Scaly Leg Mites - Need Best / Easiest / Quickest Solution - Scaley

[DreamertK]

Thanks.

 

[SusieBuddy63]

What grade of Castor Oil do you need to buy to use for treatment of Scaley Leg Mites? Several of my chickens have it BAD...
Is the grade that you'd buy it at Walmart in the Pharmacy Department strong enough?

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

What grade of Castor Oil do you need to buy to use for treatment of Scaley Leg Mites? Several of my chickens have it BAD... 
Is the grade that you'd buy it at Walmart in the Pharmacy Department strong enough?

Regular CO will work. All you're looking for is something oily that will stick to their legs. The coating of it on the legs will smother the mites; regular CO will work just fine with a good slather to each leg a few times per week.

 

[SusieBuddy63]

Thanks so much!

In all my time of having chickens (This is my second go around) I've never had to deal with this before.. I lived in Northern California before and I guess the drier air is better for preventing mites and lice.. Now that I live in Southeast Texas where it's humid pretty much all year, it's been a problem..

I feel bad that I didn't realize what it was until a few of my hens feet started looking so crusty! I think they will be ok though, they have very strong feet, just REALLY crusty... I'm going to start the Castor Oil tonight as soon as hubby gets home from the store with it.. My chickens are already tucked in for the night so it sholdn't be too hard..

Do I apply it with a brush or something or just rub it on with my fingers? (wearing a glove of course).. lol

 

[SusieBuddy63]

Regular CO will work. All you're looking for is something oily that will stick to their legs. The coating of it on the legs will smother the mites; regular CO will work just fine with a good slather to each leg a few times per week.

Thanks so much!

In all my time of having chickens (This is my second go around) I've never had to deal with this before.. I lived in Northern California before and I guess the drier air is better for preventing mites and lice.. Now that I live in Southeast Texas where it's humid pretty much all year, it's been a problem..

I feel bad that I didn't realize what it was until a few of my hens feet started looking so crusty! I think they will be ok though, they have very strong feet, just REALLY crusty... I'm going to start the Castor Oil tonight as soon as hubby gets home from the store with it.. My chickens are already tucked in for the night so it sholdn't be too hard..

Do I apply it with a brush or something or just rub it on with my fingers? (wearing a glove of course).. lol

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Thanks so much! 

In all my time of having chickens (This is my second go around) I've never had to deal with this before.. I lived in Northern California before and I guess the drier air is better for preventing mites and lice.. Now that I live in Southeast Texas where it's humid pretty much all year, it's been a problem..

I feel bad that I didn't realize what it was until a few of my hens feet started looking so crusty!  I think they will be ok though, they have very strong feet, just REALLY crusty...  I'm going to start the Castor Oil tonight as soon as hubby gets home from the store with it.. My chickens are already tucked in for the night so it sholdn't be too hard..

Do I apply it with a brush or something or just rub it on with my fingers? (wearing a glove of course).. lol

Mites are a nasty, hateful issue but can be fixed with a little TLC. I wouldn't use a brush, a good pair of rubber dishpan gloves would
work just fine. Just dump some in your hands and lather each leg with a good coating. You'll notice a difference in no time as the old leg scales slough off and new, supple, shiny, smooth ones grow back in . Good luck !

 

[SusieBuddy63]

Well I went out and slathered them all up. I used a whole bottle of caster oil as I had to treat about 19 hens and one rooster. They all had it to some degree, an a few were pretty bad and the scales were already falling off, but their toes were all good and I made sure to get it underneath where the scales were life way up. I will get some pictures tomorrow and post my before and after so y'all can see how the caster oil works.

 

[SusieBuddy63]

Mites are a nasty, hateful issue but can be fixed with a little TLC. I wouldn't use a brush, a good pair of rubber dishpan gloves would
work just fine. Just dump some in your hands and lather each leg with a good coating. You'll notice a difference in no time as the old leg scales slough off and new, supple, shiny, smooth ones grow back in . Good luck !

Well I went out and slathered them all up. I used a whole bottle of caster oil as I had to treat about 19 hens and one rooster. They all had it to some degree, an a few were pretty bad and the scales were already falling off. Their toes were all good and I made sure to get it underneath where the scales were lifted way up. I will get some pictures tomorrow and post my before and after so y'all can see how the caster oil works. I like that it's thicker than olive oil and goopy so it should stay on a while. I'm going to treat them 3 times a week until they look better. They all took it pretty well, my friend held them for me while I slathered it all over their poor legs. I really feel good that it will work :-D

 

[Beekissed]

Well I went out and slathered them all up. I used a whole bottle of caster oil as I had to treat about 19 hens and one rooster. They all had it to some degree, an a few were pretty bad and the scales were already falling off. Their toes were all good and I made sure to get it underneath where the scales were lifted way up. I will get some pictures tomorrow and post my before and after so y'all can see how the caster oil works. I like that it's thicker than olive oil and goopy so it should stay on a while. I'm going to treat them 3 times a week until they look better. They all took it pretty well, my friend held them for me while I slathered it all over their poor legs. I really feel good that it will work :-D

I wouldn't do it that often....just wait and let the first application work. It will either work or it won't but you won't know if it did unless you wait a bit and see what happens. That CO stays on the legs for a good long time, even with the birds walking around in wet grass. The reason I say this is that it can become costly if you treat that often and the whole good thing about castor oil is that it works well in one treatment and it keeps the costs low.

In about 2 wks, if you see no change at all, I'd look at them again and see if you think another coat would benefit. The CO is soothing to the scales and toxic to the mites but no need to keep layering it on unless you feel it's not sticking. If you have birds with really bad legs, you can soak them in warm epsom salts before applying it again so that the old scales and dead cells/mite damage can be soaked off before applying again.

 

[SusieBuddy63]

I wouldn't do it that often....just wait and let the first application work.  It will either work or it won't but you won't know if it did unless you wait a bit and see what happens.  That CO stays on the legs for a good long time, even with the birds walking around in wet grass.  The reason I say this is that it can become costly if you treat that often and the whole good thing about castor oil is that it works well in one treatment and it keeps the costs low. 

In about 2 wks, if you see no change at all, I'd look at them again and see if you think another coat would benefit.  The CO is soothing to the scales and toxic to the mites but no need to keep layering it on unless you feel it's not sticking.  If you have birds with really bad legs, you can soak them in warm epsom salts before applying it again so that the old scales and dead cells/mite damage can be soaked off before applying again. 

Oh Ok! I don't mind the expense if it fixes my hens and rooster lol. I will wait several several days then and see if notice any improvement.. I will be cleaning out my coop tomorrow and hopefully that will get me on top of the situation. I've got new baby chicks coming in a week and my brooder is in my coop. Thanks for the advice I appreciate it!!