Basic preventative healthcare for chickens

[QuoVadis]

We got chickens when I was a teenager, and they were my babies. When I moved out my mom kept them and actually still has a few left form that batch ten years ago. Now I own my own house and a year and a half ago I got my own chickens, almost all bantams. My question is about basic preventative care for chickens. Growing up we loved our chickens; they were pets, and we never butchered them, and probably took much better care of them than most people, hence why there are still a handful from the original batch that are 10! However, I have to think maybe unintentionally we may have not done everything right in terms of preventative care, because they seemed to have somewhat frequent health problems that we would have to nurse them through. Over the years they would have worms, leg mites, normal mites, egg bound, respritory issues, internal laying. Obviously some of this may have been due to the fact that they were hatchery birds and were not really bred for longevity.

But now that I have more chickens of my own that I am very attached to, I am wondering if there is a schedule of preventative care I should provide. I feed Nutraena Layer pellets/mash, with a little Calf Manna added for protein, and I give calcium supplement.

Is there anything I should be doing as preventitive care, like treating for mites, worming, etc., on a regular basis? If so what should I be doing and how often?

 

[StitchGirl]

I am definitely interested in what people have to say about this! I never had chickens before and would like to know what they can have as immunity booster, herbs against moties and other tricks.
The only thing I found so far is Braggs against parasites.

 

[junebuggena]

To help prevent mites and lice, giving chickens wood ash and sand to dust bathe in regularly work well. As far as worms go, some people worm every couple months to prevent worms, some people worm only as needed. Keeping chickens at a healthy weight will help keep them healthy, so giving them plenty of room to move around and giving them opportunities to forage are important.