My other question, is what routine health practices and procedures do other local chicken owners do to keep their flocks healthy?
I am in Caldwell, and have 2 different flocks of chickens: an assorted large fowl laying flock, and my son's Seramas that he uses for 4H. We have had chickens for about 3-4 years, also raised them as a kid, many years ago.
I start with the basics - plenty of clean water, appropriate feed mix, limit the "candy" (scratch) and offer fresh kitchen scraps when available, especially since my birds no longer free-range. they have plenty of room to stretch their legs and I provide perches of different heights and dimensions to give them exercise. I no longer provide heat lamps,
pawtraitart did a great job of explaining why. I even have some crazy hens that REFUSE to sleep in the coop - no matter what the weather is- and they did fine through last winter. Our coop is lightly insulated, with plenty of ventilation. We also do not provide artificial light. I personally feel that it is better for the hens to go through their natural egg laying cycles, and allow their bodies to rest during the winter season.
Yes, parasites can severely affect the health of your flock. I check our flocks frequently for signs of lice and mites, around the vents, on the skin at the base of the tail and under their wings. I also examine their legs for raised scales that could indicate scaly leg mites. I sprinkle diatomaceous earth in the coop bedding and all over their run. as they dust bathe, the DE gets all over them and helps to control the parasites (dust does this naturally, adding the DE, i think, takes it up a notch in effectiveness). Where your birds free-range, it would be easy for them to pick up parasites from the wild birds.
It is always easier to fight parasites by prevention and early detection. severe infestations are difficult to get under control - not impossible, but difficult.
I used to let my hens free range on the weekends, otherwise housed in their coop and chain link run ( a large (10' x 17') dog run). We had a terrible time of lice and mites. I have since draped the entire run in fruit-tree netting and severely limit the free-range time. Doing that, and using the DE every time i clean the coop, we have not had any issues this year. DE works because it dries out the parasites. Some people don't like to use it because it is a fine powder that can affect the flock's sensitive lungs. I kick all of the birds out of the area that I am cleaning, until everything settles down. In my experience, DE is more of a preventative. I agree that something like seven dust, or other treatments, would be more effective in fighting a full blown infestation.
It is good to have several treatment options that you can rotate through when problems do crop up so that we are not creating resistant parasites.
Aside from parasites, we have also had hens go lethargic & die from coccidiocis (worms) - confirmed by a vet testing a stool sample. We purchased some over the counter worming powder, ampromed (amprolium), (not sure exactly which store we bought it from, but it was local... hmmm.. my first guess would be Dunlap Hatchery) added to the flocks drinking water for 10 days. Since they were full grown hens, they most likely picked the worms up from the wild ducks that frequent the irrigation ditch (sorry, FEDERAL DRAIN) located at the edge of our back yard. (another reason for limiting the free ranging at my house...).
there are so many helpful threads here, couldn't tell you how many hours we have spent educating ourselves on this site!
