I free range full time, feed a mix of laying mash(no animal proteins) and mixed grains, give fresh water and sometimes add a dollop of UP/ACV. My birds range over an acre of mixed grasses, eat all the apples they can tuck into each fall, any garden leftovers and sometimes range into the fields on either side just to be contrary.
I feed once a day in the evening, usually an hour before they go to roost. Unlike other folks on here, I don't mind when they poop under the roosts....actually, I'm hoping they do. All litter is applied to my gardens, so the manure is valuable to me.
I don't use dewormers or medicines here. I've never had a symptomatic illness in all the years I've been keeping chickens but I have had a few die from organ failure and just drop off the roost. I believe this was from feeding laying mash to them when they were chicks~see, I
do learn
~ as I had never had any die in that manner previously.
I do feed pumpkin seeds and grow my own pumpkins for this purpose. Pumpkin seeds are supposed to have a property that paralyzes worms and results in them detaching from the bowel and being expelled. For the record, I've never seen worms in my chicken's stool. Occasionally I will add a drop or two of Shaklee's soap to their water for the same reason.
I had mites this year from adopted birds who were asymptomatic. These were finally managed with NUStock, an ointment of pine tar, mineral oil and sulfur.
I never vaccine nor feed medicated feeds. My chicks are brooded by a foster mom when possible and are out on the ground as soon as possible. I rarely clean out the brooder pen as I use deep litter there and its rarely used long enough to create a mess. I like my chicks exposed to everything my flock may have as soon as possible.
I use deep litter in my coop now and am amazed I didn't use it years before...I love it! No smell, no flies (unless raising meaties...ewww) and keeps my birds warm in the winter.
My coop is ancient and very...er..uh..
ventilated.
In the winter the large windows, usually just having hardware cloth and chicken wire on them, are covered with plastic. The pop door is kept open all year round. The birds stay snug and I don't have any problems with the cold here and, trust me, here in the mountains it can stay pretty cold.
Nesting boxes have a mix of pine shavings and hay and are cleaned out as necessary. I clean out my deep litter a couple of times a year. I have round roosts made from tree limbs and young saplings in a staggered pattern to allow for pecking order establishment.
I have one Partridge Rock roo that I have not needed to school very much at all. I keep him alert and wary. So far he has recognized me as alpha roo and has never challenged me. He learned very quickly that he cannot eat nor mate when I am present. He keeps a polite distance and has become an avid breeder and good flockmaster. I currently have 15 older hens and 18 chicks, all dual purpose breeds known for egg laying, cold hardiness, brown eggs, heritage breeds.
I have two LGDs who are trustworthy and just great all around farm dogs. I've only lost two hens to predators and that was just this past winter~hawks. Hawks abound here and two hens were picked off. My older dog is usually death on hawk predation but she has become slow and arthritic recently, hence the losses.
My approach is to let my flock establish a hardy immune system without the aid of vaccines or medicines, cull for nonlaying, watch the flock for any abnormalities and just enjoy their happy life as chickens. They are free to dust, sun, forage, roost, mate and generally come and go as they please here.
So far, so good...no illnesses over many years.
