Hen has a manky foot and limping [Scaley Leg Mites]

[tiiiim]

Well, just gave her a treatment - what a mission!! That bird does not like to be handled!!

Below is a pic of her feet post Vaseline smothering - my sister reckons they look better already, but they're still pretty horrendous. A few of the mite excrement/leg scale combos came off during the brushing, but not much - everything is still firmly attached. Here's what we did and please comment if we should change anything for tomorrow:
1) Catch the bugger.
2) Soak feet and legs for over ten minutes in a bath of dog-flea shampoo (didn't bathe the whole bird).
3) In the shampoo mixture we brushed its feet with an old face brush for a horse - similar to a nail brush.
4) After brushing as much as we could we put her feet into clean water to wash the shampoo off.
5) Dryed her feet and leg feathers off a bit.
6) Smothered her feet in Vaseline three times.
7) Put her back in the hen house with clean straw, food and water.

I'll point out here that the house was cleaned a week or so ago when the chickens were moved, and I'm fairly confident that the actual lice/mites/nasties are gone... we'll see!!

Anyway, the photo:

Thank you so much for all the posts already, and keep your opinions/advice coming. Be brutal!

Cheers
Tiiiim

 

[crtrlovr]

an improvement already. Keep up the good work, and be patient and as gentle as possible with this older lady. She'll thank you later!

 

[CMV]

That has to be the most impressively ugly case of scaly leg mites I have ever seen. They DO look better already. Keep up the good work!

 

[tiiiim]

Quote:
Glad to be of service!

 

[Jenski]

Oh, bless your dear heart for helping that poor gal! It already does look better. What a good son you are!

Let her rest for a few days and then . . .

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Poor baby! Give her a couple of days, then treat again. The vaseline will continue softening the scaley gunk, so it should be easier. By the time this poor girl's feet are all better, you will have a lap chicken!

 

[EweSheep]

Good job! Just keep on top of it and this lady will have the prettiest toes in the lot!

 

[tiiiim]

Quote:
I'd like to point out that it's a team effort at the moment - I hold whilst my sister scrubs!! But soon I'll be back to Uni, so my sister'll have to rope in some other people!

But we appreciate the feedback very much - we'll keep posting with progress...

 

[tiiiim]

After Treatment #2 - some of the excrement was fairly loose and with a bit of tugging we got a some of the bits off. Feet smothered again in vaseline.

How long does it take for the scales to grow back?

Slightly bright image:

 

[kathyinmo]

Here is a copy of threehorses' excellent advice to another:
copied from this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2740856

=First, soak the bird's legs in a solution of warm water with some epsom salts in it to soften the scales. Mites are actually burrowed into the skin of the leg and are causing irritation and build up of stuff which is raising the scales and irritating the skin. The soaking softens up the stuff. You then use a toothbrush to scrub at the legs to remove whatever build up you can. Pat the legs dry.

Then you can either use ivomec 1% injectable topically on the legs, or you can use pour-on ivermectin 5% cattle wormer on the bird - IF - your birds have been wormed within 6 months with a broad spectrum wormer.

Personally, I'd recommend the scrub, worm your flock with wazine 17 (piperazine 17) in the water, and use olive oil on the legs or VetRx daily for 2 weeks then worm them with the pour-on ivermectin (generic, 250ml bottles are the most affordable option). Worming all the flock with ivermectin will kill external parasites as it's likely other birds in the flock have mites but not signs of it yet on the legs. But you have more than one option there.

Here is another good thread, and an exerpt from it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2713525

I have never done any worming is this somthing i need to do regulary ?
and as far as the dusting Is it Just powder you put on the bird?
Thank you all for everyones help with my questions. I also have seen a little bit of that legg stuff on another bird in that flock. ...........

On the worming, yes - it is good to do. They can technically live with some worms, but it causes a constant state of slight inflammation where the worms are, they make scars in the digestive tract if they burrow, and they steal their food - so they lower their immunity. I just worm twice a year with something broad-spectrum. For an unwormed flock, just worm with Wazine 17 (piperazine 17) first. Then go back and worm with something like fenbendazole (safeGuard for horses or goats), pour-on cattle ivermectin, albendazole (Valbazen), levamisole, etc. One of those will do the trick as the second worming.

How many do you have with this bird? Soak the legs of at least the two effected birds in warm water with some very gentle soap VERY dilute in it (ivory, or better yet - something like Nolvasan antiseptic diluted to a capful per a quarter of water. Scrub the legs with a toothbrush to get rid of the excess scaliness. The scaliness is made both by the gunk coming from mites that are burrowing under the skin (quite like mange mites do) as well as the products of irritation of the skin itself. Pat dry. Then you can use the 1% ivermectin on the legs. Dilute with a little water to get it to soak in. Or you can worm with ivermectin 5% cattle pour-on (PM me for the dosages) and you'll get the second worming done and be able to do it usually twice annually with ivermectin thereafter. ONLY use the 'broad spectrum' type wormers on birds over four months who have been wormed with wazine first.

I suspect the marks on the comb are also scaley mites which can and do migrate to combs as well, though they are more commonly found under the scales of the legs.

Still continue to give the vitamins, etc, as this will be good for their immunity.

Summary:

Worm with Wazine.
Get started on working on the legs by soaking and scrubbing. (You can put olive oil on them after the cleansing). repeat the oil part daily until 2 weeks later.

Two weeks later:
Worm with ivermectin pour-on (birds over four months) which will kill the mites and the rest of the worms. (Reworm birds under four months with wazine two weeks from this date).

Continue oil for another week.

Note: Sometimes the scales will bleed after you kill the mites as they dislodge from the skin. Be forewarned. It is normal. That's just an indication of exactly how much damage they do under those scales where we can't see.

The scales might not return to normal, but at least the issue won't be there anymore.

On dusting, permethrin (the chemical you want - check the active ingredient on the label) usually comes in a handy shaker can. I find it handy but a little annoying. So I wear gloves, shake some into my hand, and then use my hand to put the powder on the birds - under their wings, under and around their vent, under their bellies, back of neck - use your gloved hand to ruffle the stuff in at each place as you apply it. Try to keep it out of their mouths and eyes. You'll get the feel of it. Repeat in 7 days.​