Rescued 3 Silkies - Scaly Leg Mites

[COBUCOOP]

Hi there!
We rescued 3 silkies and their coop from owners who were looking to rehome them - they told us little to no information, except they lost one of their chickens to a raccoon attack.

The day we got them, we noticed their nails were WAY TOO LONG and many nails/toes seemed to be twisting - clearly, they were not getting attended to, and did not have anywhere to scratch. One was so bad that she had a bloody toe. We believe it may be broken.
It's been 4 days with our ~2yr/old silkies now, and we've determined one of them, Daisy, is injured (jokingly aka Lazy Daisy for now, since she's clearly uncomfortable and isn't free ranging as much as the other two). At first we thought Bumblefoot, then we did a bath soak on her feet - and saw that these giant clumps of what looked like MUD ... are part of her scales. Poor girls feet are so deformed. She is very hesitant and awkward when walking, lifting her feet up all the way for every step - it's as exaggerated as they can get. She also avoids walking as much as possible - has been trying to fly a little. She will stand on one foot or the other - often avoiding both feet at once.

Tonight, after further research we realized she has a bad case of Scaly Leg Mites. I am currently pregnant, just entered my 3rd trimester - so I'm going to be wearing gloves for extra precaution when handling them, as the last thing I need is any kind of mite or bird illness. We also have a 3y/o and would like to know best protocol for handling... or not from a sanitary point of view.

So - based off of research... I'm planning to do a Rubbing Alcohol soak 2-3x per week for 3 weeks, and pray we see improvement for our poor Daisy and that our other two birds don't catch it, and/or heal up rapidly.
I'm also going to order a mite spray to help kill the mites.

I have a few questions:
1. Does this mean their coop is infected? I saw a bunch of TINY RED SPIDER LOOKING THINGS CRAWLING AROUND THE COOP - when I looked really close the other day.
2. How about the other chickens? We have not noticed any issues with their free ranging/walking etc, but they all sleep in a double nesting box together and take dust baths under our lemon tree or palms together.
3. Can this transfer to humans/onto clothes etc?
4. Can we eat the eggs they lay?
5. Daisy's earlobes and side of Jaw seem to be RED... could it be bc she's sick? Maybe there is more to this all. I don't think she's a male due to her size, and she doesn't crow/caw.

Please & thank you for your help.
I am slightly discouraged - as this is our first experience with chickens and we had no idea there would be immediate problems to deal with as they didn't inform us of anything at all. I'm hoping we don't need to buy a new coop for them yet.

*I will try to add photos tomorrow.

 

[Debbie292d]

1. Yes.
2. Probably
3. Doubtful but possible.
4. Yes.
5. Might be a sinus or respiratory infection causing that.

It seems you're doing well by soaking their feet. If you can clip their nails or probably already did, but generally it's not needed. In their case, sounds like what you said.

I would get permethrin powder and kick the chickens out, wear a mask, and sprinkle it everywhere in your coop. Then I'd bring them back in coop and at night when roosting (easiest way to catch them) dust them good with it. That would get rid of the mites, albeit not the SLM - scaly let mites.

I'd get some Poultry Cell or Nutradrench and put some in their water every other day. See if Daisy is getting better or worse as if worse, she might need an antibiotic. They're probably run down from having mites and sore toes. The vitamins will help them heal too.

I've never heard of rubbing alcohol soaks to get rid of scaly leg mites but it'd be easier to just grease them up at night with Vaseline and probably better for their feet. (Every other night for 3-4 times).

Once you get everything under control, it's easy to keep up on it so these shouldn't happen again.

 

[Eggcessive]

Pictures of the feet might be good to post. Chicken can get mud balls on their feet and leg mites. Permethrin spray is good for treating a coop, once bedding is removed. You can buy Martins or Gordons Permethrin 10 concentrate in pints or quarts, and those can be mixed with water, and used in a spray bottle to treat mites or lice, but not scaly leg mites.TSC sells those, and is economical. Permethrin garden dust may be better for treating chickens in cold weather, so to not chill them. Before treating them, a soapy soak in dawn to slightly soften the leg scales, using an old toothbrush to scrub the legs and feet. Mud balls may require pliers and soaking to remove them. Vaseline, mineral or castor oil work well for leg mites, but have to be used every other day for weeks. Nustock cream for horses is also good, and contains sulfur which kills leg mites. Always, quarantine new chickens for a month to notice any critters, worm them, and watch for any signs of illness.

 

[COBUCOOP]

Hi all,

Here with a little update. I treated with a 70% isopropyl alcohol dip, and scrubbed all the chickens feet with a toothbrush (definitely need a tougher brush though).

I took a few photos and a video of (Lazy) Daisy’s feet and her walking. (Seems I can’t upload the video but you can see she often stands on one foot, or lifts them really high to take her steps). I have trimmed her nails twice now and will not go any shorter for a while.

I would like to treat NATURALLY without chemicals - if this is possible.

A. I have a plethora of Essential Oils - I’ve read mixed reviews about Tea Tree and am not sure the best way to apply it - ADVICE?

B. I am also considering transitioning the dip to soapy water instead of alcohol - though I think she seems to be walking a little better already. THOUGHTS?

C. And planning to coat her feet with LANOLIN, instead of poly/neosporin or petrolatum/Vaseline. THOUGHTS?

D. Maybe I mix the Lanolin with Tea Tree when coating her feet? Is it necessary to wrap them after that? I know our pine shavings will definitely stick to her but I don’t have anything to wrap and am nervous to do that.

E. I also have the following ingredients and was thinking of making them a homemade dust bath - and would like advice on using it in their coop and nesting box (which is where they sleep) to deter production of the mites and other pests. DO YOU HAVE A GOOD RECIPE? I’m going to put it under my lemon tree which is where they always go for a real dirt dust bath.

For Dust Bath / coop pest control;
• Hardwood Activated Charcoal pwdr
• Bentonite Clay
• Dried Blue Lavender - Lavendula Angustifolia
• Dried Marigold - Calendula Officinalis
• Dried Rose Petals - Rosa Canina
• Dried Chamomile - Matrucaria Recutita

For Scaly Leg Mites:
• Tea Tree EO
• Lanolin

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOU HELP!!!

 

[COBUCOOP]

Pictures of the feet might be good to post. Chicken can get mud balls on their feet and leg mites. Permethrin spray is good for treating a coop, once bedding is removed. You can buy Martins or Gordons Permethrin 10 concentrate in pints or quarts, and those can be mixed with water, and used in a spray bottle to treat mites or lice, but not scaly leg mites.TSC sells those, and is economical. Permethrin garden dust may be better for treating chickens in cold weather, so to not chill them. Before treating them, a soapy soak in dawn to slightly soften the leg scales, using an old toothbrush to scrub the legs and feet. Mud balls may require pliers and soaking to remove them. Vaseline, mineral or castor oil work well for leg mites, but have to be used every other day for weeks. Nustock cream for horses is also good, and contains sulfur which kills leg mites. Always, quarantine new chickens for a month to notice any critters, worm them, and watch for any signs of illness.

I’ve added picture and more details below. Thanks!!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi all,

Here with a little update. I treated with a 70% isopropyl alcohol dip, and scrubbed all the chickens feet with a toothbrush (definitely need a tougher brush though).

I took a few photos and a video of (Lazy) Daisy’s feet and her walking. (Seems I can’t upload the video but you can see she often stands on one foot, or lifts them really high to take her steps). I have trimmed her nails twice now and will not go any shorter for a while.

I would like to treat NATURALLY without chemicals - if this is possible.

A. I have a plethora of Essential Oils - I’ve read mixed reviews about Tea Tree and am not sure the best way to apply it - ADVICE?

B. I am also considering transitioning the dip to soapy water instead of alcohol - though I think she seems to be walking a little better already. THOUGHTS?

C. And planning to coat her feet with LANOLIN, instead of poly/neosporin or petrolatum/Vaseline. THOUGHTS?

D. Maybe I mix the Lanolin with Tea Tree when coating her feet? Is it necessary to wrap them after that? I know our pine shavings will definitely stick to her but I don’t have anything to wrap and am nervous to do that.

E. I also have the following ingredients and was thinking of making them a homemade dust bath - and would like advice on using it in their coop and nesting box (which is where they sleep) to deter production of the mites and other pests. DO YOU HAVE A GOOD RECIPE? I’m going to put it under my lemon tree which is where they always go for a real dirt dust bath.

For Dust Bath / coop pest control;
• Hardwood Activated Charcoal pwdr
• Bentonite Clay
• Dried Blue Lavender - Lavendula Angustifolia
• Dried Marigold - Calendula Officinalis
• Dried Rose Petals - Rosa Canina
• Dried Chamomile - Matrucaria Recutita

For Scaly Leg Mites:
• Tea Tree EO
• Lanolin

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOU HELP!!!

I own parrots and can't use tea tree oil around them, so I don't use it around my chickens.

The principle of using vaseline for SLM, scaly leg mites, is to smother the mites. If you want to use something other than Vaseline, as long as it smothers the mites, it should be fine. I mixed a little A&D Ointment in the Vaseline when I did it. Perhaps you could use Vaseline as a base and add your own things to it.

Here's a good article on herbs for chickens.

To upload a video, post it in YouTube first, then link it back to here.

 

[Eggcessive]

Vaseline is pretty nontoxic, and I never understand why people freak out about using it on chickens. Petroleum jelly or petrolatum is the base for almost all ointments, including the ones used in eyes or on skin. It is thick, and very useful when mixed with other things. Read the labels. Mineral oil, castor oil, vegetable or olive oil, and coconut oil are all good choices for treating leg mites. Nutstock cream is a sulfur based horse cream that will kill mites and promote healing. It contains pine oil and mineral oil. You can make your own with powdered sulfur from the garden center or online, and just mix it with one of the oils above. An old leg mite remedy is Vicks which contains petrolatum/vaseline and camphor, which mites don’t like. A and D ointment has petrolatum as well, as does Aquaphor. Anyone interested in nerding out about vaseline/petrolatum can read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly