Scaly leg mites. Does it look like it’s getting better?

[Vasicos1]

Sorry the pictures aren’t great but this hen has had scaly leg mites for weeks now. I have tried afew methods to get rid of them the newest being coating Her legs in oil to suffocate them which I did a couple days ago. I have never had to treat this before. Do her legs look like they’re improving or is this just another stage of the mites taking over. She seems veryslow the last couple days and Doesn’t seem to be eating much but is drinking a lot. Do you think that’s related to the mites? Like I said I’ve never had them before so I’m not sure what to expect.

 

[Shadrach]

There are two main problems with Scaly Leg Mite (SLM).
The first is most treatments don't deal with the eggs the mites lay. This is why the treatment has to be repeated on a regular basis. It can take weeks of treatment to fully eradicate the mites. Treating every 5 to 7 days seems to be common practice unless using Ivermectin. If one uses a smothering treatment such as Vaseline or oil then treating every day for a couple of weeks does the trick.
The next problem is the scales do not return to normal until the scales are shed, a bit like moulting but with leg scales. So, while the mites may have been killed the legs still look infected.
In some cases you can see that there is still mite activity by looking at the mite poop that accumulates under the scales.
The best policy is if you have chickens that seem prone to SLM then treat them with oil/Vasaline say once a week as maintainance as one does other health checks such as looking for other mites and lice.

 

[Vasicos1]

There are two main problems with Scaly Leg Mite (SLM).
The first is most treatments don't deal with the eggs the mites lay. This is why the treatment has to be repeated on a regular basis. It can take weeks of treatment to fully eradicate the mites. Treating every 5 to 7 days seems to be common practice unless using Ivermectin. If one uses a smothering treatment such as Vaseline or oil then treating every day for a couple of weeks does the trick.
The next problem is the scales do not return to normal until the scales are shed, a bit like moulting but with leg scales. So, while the mites may have been killed the legs still look infected.
In some cases you can see that there is still mite activity by looking at the mite poop that accumulates under the scales.
The best policy is if you have chickens that seem prone to SLM then treat them with oil/Vasaline say once a week as maintainance as one does other health checks such as looking for other mites and lice.

 

[Vasicos1]

It’s been about 4 days since I treated her with oil. I’ll do it again in a day or so and apply some Vaseline. Thank you!

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

View attachment 3304625Sorry the pictures aren’t great but this hen has had scaly leg mites for weeks now. I have tried afew methods to get rid of them the newest being coating Her legs in oil to suffocate them which I did a couple days ago. I have never had to treat this before. Do her legs look like they’re improving or is this just another stage of the mites taking over. She seems veryslow the last couple days and Doesn’t seem to be eating much but is drinking a lot. Do you think that’s related to the mites? Like I said I’ve never had them before so I’m not sure what to expect.

My girls all had this over a year ago. It was many many months before the scales were normal again. You can only tell it’s getting better because it’s not getting worse. It was too much work to rub all of that stuff on their legs a couple of times a week because they really don’t love being held and I have quite a few girls. I finally treated with ivermectin and that was all it took. I now treat them twice a year, whether they need it or not. It does not matter to me if some people don’t advise it. I think it’s a great treatment! I will continue to do it forever because the mites had to be just awful for them.