Scaly leg mite question?(pic added)

[rubysmom]

Thanks Jen
My birds are 20 weeks, only 3 of them. I have never seen her picking her own feet, but we did have 2 other birds(since been rehomed) that were picking her feet, so yes, I have seen the other birds picking them. She is very sweet and dosen't stand up for herself.

I feed organic feed, a bit of scratch, treats like veggies and yogurt.

I use the orange oil on the roosts and in the corners of the coop to keep mites away? I don't use very much though because of a paranoid fear of anything unnatural

I have never seen mites of any kind, these are our first chickens, so I'm not sure what I'm looking for? Her scales may just be pushed up from the feathers or the feather plucking?

I hate to put her throgh the vaseline thing if its nothing. I haven't found any good solutions for the picking either. It has been quite a pain. She's lucky she's my favorite

Appreciate all the help.
claudia

 

[contadinaintoscana]

I tried to create a new post but can't seem to find how to do that. I just wanted to pass along some information on this debilitating problem. When I was new to keeping chickens, a few of my birds became afflicted with what I learned was scaly mite. Unfortunately, two of them even lost toes. One of my favorite bantams was actually hobbled. To save her from starving, I had to hand feed her for weeks while treating for this pesky parasite. Only a few of my birds seemed to be vulnerable and were seriously affected. I tried EVERYTHING. I did the dips in oil which I am sure helped a lot as well as treating the coop.

What finally worked after I struggled with solutions and reading debates was frontline for cats. Since my case was extreme, I decided to try it. It was the only treatment that worked quickly enough to save my girls remaining toes and allow the bantam to walk again. I used three drops on the bantams and 5 on two of my very large hens that were suffering. I also treated the other chickens with the lesser dose. The recommended dose is 2 -4 drops for bantams and 4 - 6 for normal hens. I did withold the eggs for longer than the recommended time of 7 days. In that time, I crushed up the eggs shells and made them omelettes which is a good source of protein for them occasionally. I added garlic powder and some cayenne pepper which I learned is also really good for them. I still do all of the natural preventatives including giving them organic ACV in their drinking water a few times a week as well as a garlic water made with fresh garlic which also helps with parasites.

Now I treat my birds with diatom and in the spring still dip all of their legs in oil. It took several months and two treatments with frontline to finally eradicate the buggers. Finally the feathers have grown back on their legs and their skin is showing through the awful scales.

It was awful seeing my birds suffer so I am just passing along what finally saved my girls legs. I just treated them again as this treatment supposedly lasts for three months when used on poulty. I am keeping the floor of the coop treated with calcium powder or lyme. I wipe down their roost with oil.

The problem with this particular mite is that even if you treat the bird, the scales come off and remain on the floor free to infect the remaining birds.

If you have seen a chicken or rooster suffering with a bad case of scaly, it is heartbreaking. I think mine came in on a new bird I introduced to the flock.

I just wanted to pass this along as I spent hours getting information. The posts were so informative and helpful.

The last part of the treatment is when they die off to dip the legs and gently try to sluff off the scales without being forceful. In the spring, I hope to finally have conquered scaly mite. I will do that by immersing their legs in apple cider vinegar and gently cleaning them with a toothbrush. Hopefully their legs will finally look normal although the two will still be disfigured by the damage that was already done. They are walking and seem much happier.

 

[Judy]

I'm pretty sure I read on here somewhere that tea tree oil should not be used on chickens.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
It should not. It is very toxic if ingested even in the smallest quantities. Tea tree oil should not be used on any small animals even cats and dogs.