Lice, worms and vaccinations

[Lorraine Perth]

I have just got my first ever chickens, they are about 16-20 weeks old. I have a few questions 1. Do I need to treat them for lice preventably and if they have lice what do I look for? 2. Same question about worms do I treat to prevent and what do I look for if they have them and 3. Do I need to vaccinate them and if I do is it an annual vaccinations
Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Bottom line is - No, No and No.

Chickens are afflicted by a lot of things but a healthy flock, given good ventilation, nutrition, steady supply of clean water and the ability to forage can fight off all those bad things.
I've never had lice or mites in chickens. I do put down DE when I change bedding.
I've never wormed chickens but if you live in a warm humid environment, you may need to.
Vaccinations are for things prevalent in the commercial industry and small holders often vaccinate but I never have.

 

[Lorraine Perth]

Thanks for your reply, makes things very simple. Can I ask what DE is?

 

[Joshua G]

Unless you have a LOT of chickens worms are not usually a problem, and if your chickens dust bath regularly, and their beaks aren't too short then lice and mites aren't a problem either.

 

[Nana D]

DE is Diatomaceous Earth, I put some in their dirt, so when they do dirt baths they can get it on them. This helps with lice, and also deworming. It isn't cheap, but I do use it. I have never had any lice issues.
For deworming, I also use Wazine, just follow the instructions on the bottle. I also pull my eggs for 10 days, they are tossed out.
I hope this has helped.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

DE is expensive in small quantities. If you look around, you can source large quantities of food grade DE inexpensively. Shipping charges may be a problem.
I couldn't see paying what stores wanted for 2 pounds so I bought 50 pounds. It lasted me a couple years.