Scaly Leg Mites Causing swollen feet

[CandiceR]

Hey y'all! I have finally gotten rid of scaly leg mites in my run, but I have one hen that they just hit harder than the others and her feet just never shed the old scales off. I started noticing her limping a bit and assumed it was related. I immediately got her slathered in Vaseline and her toes are already free from all of the old scales and her walking quickly improved, but now I can see there's swelling. Skin checks are clear and her booty is totally fluffy and clean and her appetite is fine. Rest of the flock looks totally fine, too. Beyond cleaning her feet and continuing the Vaseline treatment (I added Neosporin today when I noticed the swelling) what can I do? It almost looks like there's some sores under the skin. I plan to continue Vaseline until the last of the old scales fall off. Tonight I went out to check on them (drastic and rapid temperature drop) and she was out of the box and I assume it's because she didn't want to jump to the door (my hens won't use the ladders). I put her in and she roosted fine and didn't seem bothered.

Thank you!

 

[Anon112]

Maybe an Epsom Salt soak?

 

[Debbie292d]

Touching those lifted scales are painful to them. You could soak the feet in Epsom salts and if you have a soft bristled toothbrush, or baby hairbrush, you can gently go over their legs/feet with it in a downward motion, with the scales, not against them. That would remove any just hanging on by a thread and maybe feel good actually. Just be very gentle as it's said those hurt like someone pulling one of our fingernails out.

You could mix a little bit of Triple Antibiotic ointment (without painkiller) in your vaseline. I've put a little bit of Desitin diaper rash in there too. Both of those are healing.

 

[CandiceR]

Maybe an Epsom Salt soak?

I'm going to do this tomorrow morning before the Vaseline. I'm just concerned about the swelling and feel bad for just assuming the old scales would fall off on their own and want to make sure I do right.

 

[CandiceR]

Touching those lifted scales are painful to them. You could soak the feet in Epsom salts and if you have a soft bristled toothbrush, or baby hairbrush, you can gently go over their legs/feet with it in a downward motion, with the scales, not against them. That would remove any just hanging on by a thread and maybe feel good actually. Just be very gentle as it's said those hurt like someone pulling one of our fingernails out.

I'm incredibly gentle with them and give her grapes or banana while I tend her so I don't stress her more. I'm shocked by how fast the Vaseline cleared her toes so fast. It was literally a day. What about the swelling? Just continue what I'm doing?

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm incredibly gentle with them and give her grapes or banana while I tend her so I don't stress her more. I'm shocked by how fast the Vaseline cleared her toes so fast. It was literally a day. What about the swelling? Just continue what I'm doing?

I've never noticed swelling but it could be she's irritated them by bumping or rubbing into something. That's why maybe a little bit of the triple antibiotic ointment would insure if there's any exposed skin under there, that she wouldn't get an infection.

 

[Anon112]

I'm going to do this tomorrow morning before the Vaseline. I'm just concerned about the swelling and feel bad for just assuming the old scales would fall off on their own and want to make sure I do right.

Do NOT rush getting the scales off. It is very painful, and I'd imagine that pulling one off prematurely before the new one is ready to replace it could make her vulnerable to infection (like how you can get an infection if you pull off too much of a nail).

Her body might just be having more of an inflammatory reaction to the mites than your other girls. I think that a soak in warm, Epsom Salts for like 15 minutes once or twice a day, and then apply something like Vaseline to soften/soothe the area. I wouldn't touch or interfere with the legs at all beyond this.

Supporting her with a good diet and reducing stress as much as possible will help her be strong enough to heal. I've been in the same place as you: feeling guilty that a healing process is taking longer than you want (in my case feeling guilty I didn't catch the issue earlier before it progressed).

 

[CandiceR]

Do NOT rush getting the scales off. It is very painful, and I'd imagine that pulling one off prematurely before the new one is ready to replace it could make her vulnerable to infection (like how you can get an infection if you pull off too much of a nail).

Her body might just be having more of an inflammatory reaction to the mites than your other girls. I think that a soak in warm, Epsom Salts for like 15 minutes once or twice a day, and then apply something like Vaseline to soften/soothe the area. I wouldn't touch or interfere with the legs at all beyond this.

Supporting her with a good diet and reducing stress as much as possible will help her be strong enough to heal. I've been in the same place as you: feeling guilty that a healing process is taking longer than you want (in my case feeling guilty I didn't catch the issue earlier before it progressed).

Ok this makes total sense and makes me feel better! I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Luckily, she's one of the meanies in the flock, so everyone leaves her alone.

 

[Anon112]

Ok this makes total sense and makes me feel better! I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Luckily, she's one of the meanies in the flock, so everyone leaves her alone.

Ha!

Someone on here wrote a great article about Scaly Leg Mites. Hopefully someone in here will know what I'm talking about and link it.

Keep doing what you're doing, resist the urge to do too much (always my downfall), and monitor her closely. If her limp gets worse, if she starts showing other symptoms, etc. There is always the possibility that two different things are happening: it's possible that she could have injured her leg in a way totally unrelated to the leg mites.

And keep us updated! We're invested now!

 

[Debbie292d]

Ok this makes total sense and makes me feel better! I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Luckily, she's one of the meanies in the flock, so everyone leaves her alone.

I've never done anything after their treatments, and they lose their scales themselves, but it takes months sometimes for them to be back to normal. When we treat them, those mites die right there under their scales so she may have had more than the others, and they're still there causing her some irritation.

We go through SLM every two years for a decade now, as these are silkies prone to it, plus they free range where birds, squirrels, and chipmunks are too, right under the bird feeders. The last few times we had so many chickens to treat, I chose to go the Ivermectin route, so that involves nothing on their legs at all, and it still worked well.

She should be fine soon!