Is this scaly leg mites, or are these chickens just old?

[KaseySnow]

Need help identifying possible scaly leg mites.

For context, these hens are owned by a local history park that I volunteer with. We were trimming their nails today because most of them are old and arthritic and don't scratch much, so they don't wear down their nails very well. I took the opportunity to snap a couple of photos of the feet of an (at least) 8 year old Brahma.

I will try and get more pictures of other chicken feet in the coop, but many of them look kinda like this one above.

Some are less bad, like this polish, but you can still see some scale lifting, I think?

(she had a bit of red on her feet from a dripping injured blood feather, but that's all better now, don't worry.)

Sorry, I know these pictures aren't the best, but they are all I have on hand at the moment.

One hen, a Buff Orpington, has feet that look bright pink and irritated on the pads. She doesn't have bumblefoot that I've seen, though I do need to look a bit closer to confirm. The vet seems to think the cause is that their roosts are thick natural wood. So we are going to try and install some padding for them.
But the Orpington also seems to be plucking feathers away from her rear as it is also a bright pink color and bare. There are one or two others doing this as well to a mild degree. I have read that this can be a sign of a mite or lice infestation.

I will update this thread with more pictures soon, but I wanted to get some initial takes on the pictures I do have.
Again, *most* of the birds are very old (7 years or more) and have feet that resemble the ones in the first photo.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The legs looks pretty clean, it may be age related and also from being feather footed. It wouldn't hurt anything to apply a coating of vaseline to the legs.

Photos of the BO's feet and legs would be helpful, so would the plucked vents.

If you feel that lice/mites on the body are an issue, then treating with a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust would be a good idea.

If eggs are laid by these hens, are they consumed by someone? Ivermectin may be an option for parasite treatment - this would take care of Scaly Leg Mites and poultry lice/mites. Since the park has a vet to consult - speak with them about your treatment options.

 

[KaseySnow]

Alright, here's a few more feet photos I nabbed this morning when I let them out.

A 4 year old Dominique:

A better shot of the 8+ year old Brahma:

I will check a little more closely next time I am able to see if there are any others, but actually a lot of them looked pretty good when I got closer. So maybe it's just a few of the hens who have gnarly looking feet.

Photos of the BO's feet and legs would be helpful, so would the plucked vents.

Here are some pics of the 8+ year old Orpington:

You can see just how thick and meaty her feet look. They didn't used to be pink like that, but they have been this way for at least a couple of months now. I couldn't tell if that is some scale raising on her toes or if it's just her being thick.

I couldn't get a much closer shot than this of her rump though, she kept running away. I watched her walking around and didn't see a bumble on either foot, though I would still like to confirm soon by picking her up. I was just in a rush to get to work this morning and didn't have time to chase her around.

 

[LaFleche]

This does look like scaly leg mites to me.

An easy way to treat them would be using Ballistol spray for 10 days, spraying their feet and leg up to the hocks every other day.
https://ballistol.com/store_category/co/

 

[sourland]

I'd keep an eye on them, but to me it looks like old feet/legs on old birds. The bare butts are the result of feather pecking/plucking by flock mates - probably the birds in the flock that are in perfect feather condition.

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

The BO looks like they have scaly leg mites

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The pink feet are likely hormones. BO's have white legs with pinkish undertones, when in lay they can pink up a bit.

Ask the vet's opinion on treatment options since this is a public(?) history park, I would assume any treatment(s) have to be approved by some type of committee/administrator and/or the appointed vet, is that correct?

 

[KaseySnow]

Update: I found some poultry lice on the gold laced polish around her vent. Am now wondering if the reason her tail feathers haven't grown back in yet is because she's plucking them from the lice. Is that a thing?

Could that also be why the BO has a bald butt? I've never noticed anyone pecking at her before, she's pretty big and relatively dominant in the pecking order. She doesn't lay anymore due to age, to my knowledge, but it's good to know that the pink feet may just be hormones.

Ask the vet's opinion on treatment options since this is a public(?) history park, I would assume any treatment(s) have to be approved by some type of committee/administrator and/or the appointed vet, is that correct?

Yeah, I'll talk to the museum director about consulting the vet. I'm starting to think we have got both a scaly leg mite and lice infestation. Will we need to totally replace all pine shavings in the coop (it's a huge barn sized coop and we use the deep litter method, so it's quite the job) or can we mix in some permethrin powder into the shavings as part of treatment? We just refreshed the shavings a couple months ago, seems a shame to toss out so much good stuff, but we can if needed.

 

[KaseySnow]

Took more feet pictures this morning. I feel like I see minor scale lifting here, but am not sure still.

A Welsummer, 7+ years old:

A silver laced polish, 7+ years old:

And here is the bottom of the buff orpington's foot.

Is that a bumble between her pad and toes? Or is it just muck? It was hard to get a good picture of. It seems like a weird place for a bumble, I thought they were usually on the pad. She has been kind of limping for a while. Very suspicious that it is a bumble or some kind of wound.

 

[KaseySnow]

Would love to hear any more input on any foot pics or insight on whether or not lice could be causing the rump plucking issues in a couple of the girls.

In case the above injury is a bumble, I am going to suggest that we block off the rafters of the coop sooner rather than later so that the girls don't fly down from quite so high up every morning. I have been telling them for years that it is unnecessary and risking foot injury, especially in the heavier breeds. But now that I see both the BO and the gold laced polish limping/favoring one foot, I am going to insist.

The vet keeps telling them we can't block off the rafters with chicken wire because they will hurt themselves on it somehow (even though it's at least two feet over the roosting bars and despite chicken wire being in use all around the perimeter of the run. I don't understand.). So I'm just going to ask them if they can find some plywood planks or something and I will just lay them up on the rafters myself to block off that area so they can't jump up to the rafters from the roosting bars. Hopefully that is a solution that will work for everyone.

We are getting hit by a blizzard here in Colorado this weekend, so I can't treat with epsom soaks or Vaseline or anything until after it warms up (mostly cause we'll all be snowed in), but I am reaching out to the director to let him know about my suspicions and including some of the treatment suggestions mentioned here so he can contact the vet.