BAD scaly leg mites!!!

[hellfire]

Today my uncle on our farm delivered some hay to a lady who insisted he take her two bantam roosters. They came back with him and now I've a task. He knows I'll keep them in the poultry field and hopefully will mix in with my flock BUT my god I've never seen such bad leg mite damage!!! They have feathery feet and look like Pekins but larger than my Dutch bantam rooster. Anyway I've treated them with the surgical spirit and vasaline but also ivermectin drops as it is really bad. How long do they take to work? Obviously I've separated them and will untill they are clear. Thier poor feet have no proper scales left just horrid gross looking feet all lumpy and sooooo dry. I'm amazed they are walking and not lame! Don't know how this woman could let them get like that.

 

[hellfire]

If you zoom in you can see the mess on one foot and that's a good foot compared to the others!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It will take a while, keep up with treating them. You may find that the scales fall off over time.
Keep them separated out/quarantined the best you can until you get them healed and have had time to observe the new guys for any illness. It would be a good idea to look through their feathers for any body lice and mites too.

You may find this thread interesting. Even though your new fella's feet are not as bad, you can see how with extra care and attention, the feet can look better fairly quickly.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-do-with-this-foot.1285351/

 

[hellfire]

Thanks for that. I checked them for feather lice and couldn't find any and the vents seem nice and clean. Still got a wack of DE earth on them and in the dust bath. The ivermectin kills them too but just covering all bases. Hopefully the feet will look better soon. Just wasn't sure how long untill the mites die with ivermectin treatment. I believe the life cycle is a week but ivermectin gets into the blood stream so how quick will it kill the blighters off?

 

[Shadrach]

Having given Ivermectin I would wait two weeks and then smother the legs with Vasaline and Betadine, 75% to 25%, for a couple of days to catch any mites that have hatched from eggs.
I don't know if Ivermectin kills the eggs but I suspect not given the mite has to feed to get a dose. I also don't know how long Ivermectin remains in the blood stream at an effective strength.
Bear in mind the scales won't look much better unti the old ones fall off and the new grow in.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a long recent thread with daily pictures of improvement of a chicken with scaly leg mites after treatment that you might be interested in reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-do-with-this-foot.1285351/

 

[hellfire]

Thanks for the info guys. Apparently they were hatched in March last year. Won't be untill the have been through a good moult all the scales will come back nice. Just be a long road for them but they are sweet. Here's a better pic of the feet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for that. I checked them for feather lice and couldn't find any and the vents seem nice and clean. Still got a wack of DE earth on them and in the dust bath. The ivermectin kills them too but just covering all bases. Hopefully the feet will look better soon. Just wasn't sure how long untill the mites die with ivermectin treatment. I believe the life cycle is a week but ivermectin gets into the blood stream so how quick will it kill the blighters off?

Just in case you need it, Ivermectin Pour ON dosage is 0.09 ml per pound of weight. Make sure that is makes contact with the skin at the base of the neck along the spine.
Repeat in 10 days.

I would still work vaseline or some type of oil into and under the scales, trim up nails, etc. While the Ivermectin will kill the SLM the vaseline/oil will help loosen and soften the scales to promote healing.

 

[hellfire]

Just in case you need it, Ivermectin Pour ON dosage is 0.09 ml per pound of weight. Make sure that is makes contact with the skin at the base of the neck along the spine.
Repeat in 10 days.

I would still work vaseline or some type of oil into and under the scales, trim up nails, etc. While the Ivermectin will kill the SLM the vaseline/oil will help loosen and soften the scales to promote healing.

Thanks. Has the dose on the bottle. I only ever use it once maybe twice a year on my flock as normally use flubavet for worming. I've used it for lice which I've had a issue with a long time ago so kept it up as precaution. I have been using surgical spirit mixed with olive oil as a dip. I struggled with vasiline on their legs as so feathery. So i sprayed on a Alo Vera and tee tree oil skin sooth and softening spray I have for the horses. Not sure if it will work as well but much easier to apply to them. I've only ever had one chicken with feathery feet and hers aren't that feathery! They are more prone to scaly leg mite I understand but not sure why? Im guessing as the feathers get mucky. They are in a dry dirt pen with roof. I use it for breeding and was just about to re sew the grass seed in there. I do it every year for when mums raising chicks or I'm raising ducklings. I didn't want to put them in a moveable breeding pen as was worried the mites would get out to my other chux but this breeding pen is separate at the end of the field with electric net around so hope they don't crawl the perimeter into the big field!! Not sure how far they travel. I'll re disinfect the pen after they are clear anyway. I'm a bit over kill at times with cleaning I'm told

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks. Has the dose on the bottle. I only ever use it once maybe twice a year on my flock as normally use flubavet for worming. I've used it for lice which I've had a issue with a long time ago so kept it up as precaution. I have been using surgical spirit mixed with olive oil as a dip. I struggled with vasiline on their legs as so feathery. So i sprayed on a Alo Vera and tee tree oil skin sooth and softening spray I have for the horses. Not sure if it will work as well but much easier to apply to them. I've only ever had one chicken with feathery feet and hers aren't that feathery! They are more prone to scaly leg mite I understand but not sure why? Im guessing as the feathers get mucky. They are in a dry dirt pen with roof. I use it for breeding and was just about to re sew the grass seed in there. I do it every year for when mums raising chicks or I'm raising ducklings. I didn't want to put them in a moveable breeding pen as was worried the mites would get out to my other chux but this breeding pen is separate at the end of the field with electric net around so hope they don't crawl the perimeter into the big field!! Not sure how far they travel. I'll re disinfect the pen after they are clear anyway. I'm a bit over kill at times with cleaning I'm told

You've got it covered!!