Please confirm: Scaly leg mites?

[MinnieMae]

My 3 year old Plymouth Rock has been spending lots of time laying down this last week, as if her legs are bothering her. She is still eating, drinking, and poop looks normal. She wasn't terribly active to begin with, but her sassiness is gone, too. I just read scaly mites can sometimes cause a chicken to go lame? I have no experience with scaly mites. Attached are 3 photos of her feet and legs, which do have raised scales. Additionally, the toe on her foot closest to the camera appears inflamed. The bottom of her feet look normal.

The other 3.5 year old hens have some similar raised scales, but the the 2 year hens feet look a bit better.

Do you think scaly leg mites?

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, due to the raised scales, that appears to be scaly leg mites. You can treat them by coating the legs with vaseline or Nustock cream twice a week for several weeks. Look for new scales to grow in. Some use ivermectin to treat leg mites. In chickens who are inactive, older, or who do not dust bathe regularly this can be a chronic issue.,

 

[Debbie292d]

I've been through them three times in seven years with my silkies, and that's despite using FG DE in their coop bi-monthly, but at least they don't get any other kinds of mites or lice.

The first two times we did them like @Eggcessive said above with Vaseline. I added a little A&D ointment for its healing properties. Some people mix in a couple drops of peppermint, a dab of Vicks Vapo Creme, etc. You can add pretty much anything but smothering the mites is what the point of the Vaseline is and that works just fine alone.

The first two times they got them, a couple of years apart, we went into the coop at night. He picked up and held a chicken with legs out for me, and I slathered the Vaseline all over their feet and legs, making sure to get between their toes. We would skip a day after that, then do it again, for a total of 3 times. That did the trick both times.

The third time they got them a couple of months ago, we had tripled the number of chickens up to 14 adults, and no way did I want to deal with all those feathered feet, so we opted for the Ivermectin. There is a dosage posted on BYC and elsewhere for the 5mg Ivermectin pour-on, but it equated to 1 eyedropper drop of Ivermectin for the silkies as they weigh just a couple of lbs, maybe 3 at most. Again, we went into the coop at night. Hubby held the chicken and I parted the feathers best I could on their backs, just behind their necks and dropped 1 drop on their skin. We repeated this 10 days later. It worked.

It takes a long time, as in months, for their scales to look normal/healthy again so you have to be patient, but they'll start feeling more comfortable right away.

 

[MinnieMae]

Yes, due to the raised scales, that appears to be scaly leg mites. You can treat them by coating the legs with vaseline or Nustock cream twice a week for several weeks. Look for new scales to grow in. Some use ivermectin to treat leg mites. In chickens who are inactive, older, or who do not dust bathe regularly this can be a chronic issue.,

Thank you so much!

 

[MinnieMae]

I've been through them three times in seven years with my silkies, and that's despite using FG DE in their coop bi-monthly, but at least they don't get any other kinds of mites or lice.

The first two times we did them like @Eggcessive said above with Vaseline. I added a little A&D ointment for its healing properties. Some people mix in a couple drops of peppermint, a dab of Vicks Vapo Creme, etc. You can add pretty much anything but smothering the mites is what the point of the Vaseline is and that works just fine alone.

The first two times they got them, a couple of years apart, we went into the coop at night. He picked up and held a chicken with legs out for me, and I slathered the Vaseline all over their feet and legs, making sure to get between their toes. We would skip a day after that, then do it again, for a total of 3 times. That did the trick both times.

The third time they got them a couple of months ago, we had tripled the number of chickens up to 14 adults, and no way did I want to deal with all those feathered feet, so we opted for the Ivermectin. There is a dosage posted on BYC and elsewhere for the 5mg Ivermectin pour-on, but it equated to 1 eyedropper of Ivermectin for the silkies as they weigh just a couple of lbs, maybe 3 at most. Again, we went into the coop at night. Hubby held the chicken and I parted the feathers best I could on their backs, just behind their necks and dropped 1 drop on their skin. We repeated this 10 days later. It worked.

It takes a long time, as in months, for their scales to look normal/healthy again so you have to be patient, but they'll start feeling more comfortable right away.

Thank you so much for your thorough reply! This is really helpful.