Scaly leg mite help

[sawilliams]

So I've been fighting this battle for a while. It first appeared about this time last year and with only 10 hens are the time I got it under control. But once the winter and spring rains took over it creep back in. I'll admit I'm not the best about being diligent in this area as both my husband and oldest son have allergies and i hate asking for then to help in such direct contact with the chickens. Also my husband won't touch Vaseline, he hates the feel. So it's him in the coop and me lathering the birds, when for his health it should be the other way. Also i should have taken the time to get it under control before we moved and put then in their new coop, but again my fault. So Vaseline isn't getting done as oftrn as it should, thunk ever 2-3 weeks rather then once a week. There is some improvement but one girl in particular has severely lifted scales and another will start to limp at the slightest discomfort. Of course after we moved we also added a few more flock members (8 to be exact, making the total 18) none of the new younger chickens are showing signs yet but we are treating them also. Cleaning the coop and such is not an issue as i can do that during the day and don't need a second set of hands. So the coop all though wood is clean and treated regularly. There are no other external pests, no lice no red mites anything like that just these dang leg mites. I live in Northern California so we get our fair share of rains and wet ground but also more then our fair share of hot and dry everything.

I really need help treating these scaly leg mites. Preferably something I can do by myself. I don't have an issue handling each of the chickens I just can't grab each one and put vaseline on each of thier legs without making a huge mess. I haven't tried soaking/ washing thier legs as it would take some work to get a warm water pail down to the coop, and i would need to do so preferable in the morning before i let them out of the coop as once they go in for the night I'm often working by flashlight as the sunlight fades over the hills very fast. I can't typical work on them in the morning as i have 3 kids i have to take to school and have to let them out into thier run before i leave becuase i keep thier current water dish in the run not the coop. Of course I could place an extra water dish inside the night before if needed.
I'm not ok with treatments such as kerosene or gasoline due to thier aggressive and dangerous nature in this use. I would prefer not to have to pay for a vet visit, as though I do view the flock as part of the family i view thier place in the family as a food source option, not pets. I am ok with treatments that require a withdrawl time as I would rather have a healthy laying flock then a sick or injured laying flock.

 

[Pyxis]

Treat them with Ivermectin pour on. Get a syringe to measure out the dose and apply some to each bird. Ivermectin will kill the mites. Their legs will of course take some time to heal so it may not immediately look like you got them, but they will begin to heal and look better over time.

I can't remember what the dosage formula is, @casportpony do you have that info handy?

 

[sawilliams]

The cattle pour on type? TSC had that right?

 

[Pyxis]

The cattle pour on type? TSC had that right?

Yep! TSC will have it for you.

 

[getaclue]

I have a plastic container that I pour cooking oil into, and simply lift the bird, stand it in the oil while still holding it, then lift them back out. When I'm finished, I put the lid back on it. It's easy to do a lot of birds that way, and the oil penetrates better. Do that for a week, and it should clear up the problem, and condition the scales on their legs.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, cattle pour on Ivermectin. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/durvet-ivermectin-pour-on-250-ml

That should be a 5mg/mL concentration.

A bird should get about 2 mg depending on size.

For a standard large chicken, that's about 5 to 6 drops at the back of the neck on the skin or at the vent on the skin (but not in the vent). About 3 drops for bantams.

You can get little plastic syringes without needles cheap (or free often at pharmacies). Prefill then walk out to the coop. I get the smaller 3 ml syringes as it is easier to read the bars to get the right dosage.

1ml is 20 drops. 1/2ml is 10 drops. 1/4ml is 5 drops.

So on a 3mL syringe, there are 10 bars for 1mL. You would count 5 bars for 1/2mL. You would dose at 2 to 3 bars for most birds (1/4 ml to 1/3mL).

There is quite a bit of forgiveness with Ivermectin in birds, so if you dose a little too much, usually there is no harm.

Repeat in 10 days.

LofMc

 

[trudyg]

I have 4 normal size birds and my roo is a size bigger. I get the small plastic syringes at TSC, 1 for each bird and then a larger one for the roo. I set them in a plastic sandwich baggy and, around 4 am, go out there and have just enough light to see which is the big guy. Easy to administer since they're out of it. I have one of those headlamp lights, but it's too much light and they get active, seems like it shines in their eyes. If I leave the light in the doorway, aiming at the floor, they don't do much other than cluck a little. I assume you get up early, with kids to get to school, so 10 minutes earlier would do the trick and then you don't have to soak the legs. (btw, I just had several birds with scaly leg and I'm assuming the ivermectin did the trick since I didnt wash the legs and the scales are still lifted. apparently it takes awhile for the new scales to come in and you know for sure it's fixed)