana for medical purposes and later allowing companies to sell products infused withCannabidiol andhemp. The public has been warned not to smoke in public despite the Thai government removing cannabis and hemp plants from its narcotics list. It's illegal for extracts that contain more than a small amount of the drug to be sold.
They want to increase agriculture and tourism by tapping into a growing interest in infused food and drinks.
The cannabis had positive effects on chickens, but it's not clear why. The cannabinoids in cannabis may have stimulated the chickens' gut health, immunity and enhanced their performance elsewhere.
It is necessary to investigate if cannabis could replace antibiotics in chicken farming. She is going to conduct a second study that will use cannabis extracts with a higher intensity to see what impact this has on disease and mortality rates among chickens.
She said that the trend of rearing chicken is going to cleaner and more organic. There is a desire to make use of things that don't need to be thrown away. The use of cannabis in chicken farms could help achieve those goals.
The price of cannabis is too high in Thailand to be easily incorporated into chicken feed, but recent legal reforms may change that. He said that it would get better as time went by.
He said that the chickens that have been fed cannabis will sell for a higher price at the restaurant. He said his chicken would sell for double the normal price.
Chompunut found no trace of cannabinoids in the chicken meat or its eggs.
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