Scaly Leg mites? Plus green poop!

[uisceros]

Hi all, I have a year old Serama rooster that I THINK might have scaly leg mites. He spent time outside before he came to me, but he’s been indoors for the past 8 months (quarantine period followed by winter time). He’s on wood shavings, and eats Kalmbach grower feed or henhouse reserve.

Here’s his feet. I noticed they looked scaly, and had weird growths on them (ignore the long nails, I just noticed I had to cut them!)

I’ve only had birds for 2 years, and never dealt with leg mites before.

If it is, does anyone know the Ivermectin dose for Seramas?

Also, this same rooster has been acting a bit off - sort of straining to poop, and making noise when he did. I treated his water with Corid just in case, and have been giving him nutridrench and yogurt. He’s acting mostly normal (crowing, mating, etc), but I’m not happy with his poop. He definitely ate on his own today (He had an empty crop whenever I checked previously), and afterwards had some greenish poop

The urates look healthy at least, but I don’t like how watery and green it is. Any ideas? Just an upset digestive system?

Thanks!!

 

[MandS]

Hi

His legs don't look too bad to me. Perhaps it's the photos, but they look fairly normal for a chicken that's been scratching around. If you're concerned about mites, you could get a spray. I've only had one instance of this in the last 20 years and I just covered the legs in vaseline. There's an equivalent kind of thing on Amazon which also includes some other ingredients too, specifically for scaly mite. This course of action works for me but you have to do it twice daily for a good number of days so the (mite) eggs also are starved of oxygen when they hatch.

The poop looks ok too but if there's an eating issue and he's straining when pooping, then try deworming. I'm not a fan of deworming without good cause, but if he's having issues, it could be worms.

Lay off anything rich, like greens and corn for a day or two and see if that makes a difference.

Good luck.

 

[LaFleche]

As an indoor/inhouse chicken he needs to be substituted with additional Vitamin D3 +K to prevent the severe effects of sun/natural light deprivation.

 

[uisceros]

Hi

His legs don't look too bad to me. Perhaps it's the photos, but they look fairly normal for a chicken that's been scratching around. If you're concerned about mites, you could get a spray. I've only had one instance of this in the last 20 years and I just covered the legs in vaseline. There's an equivalent kind of thing on Amazon which also includes some other ingredients too, specifically for scaly mite. This course of action works for me but you have to do it twice daily for a good number of days so the (mite) eggs also are starved of oxygen when they hatch.

The poop looks ok too but if there's an eating issue and he's straining when pooping, then try deworming. I'm not a fan of deworming without good cause, but if he's having issues, it could be worms.

Lay off anything rich, like greens and corn for a day or two and see if that makes a difference.

Good luck.

Thanks so much! As always I fear I’m panicking for no reason - my chickens are pets (especially the Seramas), so I worry a lot.

Any idea why his fourth toes have sores on them? For now I’ll put some Neosporin and some vet wrap on them to see if that helps.

 

[MandS]

I didn't spot that. Is it both of the 4th toe on each foot? The one I can see looks like a wound, like the nail has been ripped off. I think you are doing the right thing by treating it. Have you cleaned it? Certainly I'd clean it before applying the antibiotic cream.

Happy to look at another photo if it's clearer but it does look like a wound to me.

 

[uisceros]

I didn't spot that. Is it both of the 4th toe on each foot? The one I can see looks like a wound, like the nail has been ripped off. I think you are doing the right thing by treating it. Have you cleaned it? Certainly I'd clean it before applying the antibiotic cream.

Happy to look at another photo if it's clearer but it does look like a wound to me.

Honestly, I wonder if all of this is because his feet hurt? Like, he didn’t feel like eating because he was in pain, etc. I’ve never dealt with it myself, but I wonder if it’s bumblefoot? He doesn’t want to climb to the top level of the cage and doesn’t want to perch. I assume because his feet hurt!

So here’s what I did: Soaked his feet in warm soapy water, applied neosporin to some gauze on the toes affected, and wrapped both feet with vet wrap. He is not happy, but I’m hoping this helps!

Sorry, I didn’t grab a picture when I was doing this, but I’ll take one tomorrow when I change the bandages. Basically his fourth toe on each foot have these large crusty scabs - his right side is much worse, but both are affected.

I’m not sure why this happened! I am using a newer brand of wood shavings - maybe it’s too rough on their feet. I’ll update tomorrow when I change bandages.

He had a full crop just now, and his poop looks better. Still crowing too. I’m glad I noticed this before it got much worse!

 

[uisceros]

As an indoor/inhouse chicken he needs to be substituted with additional Vitamin D3 +K to prevent the severe effects of sun/natural light deprivation.

I did not know this!! Thanks for the info! Luckily I intend to put these guys outside as soon as Ozzy is feeling a little better, but is there a specific supplement that would be good for this?

 

[MandS]

It could be bumble. That will make him not happy to move about if it's bad enough. The poop didn't seem too bad, so glad it's improving and it's possible it could be because he's not eating properly due to feeling pain. It's be interested to see the photos because I've never seen bumble on anything other than the pads off the feet or toes, not the actual toe.

 

[MandS]

As an indoor/inhouse chicken he needs to be substituted with additional Vitamin D3 +K to prevent the severe effects of sun/natural light deprivation.

I also didn't know this but it would make a lot of sense. I've never had an indoor chicken!

 

[BDutch]

Please don’t use poisonous medicines if you are not sure what you’re dealing with. Poisonous medicines can be harmful.

Vaseline is harmless if you suspect scaly leg mites.
The green poop can be from some food you gave him? Like grasses?
Get him out in the sun asap. Giving some supplements to give a boost is good for now (LaFleche).
Change the feed gradually to all flock if possible.

To diagnose bumble foot you need to make photos of spot, normally on the underside of the feet.

To keep his toenails normal, he should be able to scratch in the dirt all day. For now, be careful not to clip to deep.