My Hen isnt walking right!

[vidaliachick]

I have a chocolate bantam, she is hobbling and seems to be struggling. I checked her feet but i dont see any open sores but one foot is very crusty. I isolated her to a small cage so she doesnt move around as much. One foot is turned in and she rests with both feet on top of her wing. I have only had her a week so i dont know any history

 

[Starling5767]

Oh no, poor thing. That looks terrible. Could it be mites ?
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html

 

[azygous]

It appears from the photo that your little one could have a very, very painful case of scaly leg mites. The best thing to do is give her a nice long soak (30 minutes) in a warm basin of Epsom salt. This loosens the crust, then you can take a soft brush and gently scrub most of them away. Then give her feet and legs a good slathering of castor oil, working it into the scales. You need to repeat all this each week until you see the scales are returning to normal.

I have a very old hen (going on age ten) who is susceptible to leg mites because of her age. I found that an excellent cure for leg mites is spinosad. It can be purchased under the brand Elector PSP. It's very pricey but concentrated so a bottle lasts for years.

What I do is make a warm water soak with it that covers the feet and legs all the way up. My hen spends about ten minutes in the spinosad soak. This gets rid of the mites, and the improvement to her scales is just short of spectacular. It's long lasting, and the scales continue to return to normal and the mites don't return.

If you can't find flexibility in your budget for Elector, then go to the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of children's lice shampoo for a fraction of the price. Make sure it says spinosad is in the active ingredients.

 

[vidaliachick]

Oh no, poor thing. That looks terrible. Could it be mites ?
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html

im not sure but im thinking not because she is the only one with any affliction. (I have 40) Im gonna clean it well and maybe try to wrap it.

 

[vidaliachick]

It appears from the photo that your little one could have a very, very painful case of scaly leg mites. The best thing to do is give her a nice long soak (30 minutes) in a warm basin of Epsom salt. This loosens the crust, then you can take a soft brush and gently scrub most of them away. Then give her feet and legs a good slathering of castor oil, working it into the scales. You need to repeat all this each week until you see the scales are returning to normal.

I have a very old hen (going on age ten) who is susceptible to leg mites because of her age. I found that an excellent cure for leg mites is spinosad. It can be purchased under the brand Elector PSP. It's very pricey but concentrated so a bottle lasts for years.

What I do is make a warm water soak with it that covers the feet and legs all the way up. My hen spends about ten minutes in the spinosad soak. This gets rid of the mites, and the improvement to her scales is just short of spectacular. It's long lasting, and the scales continue to return to normal and the mites don't return.

If you can't find flexibility in your budget for Elector, then go to the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of children's lice shampoo for a fraction of the price. Make sure it says spinosad is in the active ingredients.

Thank you! I will do this today!!

 

[vidaliachick]

It appears from the photo that your little one could have a very, very painful case of scaly leg mites. The best thing to do is give her a nice long soak (30 minutes) in a warm basin of Epsom salt. This loosens the crust, then you can take a soft brush and gently scrub most of them away. Then give her feet and legs a good slathering of castor oil, working it into the scales. You need to repeat all this each week until you see the scales are returning to normal.

I have a very old hen (going on age ten) who is susceptible to leg mites because of her age. I found that an excellent cure for leg mites is spinosad. It can be purchased under the brand Elector PSP. It's very pricey but concentrated so a bottle lasts for years.

What I do is make a warm water soak with it that covers the feet and legs all the way up. My hen spends about ten minutes in the spinosad soak. This gets rid of the mites, and the improvement to her scales is just short of spectacular. It's long lasting, and the scales continue to return to normal and the mites don't return.

If you can't find flexibility in your budget for Elector, then go to the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of children's lice shampoo for a fraction of the price. Make sure it says spinosad is in the active ingredients.

Should I wrap her foot afterwards?

 

[vidaliachick]

It appears from the photo that your little one could have a very, very painful case of scaly leg mites. The best thing to do is give her a nice long soak (30 minutes) in a warm basin of Epsom salt. This loosens the crust, then you can take a soft brush and gently scrub most of them away. Then give her feet and legs a good slathering of castor oil, working it into the scales. You need to repeat all this each week until you see the scales are returning to normal.

I have a very old hen (going on age ten) who is susceptible to leg mites because of her age. I found that an excellent cure for leg mites is spinosad. It can be purchased under the brand Elector PSP. It's very pricey but concentrated so a bottle lasts for years.

What I do is make a warm water soak with it that covers the feet and legs all the way up. My hen spends about ten minutes in the spinosad soak. This gets rid of the mites, and the improvement to her scales is just short of spectacular. It's long lasting, and the scales continue to return to normal and the mites don't return.

If you can't find flexibility in your budget for Elector, then go to the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of children's lice shampoo for a fraction of the price. Make sure it says spinosad is in the active ingredients.

Thank you for your help. I just have a couple of questions. Do i need to wrap her foot after soaking and also i will have to use the lice shampoo since i live in a small town and will have to order the other. I feel like i need to do something for her today. How much of the lice shampoo do i use i will be using about 5 cups of water. Thank you this is my first encounter with mites.

 

[azygous]

I would do the Epsom soak for 30 minutes first. Then pull all loose crusts off. Then do another warm soak with a really generous addition of the lice shampoo into the water, stirring it in. Squirt some lice shampoo right onto her legs and feet and work it into to scales. Make the water deep enough to cover her feet and legs all the way to her belly. Leave her in that soak for ten minutes.

No, you don't need to wrap her legs afterward. But do inspect the others for leg mites since they do go from chicken to chicken on the perches at night. When (if) you get the Elector, treat your perches and inside of the coop. It kills other mites, too.

 

[Starling5767]

Can Petroleum jelly be applied after the soak ? I read that it smothers any remaining mites but I have no experience with this problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think that you have been given very good advice so far. It appears to be both scaley leg mites, but I also feel that she has pododermatitis--a form of bumblefoot that affects the bottom of the feet and legs from lying in wet and soiled bedding from her previous home. Soaking her legs daily, clean dry bedding, and perhaps giving her some poultry vitamins with biotin, since biotin deficiency can sometimes cause pododeramatitis. Leg mites usually respond to a weekly application of castor oil rubbed into the scales.