help with Scaly leg mites ASAP

[ranit]

I've also used baby oil which works good.

 

[Kaneke]

talking about oil to kill mites, I bet an edible plant oil would work well too

olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil ... no problem then if the chicken pecks at its legs, or scratches its feathers

(actually we feed peanut oil to cats and dogs going to shows, to enhance their fur)

I would be wary of mineral oil, there is some documentation about it preventing vitamin absorption when ingested

 

[Diamond Wire Farms]

From my limited experience but extensive BYC archive searching. (Because of some scaly birds newly acquired! GRRR.)

Really any oil should kill the live adult mites.
Saturating the legs in oil keeps the mites from crawling off the bird and is think enough that the mites can't get oxygen/move.
The oil smothers the live mites, but you have to redo the oiling procedure in a week to kill the baby mites that hatch out.

There was an older post somewhere with a before and after picture of a hens feet documenting a vegetable oil dip that showed significant improvement after 10 days.

If you've dosed with Ivermectin and applied oil the damage should be stopped now the birds legs just need to heal.
You can continue with the oil dips to soften the crusty scales and help them fall off faster.

 

[tomahawklodge]

Here's another direction for you to take. Many folks use Frontline to treat and prevent mites of all kinds. I hear it works great for leg mites as well. Buy the version in the spray bottle which you can get from First State Vet Supply. I admit it's pricey, but this bottle will last a long time and treat a lot of birds multiple times. http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=165

Use an eye dropper and put a drop on the skin under each wing, one by the vent and one on the neck. You can apply some on the legs as well. The treatment gets into the birds system and will kill the mites. This is way less messy than applying any kind of oil or vaseline, especially on feather legged varieties. Good luck.

 

[elmo]

Are you certain what you've got is scaly leg mites? I know feather footed breeds like d'Uccles will have some raised scales on their legs normally. I confirmed this with our vet because I was concerned about the same thing. He told me it was perfectly normall for this breed.

 

[tay_boe]

I heard WD-40 works. Is this true?

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, I didn't read every post but We adopted a EE hen who was covered with mites. We dusted her and the area where we put her at first with: Permectrin Fly & Louse Dust. That took care of the mites and she refeathered.

Richard

 

[blitz1027]

Quote:
I'll try and get some pics posted in the next day or two of the roosters feet. I know his feet and legs don't look good. His feathers look awful on his legs He acts like his feet are sore and he has two sore places on his legs where it looks like feathers broke off there and I can't get them to heal

 

[welasharon]

From my experience...soak his feet in epsom salts warm water (helps heal and remove soreness) once a day then coat them in some kind of oil (I used vegetable oil it was on hand) and do this a few times. One more soak in oil in a week or 10 days and that should do it. You need to treat the environment as well.
sharon

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I'll try and get some pics posted in the next day or two of the roosters feet. I know his feet and legs don't look good. His feathers look awful on his legs He acts like his feet are sore and he has two sore places on his legs where it looks like feathers broke off there and I can't get them to heal

You're right, that doesn't sound normal. It could be some kind of bacterial infection, too. What kind of flooring do you keep them on?