Scaly Leg Mite question:

I brought home 7 birds last night and at least 3 of them have moderate to severe cases of leg mites (the lady I got them from told me it couldn't possibly be mites cuz she had just treated for them with Sevin Dust...but it's pretty obvious that's what they are.

Here is my question:
I've been reading thru leg mite posts & have seen Vaseline, various oils & diatomaceous earth mentioned in place of using the Sevin Dust. I have no clue where to get DE around my small town and if I do find it, how expensive is it? As for the Vaseline & oils, my run is all sand. Is this going to cause my chicks problems with the sand sticking to their legs or does that matter? If I do "oil or slime" my chickens, what about the coop & run? Should I still use the Sevin there or is there something that may work better?

Leg mites are easy to get rid of, but it takes a little work. Depending on how much you want to do, yo can get rid of them with warm water, dish soap & a tooth brush. With this method, it is best to quarantine the infected birds (which I recommend anyway). At least twice a day, fill a shallow tub with warm soapy water. Place each bird in the tub and scrub their legs with the tooth brush. This will dislodge the mites. The soap will also kill mites still on the legs and make the legs slippery to the mites. How long this process takes depends on how many infected birds you have and how bad the infestation is.

If you don't have the time or desire to use that method, Sevin & DE will both work. If you use either and the birds are not separated, I recommend that you treat all your birds as well as the roosts in the coop. Only the legs need to be treated unless the infestation is extreme. If you want the birds to take care of the problem themselves, you can make a dustbath tub with a wood ash and DE mix. This method may take a little longer, but dust bathing is how birds control mites naturally.

Hope this helps.

I have one rooster with what looks like mites. I use either Vaseline or Bag Balm, whichever I grab to take outside with me. His legs do look better, but I'm beginning to wonder if he really has them.

He is probably a Barred Rock (they call them 'Dommers' here) He has the body type, feathering, and comb of a Rock but comes from a definitely mixed background. My in-laws have several of his pen-mates that look just like him, in a community pen with hens of various colors and breeds.

The reason I question him having mites is that my in-laws' 'Dommers' ALL have the same rough looking legs, but NONE of our other birds (or theirs either) seem to have them.

Have I just been moisturizing Jefferey (Dommer)'s legs for him?? And, do Barred Rocks or Dominiques just have that weird look or do they get mites more than other birds??

Whatever you treat them with, you have to remember that their legs will not LOOK better for a long time after the mites are dead and gone. The scales have to shed and there will be new, normal looking scales. DE does not kill mites.

Wildcat: I got a barred rock from her as well...it & the golden seabright are the only ones who really appear to have healthy legs. So I would say your barred probably has mites if it looks funny.

I am having problems with one of my chicks having mites. I worry about it
cause it is the runt of the group and i am afraid it will die cause of it.
Can someone please tell me what to do. I want to put it with the babys
that were just hatched but i don't want to infect them.

The suggestions I got were Sevin Dust, vaseline, canola oil on the legs &/or body areas affected...and treat everyone, not just the affected chick, plus the coop & roosts with Sevin Dust. I wouldn't put it in with the new chicks, you already need to treat all of the others it was in contact with. Don't add more work to the list when it's not necessary.

Henny Hen said:

I am having problems with one of my chicks having mites. I worry about it
cause it is the runt of the group and i am afraid it will die cause of it.
Can someone please tell me what to do. I want to put it with the babys
that were just hatched but i don't want to infect them.

Click to expand...

You will want to start your own thread with this question. Dealing with body mites is different than scaley leg mites.

i ve got a show coming up and my rooster has mites on his legs the show is in 9 days what do i do!!!!!!!!!!

Treat him with Sevin dust & grease his legs with vaseline or cooking oil. But I doubt they are going to look very good in only a week's time. My birds that had mites STILL have pretty nasty looking legs. Although, I didn't bother with greasing them since I knew the mites were dead & I don't show my birds.