Scaly Leg Mites Causing swollen feet

Date sort Score sort
I went out this morning and she has about a nickel size sore very shallow under her skin that is whitish fluid filled. A single pin spot oozed out, but no more. I felt very gently around it and there's no heat and no further ooze, so I'm hoping proper care will keep it from becoming an open sore. I actually forgot I had Lidocaine spray in my Chicken Med cabinet and that offered her relief. So more antibiotic ointment and a solid layer of Vaseline. She's clearly hurting a little, but there's no marked limp. She's still eating and within the flock.

I think by the weekend the last few remaining scales may be gone and I'm excited for that.

I'll keep y'all posted!
 
Ok I went out this morning and she doesn't want to walk. Last night she was out and totally fine. The "sores" I saw were larger and I was able to express them. They are so shallow under her skin, like blisters, but they are filled with white stuff the consistency of ricotta cheese. No smell, no color, no blood. Nothing. So I washed her feet extremely well, gently expressed the bumps / sores, washed her feet again, and treated with a canister of sterile salt wound rinse, lidocaine spray for pain, Neosporin, and Vaseline to continue in aiding the old scales on her legs to fall off. And the skin left behind looks thin exactly like if the fluid in a blister on your skin had leaked. I've never experienced this with a hen before.

She still didn't want to stand because her feet look swollen, so after helping her get water and feed, I put her back in the nesting box. My other birds don't mess with her and I actually have a calm flock.

Tomorrow, I plan to thoroughly wash again, but leave off the extra Vaseline so the areas can air out.

Any advice or just keep doing this and monitoring?
 
Last edited:
Can you post any pictures of the swollen legs and feet? You have to avoid lidocaine and other -caines in poultry. They can be used in small amounts by vets during surgery, but they can be toxic to chickens. Vicks is recommended by the APA to treat scaly leg mites. The menthol soothes the pain and apparently kills the mites. A horse product, Nustock cream which has sulfur and pine oil in it, is also used to treat leg mites.
 
Eggcessive said:
Can you post any pictures of the swollen legs and feet? You have to avoid lidocaine and other -caines in poultry. They can be used in small amounts by vets during surgery, but they can be toxic to chickens. Vicks is recommended by the APA to treat scaly leg mites. The menthol soothes the pain and apparently kills the mites. A horse product, Nustock cream which has sulfur and pine oil in it, is also used to treat leg mites.
Click to expand...
The mites are gone and have been, I've been using Vaseline to help clear the old scales off. She's been the only hen who struggled to get her feet clear. I'll post a picture later today or tomorrow morning. I'll also stop using the spray. It's just a low percentage aerosol can that I spritzed like twice.
 
I forgot to mention I went out briefly after I posted my update to offer her more food and check on her and she's in rough shape. I'm wondering if this is gout now with additional issues from a severe case of leg mites. She's a Dominique.

The rest of my flock is completely fine.
 
Went out to check her and she passed.
Just really sad because as soon as I started doctoring her feet I saw almost immediate improvement and then just overnight she went downhill so quickly. I honestly thought she was on the mend until today.
 

Similar threads

L
    • Like
Scaly Leg Mites?
Replies
5
Views
503
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
5
    • Like
Scaly leg mites?
Replies
4
Views
1K
5Buffies
5
F
Severe scaly leg? Something else?
2
Replies
10
Views
647
Cinnamon Roll
C
K
    • Like
Crossbeak hen—need advice
Replies
5
Views
381
kpenn26
K
pollipazzi
    • Like
scaly mites causing weird scale? or something else?
2
Replies
10
Views
1K
pollipazzi
pollipazzi

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom