dusting and such questions....

[WyanLuv]

I have had chickens since I was a kid on and off and now that we my husband and I have a farm, I got some babies this spring. When I was a kid, we never dusted, or wormed or did any "maintenance" with the chickens but I see it being commented on in other areas a lot. So my questions is.... Why? How? When?

 

[Chirpy]

I think it really depends on where you live, how small or large of a space your chickens have, etc. on how much, if any, dusting and such people do with their flocks.

I have a large coop and run and mine free range for most of every day. So, I only use DE inside the coop. I dust it in the nest boxes, on the roosts and lightly over the floor of the coop every few weeks and let a little fall onto their feed. It's very dry here and we've, thus far, never had any problem with mites or parasites, etc.

 

[gritsar]

I am raising my chickens the 'old fashioned way" as that's how chickens were always raised on this farm.
I use the DE much as Chirpy does. Other than that, I just keep an eye out for problems and treat accordingly. Right now I'm watching closely for worms. I've yet to see any indication of them. Been debating with myself whether I should do a prophylatic worming or not, but since there are very few wormers on the market specifically designed for chickens I think I'm going to wait until I see evidence. I do feed them pumpkin seeds.
Note: Wazine is the only wormer that comes to mind specifically for chickens and it only treats roundworms.