Not giving any meds to your flock

[FoodKillah]

What happens if i never give any meds to my chickens? I have bought some long time ago and i guess they were given the meds they should have. But i have never "wormed" them since i bought them around July, last year. I also hatched a chick, and even tho i bought some vitamins, i never opened them to give to my chick or flock. I dont like the idea of mixing meds in their water either.

Will my flock die sooner? Is that chick i hatched prone to some specific disease that i should be aware of because its not given any injections or other meds? Will worms start eating my chickens alive for sure if i dont "worm" them?

So far keeping chickens seems troubleless and they seem healthy other than some pecked off feathers here and there, they are dirty too. I have lost one chicken for unknown reasons she died 4 months ago in the coop.

 

[krcote]

I have never medicated or dewormed my chickens. I have not had any issues. They are my only livestock however. I feel that people with other livestock more readily medicate because other livestock almost always has to be medicated/vaccinated in some way.

 

[Judy]

Some people keep chickens for years and never seem to have a problem. It is unlikely your chickens got any medicine or immunization before you got them. Some of the most serious diseases cannot be prevented or cured with vaccination or medication, anyway. It's really up to you whether you want to, say, put them on a worming program. Certainly if they get infested, they can actually die of worms, but chickens can tolerate a small load. You might consider doing some research on worms, lice/mites, and chicken diseases.

 

[WallTenters]

Many folks on here do not vaccinate, but worms and lice and mites can be a big problem for chickens. They have to get infested pretty bad to die from them, but more often than not they just make them very uncomfortable and less efficient on their feed. If you're lucky, they'll eat enough to maintain their body weight, but even then they're eating more than they would have to if they didn't have as heavy a parasite load.

I think if I had lice and mites crawling all over me I'd take some medicine, the same if I had a belly full of worms, so that's why I give it to my birds.

 

[FoodKillah]

I think if I had lice and mites crawling all over me I'd take some medicine, the same if I had a belly full of worms, so that's why I give it to my birds.

Yes sure, i have sprayed only one of my chickens once, with a spray for lice that i bought from the pet shop and was meant to be for "birds". It worked with 1 application. I check my chickens for mites and lice, i also check their nose and eyes, and their poop. Thank god nothing other that hen having lice 2 months ago.

I just want to be sure that what i am doing (like not giving them regular meds in the water) is not wrong.

I would like to see what more people that dont med their flock have to say.​

 

[Baymule]

I read on several posts about using ground hot pepper and pumpkin seeds as wormers. Not as in kill all worms dead, but as in shocking the worms nervous systems so that they let go of the intestinal walls and are passed out in the poop. I gave my 2 girls cayenne pepper in cornmeal mush several times and they gobble it up and seem to be healthy. I don't like putting poison in something I am going to eat. I missed the fall pumpkins, but I will get some this fall for animal purposes.

 

[Melinda35]

I have never given my flock medication. I just butchered 16 of them and there were no signs of worms at all. I have also not had a lice problem. If I did have any of these problems I would definitely treat. I will have had my chickens for one year in May. My chickens do have access to other animals including cats, dogs, ducks, and cattle. My chickens and ducks do free range all day with the other animals and they also have crumbles to eat whenever they want.

I consider myself very fortunate that I have not had any problems but I do understand it can happen at any time.

 

[dsqard]

Giving medications is a personal choice. What I do may or may not work for others or be their choice. I do feed medicated feed when they are chicks. I hatch my own chicks so they do not get a Mereks vaccine. I have never had it on my property, nor does it seem to be a problem in the area. If it were a problem, I would vaccinate them. I take them off the medicated feed around a month or so. I do not give my chickens any other medications on a day to day basis. I do have medications for cocci, lice/mites and worms. I have not used them yet as I have not had problems with them yet. I keep an eye on the chickens and if I were to see a problem, I would medicate for it if needed. Personally, I see nothing wrong with doing worming on a schedule since that is what I do with my horses but I have not started with my chickens yet. I have been thinking of worming them though just because it is possible that they could have some. IMO, if you are feeding them well, giving fresh water and keeping them in a relatively clean coop, they don't need to be medicated unless one of them gets sick.