Rooster seems off

[Chicalina]

keep putting oil on his legs at least once a week for a couple of months. Coconut oil or olive oil is way better than vaseline. If they preen it off petroleum products like vaseline are poisonous if ingested. People used to use gasoline for this, can you imagine!

The scales will eventually drop off and new ones grown but the mites take a while to go. They will also keep coming back at night along the roosts so treat those too. You won't kill 100% of them so keep oiling legs! Whole flock not just him.

 

[Chicalina]

how is his crop? is it still hard and solid?

 

[shannon84]

keep putting oil on his legs at least once a week for a couple of months. Coconut oil or olive oil is way better than vaseline. If they preen it off petroleum products like vaseline are poisonous if ingested. People used to use gasoline for this, can you imagine!

The scales will eventually drop off and new ones grown but the mites take a while to go. They will also keep coming back at night along the roosts so treat those too. You won't kill 100% of them so keep oiling legs! Whole flock not just him.

Oh I've done it everyday for 4 days now. I hope i didn't poison him, Ill use coconut oil for now on. I'll i have is DE to treat the roosts. I wonder if thats good enough? Poor rooster his bern through it, I got him 3 years ago and his feet looked like that and my stupidity I thought he just had odd scales because I've never owned a feathered foot chicken. Ugh still learning the hard way along with the poor chickens. Thsnk you.

 

[Chicalina]

Don't worry it happens to all of us. I've been trying to get a handle on mites for months. The little buggers are persistent!

Try permethrin in the coop. Either buy it to dilute or use a can of household flea spray which contains it. I use DE as well. Only just tried the spray so hoping it adds the extra bug zapping power!

The feathered feet are the most difficult!! I've managed to rid the clean footed chickens in my coop of mites and their feet are nicely healed up now, but its the silkies and pekins that it is taking ages with.

 

[Chicalina]

forgot to add that my next line of defence is a systemic parasite control. Either frontline or ivermectin. Just waiting for it to arrive in the post.

 

[shannon84]

Don't worry it happens to all of us. I've been trying to get a handle on mites for months. The little buggers are persistent!

Try permethrin in the coop. Either buy it to dilute or use a can of household flea spray which contains it. I use DE as well. Only just tried the spray so hoping it adds the extra bug zapping power!

The feathered feet are the most difficult!! I've managed to rid the clean footed chickens in my coop of mites and their feet are nicely healed up now, but its the silkies and pekins that it is taking ages with.

Ok i soaked his feet because they was nasty dirty from the vaseline massage his crop and it felt hard slightly squishy. Sound like a few burp noises came out of his mouth when I did that then he got mad and I let him go. I have ivermectin idk how to use that in the coop. Its a straight blue solution. I sprinkled de in the run and coop.

 

[shannon84]

Don't worry it happens to all of us. I've been trying to get a handle on mites for months. The little buggers are persistent!

Try permethrin in the coop. Either buy it to dilute or use a can of household flea spray which contains it. I use DE as well. Only just tried the spray so hoping it adds the extra bug zapping power!

The feathered feet are the most difficult!! I've managed to rid the clean footed chickens in my coop of mites and their feet are nicely healed up now, but its the silkies and pekins that it is taking ages with.

Sounds like its very difficult to treat! Ugh! I imagine the feather feet are the biggest pain. He is a cochin rooster.

 

[Chicalina]

the ivermectin is to put on the chickens not the coop. Did you mean permethrin?

I'm sure @Wyorp Rock can help you with dosing instructions.

Don't worry about dirt on the feet. The oil needs to sit on the scales until it wears off as it suffocates the mites. Then you reapply it a week later. A bit of dirty feet will do the bird no harm.

Not sure what you mean by crop was hard slightly squishy. if it is impacted it will feel quite solid. Does his breath smell bad? Does he go to bed with a full crop and it is empty by morning? Or is he not emptying it? Is he eating and drinking OK? What are you feeding him?

Sorry if you've answered those questions already. I've lost track of what what said earlier in this thread and if I nip back to earlier pages I will lose this post.

 

[Eggcessive]

Didn’t you say in your earlier post that all you feel is a flat crop? I was talking about losing a hen to an impacted gizzard. Different than an impacted crop which you can see and feel. You asked how to treat that, and no one can see an impacted gizzard, so you wouldn’t know it was impacted until you did a necropsy after death.

On the subject of vaseline or petroleum jelly, just remember that most eye ointments and topical antibiotic ointments are in a base of petroleum jelly, so really not toxic. It wouldn’t be bad at all to add vaseline to the leg scales, and that is what many do.

 

[shannon84]

Didn’t you say in your earlier post that all you feel is a flat crop? I was talking about losing a hen to an impacted gizzard. Different than an impacted crop which you can see and feel. You asked how to treat that, and no one can see an impacted gizzard, so you wouldn’t know it was impacted until you did a necropsy after death.

On the subject of vaseline or petroleum jelly, just remember that most eye ointments and topical antibiotic ointments are in a base of petroleum jelly, so really not toxic. It wouldn’t be bad at all to add vaseline to the leg scales, and that is what many do.

Yeah its felt slightly hard but somewhat squishy. I got a good feel of him today his kneel bone is so prominent and thick feathers I have to work my fingers in there is so much more difficult than checking the hens crops. He looks fine comb wise and standing tall but he isn't staying with the girls as much, more distancing himself so that has me worried. Is it just a freak thing that can happen with the gizzard? I hope i didn't cause it by too many treats.