progress or not on scaly leg mites

[lalaland]

sheesh. I've been working on this for a couple of months with some mutt feathered leg banties.

Have tried vaseline, bag balm, veterx, camphophenique - saw some good improvement, but still huge scaly lifted scales. Repeated every 3-5 days or so. It is too cold to be able to give them a good scrub with a toothbrush as suggested. Will do when it warms up,if it ever does.

today went out and dunked each chicken's leg into a jar of vegetable oil. I've rubbed the roosts with the oil too, and two weeks ago I completely emptied the coop, cleaned, and replaced bedding with fresh hay (smells so good in there).

Will those huge yucky scales ever disappear?
Any ideas? I know you can use sevin, but I'm pretty wary of poisons and non-edible stuff like W40 or kerosene.

 

[chickensioux]

I've used VetRX and it works great. Their little legs never seem to look as pretty as they one did tho' Good Luck, it is fixable.

 

[Crunchie]

If I understand correctly, the legs might never look the same. I had one pen with leg mites a year or so ago (they came with them). I had good luck with a sulfer ointment (which I can't remember the name of--sorry!) and the regular treatment of the coop, etc. I did use Sevin in the coop, under the bedding, on the roosts, and on the birds themselves. I too am wary of toxic stuff, but I wanted to nail those bugs good! Anyway, the mites are gone, but the chicken's legs still look rough. The scales aren't lifted, but they aren't smooth and shiny like all of my other bird's are, either. I suppose it may also depend on just how bad the infestation is, too. If you catch it early, maybe their legs will look normal again one day?

Good luck. Getting rid of leg mites is hard work, and it takes time.

 

[lalaland]

if their legs still look rough, how do you know you have gotten rid of the mites?

These chickens came with scaly leg, I was so busy looking at their eyes and feathers and vents that I never even glanced at their legs - so far, my other chickens haven't gotten scaly leg mites, but I've been rubbing down their legs anyway when I treat the others.

 

[nzpouter]

wait till they moult.