Scaly Mites

[SkyWolf]

Hello, pretty sure my chicken has scaly mites. The leg scales are definitely raised, I already had her quarantined for a different issue. I plan on dipping her in Epsom salt, then slathering some petroleum jelly on her legs. My question is... should I be doing anything with the coop? I've already mucked it out and I plan on checking my other birds to be sure none of them have it. But is there anything else I should be doing?

You seem like you’ve got it handled honestly.

If I had to add anything it would be this. Diatomaceous earth in the dust baths and nest boxes will keep them away hopefully. Protecting your other birds.

Ivermectin is great for worms, lice, mites, most parasites your birds can get. It’s not always easy to come by though. We use the stuff for large livestock and just give our birds small doses orally. It really does help kill them off fast.

I hope your bird gets better soon

 

[debeps]

If you ever want to give it a try, Elector psp treats scaly leg mites with just one 10 minute. soaking… no repeat since it kills both the mites and the eggs. This is an easy way to treat the whole flock. It’s definitely not cheap for the full size bottle but I bought a small dose bottle from the chicken chick website to treat my girls small case of lice. Sprayed them each down once and haven’t seen any lice again after 9 months.

I just saw this post, then promptly watched The Chicken Chick's video on Elector PSP -- I'm feeling excited! Her video talks about body mites, not scaly leg mites, and I just want to confirm that you tried this specifically on scaly leg mites and it worked for you? And if so, to what degree did you clean your coop (we routinely pressure-wash once/year in the summer. Would I need to do that simultaneous with treatment, or just replace bedding in nest boxes? They have wood chips in their run, but no bedding on the floor of their coop, which is raised up off the ground and deisgned to let poop drop through -- which it semi does, lol)

My 8 girls have scaly leg mites and so far no success after epsom-salt-bath soaks, petroleum jelly, or premo-guard mite spray.

 

[Ashllen]

I think the vaseline treatment worked?... I got two girls that showed signs of it. Erza my new hampshire hen I just slathered it on for a week. Her leg scales still look a bit janky but they aren't raised up as much (and it hasn't gotten worse). My other baby is a light Brahma and she has both scale leg mites and bumblefoot... very unlucky girl. I spent a week putting vaseline on her legs and I soaked her in Epsom salt before and after the week of vaseline. Just got the courage to attempt sink surgery on the bumblefoot today...

 

[Ashllen]

I didn't treat the coop (I got the stuff to do it just in case tho) none of my other hens are showing signs of the leg mites. But if you got regular mites you probably should.

 

[Ashllen]

When I was researching it before it didn't seem like it was needed for leg mites (it's possible I have it wrong of course) but it was suggested to treat your coop for regular mites. But if my other hens started showing signs I probably would have.

 

[Ashllen]

I have been attempting to do a deep litter method for my coop. But I will admit I haven't quite got the technique down. I shuffle the wood chips until the smell gets gross even with a good mix up, then I add another bag on, and repeat the process. In theory I should only have to deep clean my coop twice a year. I've made it a month so far, fingers crossed I'll keep it up.

 

[Ashllen]

If you are going with psp spray (and it sounds like you got a bad case of leg mites) I'd just go crazy with it, it's better to get it all in one go, then do a little bit and find out it isn't working. I definitely wish you luck on this one, I was lucky in the sense my case wasn't to bad.

 

[debeps]

If you are going with psp spray (and it sounds like you got a bad case of leg mites) I'd just go crazy with it, it's better to get it all in one go, then do a little bit and find out it isn't working. I definitely wish you luck on this one, I was lucky in the sense my case wasn't to bad.

I'm just not clear whether the Elector PSP works on scaly leg mites, or just "regular" body mites -- on The Chicken Chick's website, she talks about it for body mites, not scaly leg mites (and on her leg mite page, she doesn't mention it). I'm hoping @CaliforniaMountainChicks replies. I haven't tried vaseline every day for a week - which we could. We did an Epsom-Salts followed by vaseline -- I can't remember if once or twice! It seemed like it was hard to get thoroughly up under the scales.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I just saw this post, then promptly watched The Chicken Chick's video on Elector PSP -- I'm feeling excited! Her video talks about body mites, not scaly leg mites, and I just want to confirm that you tried this specifically on scaly leg mites and it worked for you? And if so, to what degree did you clean your coop (we routinely pressure-wash once/year in the summer. Would I need to do that simultaneous with treatment, or just replace bedding in nest boxes? They have wood chips in their run, but no bedding on the floor of their coop, which is raised up off the ground and deisgned to let poop drop through -- which it semi does, lol)

My 8 girls have scaly leg mites and so far no success after epsom-salt-bath soaks, petroleum jelly, or premo-guard mite spray.

Sorry for the late reply, this message got lost in my notifications. I did use this on a hen who had scaly leg mites and it worked for her. I also cleaned out the entire coop and sprayed every inch of it and got every crevice, this included the nest boxes, roosts, windows, etc…
This member below also had success with treating scaly leg mites with elector psp!

Yes, Elector works splendidly on leg mites, and it just takes one 10 minute soaking. No mess as with Vaseline and castor oil. Elector get the mite eggs, too. No egg withdrawal period, either.

 

[debeps]

Sorry for the late reply, this message got lost in my notifications. I did use this on a hen who had scaly leg mites and it worked for her. I also cleaned out the entire coop and sprayed every inch of it and got every crevice, this included the nest boxes, roosts, windows, etc…
This member below also had success with treating scaly leg mites with elector psp!

thank you SO much!