OMG... poor Butter’s feet! (mites?)

[micstrachan]

Ok... feeling like a terrible chicken mom here. I have the girls out free ranging and noticed an inflamed area on poor Buttercup’s foot. Same bird who had a major bleed awhile back. She seems to have extreme scaly leg mites? I feel terrible! She had a looooong molt. Actually molted twice (tail and all), so I haven’t handled her for months (besides occasional crop, abdomen and breast muscle check, which don’t require picking her up.)

I’ve got the NuStock in a mug of warm water so I can mix it back together (assume it’s separated). I don’t really want to get her wet since it’s been wet and cold and I think the whole flock, including Butter, need as much free range time as possible this long weekend. Will NuStock take care of this? I’m also considering Ivermectin pour on.

Also, can someone show me a picture of a healthy Brahma foot? The feather shafts seem to lift the scales. Now I realize I need to pay extra close attention to her feet. No sign of bumblefoot on the bottom.

 

[micstrachan]

So I did dip each foot in warm, slightly soapy water, scrub with toothbrush and pat dry before a good slathering of NuStock, which is supposed to be soothing. I’ll treat her all three days this long weekend and then reevaluate. Thankfully, she’s a very docile hen and talks to me sweetly the whole time I work on her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Nustock is a bit hard to use, but it is good stuff. It gets hard and clogs in the tube. Many empty the tube into a container and mix it well. You can make some as well with sulfur powder and some vaseline. The pine oil probably could come from your yard. It works for pecked vents and other minor issues. You can also use castor oil and mineral oil by themselves for leg mites.

Feathered legs are hard to take care of, and they hide a lot of problems. Any future chicks I get will be clean legged, although some of my favorite breeds have feathered legs. Hopefully the treatment will help her to heal in a few weeks. I had used ivermectin pour-on 0.1 ml per every 2 pounds given once and in 14 days for stubborn mite issues.

 

[micstrachan]

Thanks, Kim. I have one other hen whose legmites are a bit noticeable and mix NuStock and Bag Balm together for her.
Interestingly, Butter seems to be slightly favoring the OTHER foot, which was the one that bled before. Thinking of trimming her foot feathers to get a closer look at what’s going on with her.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Michelle you only have to treat once a week. Dont soak and wash it off tomorrow then put the nustock back on.
Treat once a week for two to three weeks, treat the roosts once a week too.
I did the nu stock and i think it was very effective.
Remember the feet won’t look markedly better until they shed off the scales, the mites just die.
Be sure to treat your roosts too with permethrin.
Keep an eye on that red spot, that looks like the start of a bacterial infection but the nustock is a pretty cool product, it will probably take care of that red spot. It probably wouldn’t hurt to reapply the nustock on just that red spot a few times a week for a few weeks.

 

[micstrachan]

Thanks. It looks a bit like it could be an inflamed feather follicle, too. Poor Butter.