Can Scaly Leg Mites Present Different Symptoms in Different Birds?

[EMarston]

A couple of posters yesterday helped me determine that my barred rock rooster probably has scaly leg mites so I have started treating him for those, but now someone posted earlier today with pics of a barred rock roo with *definite* scaly leg mites...and she said the mites didn't seem to be bothering her roo, so then I got nervous about mine...

*My* roo has not been roosting at night and is displaying definite signs of leg pain, so now I'm worried that my roo *doesn't* actually have scaly leg mites and has something else I can't figure out. Can scaly leg mites present differently in different birds, even of the same breed and gender?

Here are the pics of my bird's legs again:

 

[PoultryPedia]

I've dealt with scaley leg mites on many birds. Your rooster may have some SLM, but definitely not lots. His scales look like they're in good shape on his legs, though he does have some raised scales on his toes, which is where SL mites first move in. But he definitely does not have a very bad case of mites.

I have never known even very severe scaley leg mites to cause a chicken to stop perching, so a different problem would cause that with him.

I've collected info on a lot of leg problems on the Poultry Podiatry page on my site linked below in my sig, and maybe some of it could be helpful.

You might check for Bumblefoot sores. Or gently press different spots or bend joints to see if he shows reaction of flinching, pulling away, breathing with his mouth open (indicating he's feeling pain or stress), etc.

If he's injured a bone or ligament, it would probably help him to heal if you can keep him somewhere confined for a while to restrict movement so he could hopefully heal faster.

Best wishes

 

[missnu01]

My big old white Rock rooster stopped roosting for a few weeks, then we got rid of a surplus rooster and now he's roosting again. I don't know why he stopped...I figure he just felt like sleeping in the dog crate...and I guess it was nothing or something rooster related because as I said he's roosting again now