How long to continue scaly leg mite treatment?

[CHICKENX2005]

so I treated all my adult flock with ivermectin 4 days ago. 2 of my chickens a 4 year old hen and rooster had a bad infestation. 5 of them have signs of leg mites. And the rest I treated because everyone said that I should just go ahead and treat all of them because they all probably have it. Anyway I'm wondering what to do next when do I give them the second dose of ivermectin? I know it's supposed to be after the mites eggs hatch but before they have time to lay more eggs. But when will that be? And is there something else I should be doing along with the ivermectin? Like something to smother the mites. Especially on the ones that have it bad. Thanks

 

[nuthatched]

Have you tried rubbing the kegs with mineral oil or Nustock? It takes awhile for the scales to heal.

 

[CHICKENX2005]

Have you tried rubbing the kegs with mineral oil or Nustock? It takes awhile for the scales to heal.

No I haven't. Is that to kill the mites or to help heal the legs? And how long does it usually take for the old scales to fall off and how long after that do new ones grow back? I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with leg mites until now. So I'm not sure.

 

[nuthatched]

No I haven't. Is that to kill the mites or to help heal the legs? And how long does it usually take for the old scales to fall off and how long after that do new ones grow back? I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with leg mites until now. So I'm not sure.

It will kill the mites and prevent infection. I'm not sure, at least a month.

 

[aart]

at least a month

Maybe longer, depending on how bad the mites infestation is.
Pics of the birds legs would help here @CHICKENX2005

 

[CHICKENX2005]

Maybe longer, depending on how bad the mites infestation is.
Pics of the birds legs would help here @CHICKENX2005

Ok, I will try to get pictures. I just put petroleum jelly. On them so it might be kinda hard to see exactly what they look like right now.

 

[McChooky]

so I treated all my adult flock with ivermectin 4 days ago. 2 of my chickens a 4 year old hen and rooster had a bad infestation. 5 of them have signs of leg mites. And the rest I treated because everyone said that I should just go ahead and treat all of them because they all probably have it. Anyway I'm wondering what to do next when do I give them the second dose of ivermectin? I know it's supposed to be after the mites eggs hatch but before they have time to lay more eggs. But when will that be? And is there something else I should be doing along with the ivermectin? Like something to smother the mites. Especially on the ones that have it bad. Thanks

You will have to treat the coop and chickens both to get rid of mites. The following link from the Mercks Vet Manual provides the correct treatment for each type of mite.What works for one mite doesn't work for all. Mites have built up a tolerance to permethrine in some areas making it ineffective by itself.I cleaned and 'painted' my coop and run and replaced my roosting bars and treated the chickens and the coop both https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/ectoparasites/mites-of-poultry

 

[CHICKENX2005]

Would it help to isolate the chickens that I can see have scaly leg mites? Or do you think that it's already spread to all the rest of them? I've already given all the chickens ivermectin and I put petroleum jelly on the chickens that have raised scales.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm just going to copy and paste a post I made on another thread where the matter of scaly leg mite cropped up.

"I've dealt with a lot of Scaly Leg Mite. I've been writing about it on this thread recently. Henry has it. He's had it most of his life. His daughter Matilda had it. His daughter Mow has it. None mentioned have dropped dead, or gone off their food.
I had quite a few birds in Catalonia that were susceptible to SLM; none died, ate less or even looked depressed about the problem.
I had birds in Hertfordshire that also seemed to be susceptible to SLM. None went off their food and none died.

All the birds that had SLM lived with roosted with, mated with and bathed with other birds who didn't have SLM. Not once did any of the non SLM birds catch SLM.

It seems from my experiences at least that it is a genetic problem, some birds are susceptible to it while others are not, irrespective of the contact with infected birds.

The advice to isolate and even kill infected birds is just plain ludicrous but many of the medical texts advise isolation for just about any health problem. Isolation from the group is often the worst thing one can do. The bird gets stressed and the stress slows and in some case prevents full recovery.

The same unhelpfull expert advice regarding Ivermectin is trotted out over and over again despite the obvious problem. For Ivermectin to work the mite has to feed on the bird. The bird isn't overly concerned with mites wandering around on their body; it's the mite biting and feeding that's the problem.
Ideally what one wants and what the bird wants is to kill the mite before it feeds. It's why Permethrin is a better solution to mites than Ivermectin; it kills the live mites without the necessity of the mite feeding. Unfortunately niether chemical deals with the eggs so treatment will be ongoing. With Ivermectin and a laying hen, if one takes the withdrawral advice one might not be able to eat the eggs from the treated bird for months.

The fastest way to deal with SLM is to drown them in surgical spirit, rubbing alcohol for the Americans. One needs to keep the legs submerged for a couple of minutes. Anything that can be applied to the legs and feet of the bird that will stay in place and suffocate the mites will work. Most experienced chicken keepers know this. I have used various things but a mixture of iodine which is anti fungal and antiseptic and Vaseline works well provided one gets adequated coverage. The problem is it's all a bit messy and requires lenghty handling of the bird which many keepers are uncomfortable with or unable to do.

The next problem is many keepers do not understand that the scales will not return to normal and because the lifted scales don't return to their normal position they assume the mites haven't been killed. The scales don't return to normal until the bird sheds the old scales and grows in new. Mow is currently growing in new scales on the patches the old scales have either fallen off or been picked off.

Isolation, Ivermectin and killing the bird is just bonkers. Using Ivermectin on a particulary bad case makes sense if a smothering/drowning treatment is used in conjuction."

 

[aart]

Would it help to isolate the chickens that I can see have scaly leg mites? Or do you think that it's already spread to all the rest of them? I've already given all the chickens ivermectin and I put petroleum jelly on the chickens that have raised scales.

I'd leave them together.
Did the birds have mites other than on the legs?