How to treat entire flock for illness?

[WellingtonCoop]

Hi everyone!
I suspect parasites or worms in my small flock of 7 hens. We just unexpectedly lost one of our girls yesterday, and the others are beginning to have pale combs, and lustreless feathers.
Does anyone have any suggestions for treating the entire flock as a preventative measure? I was thinking of adding diatomaceous earth to their feed, and make a homemade worming paste with herbs and garlic.

So grateful for your insights!

 

[Goosebaby]

Various herbal remedies like crushed garlic, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, can work as a preventative with good sanitation, but once the problem is there there’s not much they can do sometimes.
You could get a fecal test from a vet to determine what parasite it is and treat each individually, or mix medicine into their water

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Remember that DE works, if it works at all, by its sharp edges. It loses those sharp edges as soon as it gets wet. So once it is introduced into the digestive system, it becomes mush. Therefore it isn't going to do anything against internal worms or parasites.

 

[aart]

We just unexpectedly lost one of our girls yesterday

Did you just find her dead?
Did you open her up to see if anything was obviously amiss?

Is it hot where you are?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

Best find out what the problem is before trying to 'treat' it.


Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?
Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008