so my chook hermy has quite a bad case of leg mites. He can barely walk and s/he is always laying down. We bought her in this condition and i think it's appauling. What can i do to soothe it, i leave him standing in a bowl of water with iodine for at least half an hour then i dry it thoroughly and put vasali eon it. I see no improvements, any other suggestions?
You will need to reapply the Vaseline every day until you see improvements. Really coat the legs in it. May take a couple of weeks if it is a really bad case.
Coat the legs up to where the feathers start... there is no quick fix for this... if you apply a thick coat of vaseline you should only need to apply once a week, however, ALL of your chickens will need the same treatment, it may take a couple of weeks until you see the new scales appearing You can try to remove some of the build-up under the scales, it is best to use a soft brush and gently remove the gunk, best after a nice warm soak in water, be careful as the feet can bleed and iodine is excellent for minimising any bacterial infection... you are doing a great job!
A couple chickens of ours we had got came with leg mites. I used olive oil and dunked their feet in it twice a day for about 2 weeks and it was gone. Also, if youve had them awhile and then got it... I suggest removing all straw/hay whatever you use in your coop area and replace it. There might be somehting there that is causing it. (Make sure no swampy areas in their general area or in the coop)
Apply a mixture of sulfur and olive oil on its feet. The sulfur kills the mites and they can't stand the olive oil.
I'd dip his feet in either olive oil, vegetable oil, or mineral oil once a day for a few weeks. This should smother the mites and soften the scales. While you're soaking the legs, you can gently scrub with a toothbrush to remove any crusty material or old scales. Petroluem jelly can also be used, as can something called VetRx. His scales may never return fully to normal (they'll probably always be a little raised up), but at least he won't have any more mites hopefully.
