Scaly Leg Mites - Need Best / Easiest / Quickest Solution - Scaley

[gapey]

I have 5 1-year old hens and 4 19 week old pullets. This is a pic of my 1-year old Orpington's legs. They've all been raised on my property from a day old. However I just bought this house last summer and the hens came with the house. I can't recall if they looked like that when I moved in or not. They don't seem to be getting worse. I have been using DE around their coop and they come out a few times a week and take dust baths under the deck.

 

[oberstarr]

Yep that is scaly leg mite and I had it all gone until I went to a show last year and a bird next to mine had it and of course I came home with it! So here are several ways to deal with it. 1st and best on a small bird yes I use ivormectin injection 1 shot 1 a week for three weeks. Meanwhile I also take turns first spraying the legs with a thick good flea and tick spray making sure you really get a lot in the front of the nails. That will wear off in two days so then the third day I coat the feet and legs with Vaseline, by now some of the bigger knobs will be falling off. I also keep dentist tools around they come in handy for lots of purposes you can get them cheap on E-bay. If you see one hanging flick it off with the tool not you fingers and always wash your hands well after touching a bird with scaly leg and don't touch another bird until you have washed your hands. So repeat this process with the flea spray Vaseline and when my birds legs start looking clean I wash them then dip them in straight DE for good measure. Good luck. I used to use another method but you have to take off the feet feathers first .. you make a batch of 1/2 kerosene and 1/2 boiled linseed oil smells like the dickens and it's hard on feathers but it works you just dip the legs in every 3 days because that's how often the eggs hatch so that's why you have to tackle this for weeks to really break that **** cycle! Oberstarr out

 

[Sommalincolne Bantie Roo]

Hi

I've never come across scaly leg mite but l think l have now. Please can anyone confirm this with the picture. It's very thick white and hard on both legs.
I've just a post on a course of action so I'll get to it if this is the case.

Many thanks in advance.

Yes his legs do look sore poor Barney!!

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...sure looks like it and a pretty advanced infestation.

 

[Sommalincolne Bantie Roo]

I know am horrified beekissed that l havent noticed it before now.

Poor Roo...........

Am going off a previous post on treating him but any other advice would be welcome.
l heard applying sudocrem works??

Many thanks

 

[chicknmania]

I know am horrified beekissed that l havent noticed it before now.

Poor Roo...........

Am going off a previous post on treating him but any other advice would be welcome.
l heard applying sudocrem works??

Many thanks

It is easy to miss, especially on chooks with feathery feet. and it seems the ones with feathery feet are more prone to it. We used to have a silkie roo and he got it like that every couple of years. I just wish there was a quick way to get rid of it. Valiant, our roo, is sloowlly recovering, but he still has a bad spot on one foot, and limps. I'm afraid he's gonna have a rough time integrating back into the flock. But he doesn't walk well enough, and is not easily catchable enough, to go now. It makes me happy to see him feeling so much better though. It has been three weeks. Just fyi, rodents can carry scaly leg mites, and we found this seems to be true, as since we've had our two barn cats we rarely see a case of scaly leg mites as compared to when we didn't have the cats.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I'm sure this is covered in this thread but I'm wading through it and not finding it.

Do you dunk their feet into the castor oil? I've read several posts that you slather it on. But how are you getting it on there? Squirting some into your hands and rubbing it on?

Just looking for the easiest way to do this. I have four hens but only one seems to be suffering. She actually nibbling on her feet and the scales are bleeding. Poor baby. I don't see how just one hen would have it and not the other. So it could be something else. But there seems no harm in treating her with this and hopefully the oil will sooth those scales that appear to itch something awful.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm sure this is covered in this thread but I'm wading through it and not finding it.

Do you dunk their feet into the castor oil? I've read several posts that you slather it on. But how are you getting it on there? Squirting some into your hands and rubbing it on?

Just looking for the easiest way to do this. I have four hens but only one seems to be suffering. She actually nibbling on her feet and the scales are bleeding. Poor baby. I don't see how just one hen would have it and not the other. So it could be something else. But there seems no harm in treating her with this and hopefully the oil will sooth those scales that appear to itch something awful.

I just pour it into one hand~ or directly onto their leg and foot~ and massage it upward into the scales, all the way into the feathers on the leg until I no longer feel any scales. It's a tad messy but just keep a rag handy for wiping your hands and the birds will be just fine with it the mess.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I just pour it into one hand~ or directly onto their leg and foot~ and massage it upward into the scales, all the way into the feathers on the leg until I no longer feel any scales. It's a tad messy but just keep a rag handy for wiping your hands and the birds will be just fine with it the mess.

Cool. Thanks.

I just went out and put Vaseline on her feet for tonight. I don't have Castor Oil and I wanted to get the process started to give her some relief. I'll get some Castor Oil this week and start using that.

 

[Beekissed]

Cool. Thanks.

I just went out and put Vaseline on her feet for tonight. I don't have Castor Oil and I wanted to get the process started to give her some relief. I'll get some Castor Oil this week and start using that.

You might need to soak and clean off the Vaseline before applying the Castor oil to get any good out of it. It's not just for smothering the mites, but poisoning them....castor oil is toxic to them....and it may not penetrate in between the scales well if the Vaseline seals it out of those spaces.