I have a question about SLM. I’ve read through lots of posts about it but can’t seem to find the answer I’m looking for, but there are so many posts that I’m probably just missing it!
Anyway there is a bit of a back-story with this whole situation. A friend of mine knew someone who was getting rid of her hens and she asked if I would take them. I was told that something got the rest of her flock and only 2 were remaining, and she wanted to be done. When I showed up, only 1 hen was there. The lady didn’t seem to notice another one was missing so I thought maybe I misunderstood and only 1 had survived. I asked if there were 2 and she said, “Yeah there were 2 the other day” but didn’t seem concerned that there was now only 1. I asked if maybe whatever got the rest of the flock might have taken this one too and she said it wasn’t a predator. She came out and found them dead. There wasn’t any food or water available that I could see (both feeder and waterer were empty and knocked over) so I can’t say if that had been happening before, but maybe that would explain the other deaths. I do feel like that was the case though because she asked if I’d take the feed with me and when she opened the tub, it was empty and, again, she didn’t seem to already know. Anyway, I decided I was taking this hen regardless of her condition. When I got her home, I looked her over. She clearly had SLM but I didn’t see any other mites on her. She was terrible to handle so I can’t say for sure, but I did get a good look at her vent and under her wings and didn’t see anything. Her legs were REALLY bad though. I soaked them for about 20 min in warm soapy water and applied some Vaseline. She was less than an ideal patient, unsurprisingly. I have a second coop that’s not being used and put her in there. The next day I tried to soak her legs again and she completely freaked out. Given everything else that may be going on with her, I decided to just pull out the big guns and use ivomectin (pour on). I also dusted her and the coop to be safe. I waited 10 days and treated her and the coop again. She’s definitely calming down but it’s a battle to handle her, even in the evening.
It’s been about a month now and her legs look SO much better. Still some lifted scales though. Is that normal? They were pretty bad at the beginning. Also, she’s staring to get a slight dirty butt. If I treated with ivermectin that should have taken care of any mites, right? She wasn’t laying when I first got her, but now she is and her eggs are normal (I waited 2 weeks after treatment to keep the eggs). I’ve never dealt with mites before so I just want to make sure she’s okay. Also, the coop she’s in is the coop I use to integrate chicks and I have some inside I’m wanting to move outside...soon! Haha! I wasn’t expecting to have to keep this hen separated for so long. (She has been confined to the coop because both coops share a wall in the run and I don’t want any co-mingling just yet and don’t want them free-ranging together yet. She has a dust bath inside the coop since she’s not coming out yet.
So, my question is, how long does SLM take to clear up? Any thoughts on the dirty butt if I’m not seeing mites and she’s been treated? When is it safe to minimally introduce her through the runs with the rest of my flock?
Anyway there is a bit of a back-story with this whole situation. A friend of mine knew someone who was getting rid of her hens and she asked if I would take them. I was told that something got the rest of her flock and only 2 were remaining, and she wanted to be done. When I showed up, only 1 hen was there. The lady didn’t seem to notice another one was missing so I thought maybe I misunderstood and only 1 had survived. I asked if there were 2 and she said, “Yeah there were 2 the other day” but didn’t seem concerned that there was now only 1. I asked if maybe whatever got the rest of the flock might have taken this one too and she said it wasn’t a predator. She came out and found them dead. There wasn’t any food or water available that I could see (both feeder and waterer were empty and knocked over) so I can’t say if that had been happening before, but maybe that would explain the other deaths. I do feel like that was the case though because she asked if I’d take the feed with me and when she opened the tub, it was empty and, again, she didn’t seem to already know. Anyway, I decided I was taking this hen regardless of her condition. When I got her home, I looked her over. She clearly had SLM but I didn’t see any other mites on her. She was terrible to handle so I can’t say for sure, but I did get a good look at her vent and under her wings and didn’t see anything. Her legs were REALLY bad though. I soaked them for about 20 min in warm soapy water and applied some Vaseline. She was less than an ideal patient, unsurprisingly. I have a second coop that’s not being used and put her in there. The next day I tried to soak her legs again and she completely freaked out. Given everything else that may be going on with her, I decided to just pull out the big guns and use ivomectin (pour on). I also dusted her and the coop to be safe. I waited 10 days and treated her and the coop again. She’s definitely calming down but it’s a battle to handle her, even in the evening.
It’s been about a month now and her legs look SO much better. Still some lifted scales though. Is that normal? They were pretty bad at the beginning. Also, she’s staring to get a slight dirty butt. If I treated with ivermectin that should have taken care of any mites, right? She wasn’t laying when I first got her, but now she is and her eggs are normal (I waited 2 weeks after treatment to keep the eggs). I’ve never dealt with mites before so I just want to make sure she’s okay. Also, the coop she’s in is the coop I use to integrate chicks and I have some inside I’m wanting to move outside...soon! Haha! I wasn’t expecting to have to keep this hen separated for so long. (She has been confined to the coop because both coops share a wall in the run and I don’t want any co-mingling just yet and don’t want them free-ranging together yet. She has a dust bath inside the coop since she’s not coming out yet.
So, my question is, how long does SLM take to clear up? Any thoughts on the dirty butt if I’m not seeing mites and she’s been treated? When is it safe to minimally introduce her through the runs with the rest of my flock?
Somebody in another thread mentioned washing their chickens' legs with gasoline; that's not right, is it??? I had heard from a more reliable source to coat the legs with Vaseline, or petroleum jelly. THAT makes sense to me, as it should smother the mites. Can anyone clarify?
