Disease/Illness Preventatives?

[teira]

Usually I come on here looking for a cure to an illness or an injury, but I'd like to stray away from that as much as I can in the upcoming year! What can I do this spring to make sure my coop is as protected from illness, mites, and diseases as it possibly can be? I know a clean coop is the obvious one, but I'd like to know what everyone else does to keep their flock in good health! Surely this is something I could just do a quick google search for, but I'd like some experienced and genuine chicken owners to share their own knowledge! I'm super a super nervous chicken mom since I've had coccidiosis strike down on some of my VERY young birds, it happened so fast and I did what I could, which I'm proud of, but I never want to see another bloody poo again! I've heard about First Saturday Lime and Diatomaceous Earth, does anyone use that in their coops? I've been considering buying some! Thanks in advance(=

 

[Shadowfire]

To help keep mites away, I put fresh-cut abundant herbs (lemon balm, catnip, etc.) in my chicken's coop. They also like to nibble the tender leaves.

 

[chickens really]

Provide quality feed and dust bath areas. I use sand in my Run. Healthy birds don't suffer from infestation of parasites.

 

[hillbilly91]

Provide quality feed and dust bath areas. I use sand in my Run. Healthy birds don't suffer from infestation of parasites.

You can get mites from hay an d straw do even a healthy birds can get mites. I deal with it when it comes. You don't take antibiotics when your healthy so I wouldn't recommend doing to much more then protect against critters, feed good feed, clean water, and keep coop clean

 

[Shadowfire]

Provide quality feed and dust bath areas. I use sand in my Run. Healthy birds don't suffer from infestation of parasites.

I agree with hillbilly, even healthy birds can get parasites.

 

[chickens really]

Holy smokes..Generally healthy Birds don't get a total infestation...
Understand?

 

[hillbilly91]

Holy smokes..Generally healthy Birds don't get a total infestation...
Understand?

hahaha they can become infested quite quick if it's not noticed soon enough. No need for the rudeness though, this is a family site I was just posting my opinion

 

[Melky]

I clean every couple days scooping out big stuff providing fresh bedding. I spray poultry protector and food grade DE in coop/run to prevent pests every 1-2 weeks when I do a full clean out and scrub everything with 50/50 water/vinegar. So far so good. . I also use Lavender essential oil in cleaning fluid. Just smells nice. I also put fresh herbs from the garden in my nest boxes. I add zeolite to coop/run to deordize and break down ammonia avoiding ammonia toxicity in chickens. I only use organic healthy products.

 

[Melky]

Usually I come on here looking for a cure to an illness or an injury, but I'd like to stray away from that as much as I can in the upcoming year! What can I do this spring to make sure my coop is as protected from illness, mites, and diseases as it possibly can be? I know a clean coop is the obvious one, but I'd like to know what everyone else does to keep their flock in good health! Surely this is something I could just do a quick google search for, but I'd like some experienced and genuine chicken owners to share their own knowledge! I'm super a super nervous chicken mom since I've had coccidiosis strike down on some of my VERY young birds, it happened so fast and I did what I could, which I'm proud of, but I never want to see another bloody poo again! I've heard about First Saturday Lime and Diatomaceous Earth, does anyone use that in their coops? I've been considering buying some! Thanks in advance(=

The best coccidiosis prevention is feeding medicated feed the first 8 weeks of life.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I use food grade DE the only thing that I can testify to is that it controls ants. DE controls the big red fire ants (that’s what locals call them) they crawl up into the feeder and haul the food away. Crazy
We just can’t prevent some insects Mother Nature has them everywhere. Even a fine screen wouldn’t prevent a lot of insects. So ... my advice is frequent body checks.
Then I’d recommend Dryness. Provide shelter from rain in your run. Keep your bedding and chickens dry. A roof (solid) can keep them dry in winter and provide shade in summer.

My next little suggestion is keep learning. Every year my run improves. My coop gets tweaked and improved all because I take advice on things from people who’ve been at it longer. Best wishes