leg mites--substitute for kerosene?

[birdlover]

When my chickens had them, I would go get them off the roost at night and put each leg in a container of mineral oil and keep it there for about a minute. That worked great for me (and is what my vet said to do). Good luck!

 

[Mrs.Puff]

The oil dunk was kinda what I was thinking. I have several booted bantams though, so I will probably have to brush it on those ones.

 

[Jeff9118]

We aquired 2 roosters that had the worst case of leg mites I had ever seen. There legs and feet were twice the size as they were supposed to be. My wife looked it up on BYC and said someone recommended vasoline. I didnt think it would work but we tried it anyways. We could not believe the difference in just a couple of days. A few days ago which is about a week after the first application we did it again because there was still some places left but other then that it looked like they had new legs. I think this last application will do the job but if not will do one more. I have used kerosene in the past and this worked much better and the chickens seem to be more comfortable with this method. No raw, red or burnt look afterwards.

 

[rufus]

WD 40. I spray it on their legs; it is easier than vasoline. People say I shouldn't because it is made with petroleum distilated. But I wonder what they think vasoline is made of.

Rufus

 

[wegotchickens]

Are the eggs still safe to eat after each of these various treatments?

I imagine it would be after the vasoline, but wouldn't kerosene be absorbed by the skin?

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Ask for coal oil. Same thing as kerosene; some places just call it by a different name.
Vaseline
Linseed oil
Mineral oil
Camphopheniq
VetRx

Have all been used by people with varying degrees of success.

 

[outdoorsii]

Yea, don't use kerosene or anything that drastic. Vaseline/petroleum jelly is good but it can be very messy, as is what I've been using "diaper rash creme" for babies lol, I've also heard that just olive oil diluted w/water in a spray bottle works, if you rub it into their feet pretty good every other day!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

You don't have to use any of those nasty chemicals

ANY type of oil will smother the mites, and plain old COOKING spray is the easiest (and safest) to use

 

[Vicky2479]

I use 2 parts vegetable oil and 1 part detol which is the antiseptic stuff we use to treat cuts, just brush it on every few days.

 

[outdoorsii]

Yea the oils are probably the best bet for the mites. Speaking of them, I went out tonight at dusk to grab "scaly foot" lol one of our RIR hens & come to find out that "bluefoot", the only RIR hen that lays has done something to her left foot , I dont know whats going on w/left feet in my flock but its starting to aggravate the &#$# outta me!!!

Everything always happens to our best layers..and jeez right now we only have 2!!!...I think...

But yea, her left foot is all swollen, she's limping on it BAD & her middle toe looks kinda crooked, I don't think it was crooked like that before...& up on the roost she was pecking at it like it was bothering her, but course she still came up to me to eat some oatmeal LOL...of course! i HOPE she didn't break something, it better just be a strain or sprain, not a break.... b/c she's my fav red.