Guinea fowl scaly leg mites

[minaayindra]

I found all 4 of my guinea fowl have scaly leg mites (from appearance, not because I see anything crawling). I had this with the hen who raised them and now, 6 months later, the guineas are showing up with the same. I have sent for Elector PSP for them and their coop but I'm really not sure if Elector does anything different to guineas than to chickens? If so, guess I will need to do Vaseline but a spray sure makes it easier to get on their feet than an actual catch and carry for ointment. Is anyone aware of the safety of Elector with them? I will definitely not be able to catch them more than 1-2 times, probably only 1 without injury, so I'm trying to do a one-stop shop so to speak. Thanks-

 

[Eggcessive]

The manufacturer’s label says that it is for poultry, cattle, sheep, and pigs, so I would think that it would be okay to use. It would be good for the coop treatment, but for leg mites, I believe that applying a thick oil such as castor oil, mineral oil, coconut oil, vaseline, or vegetable shortening applied at least once a week for a few weeks can be good for treatment.
https://www.elanco.us/products-services/poultry/elector-psp

 

[minaayindra]

The Chicken Chick highly recommends it but she was talking about mites. I believe lice and mites have the same types of nervous systems so I'm hoping the Elector works that way. But guineas are not chickens so I wanted to be sure they weren't getting something dangerous. I can't even imagine catching them several weeks in a row- guess my cardiac arrest (and theirs) is in my immediate future! Does anyone know if A&D ointment is a suitable substitute for Vaseline? I have quite a bit of that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, A and D ointment would be a good substitue for vaseline.
For scaly leg mites oil to smother them is probably the best treatment. Ivermectin pour-on works well at 0.1 ml for every 2 pounds of weight given once and again in 14 days, but requires a long egg withdrawal time of at least 14 days. It is not approved for poultry, but some use it. Here is more info from TheChickenChick about leg mites:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens/

 

[minaayindra]

I treated everyone’s legs with the Elector PSP and then slathered them with Vaseline. Now, 2 days later, I slathered the legs of the ones who obviously had the mites again and I think I’m going to do this every 2 days for several weeks. I was just sick when we finally caught them and I saw how bad my guineas legs really were. They look very deformed and huge- I can’t imagine how horrible that is. I just hope I’ve caught them before it’s too late- if they don’t visibly improve within the next week or so I’m going to have to make the very long trip to the vet.