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

[PouleChick]

I highly recommend using an old toothbrush with some soapy water and a few drops of tea tree oil in it to scrub the legs before you dry and apply the Vaseline. It seems to really help get those buggers and their poop out from under those scales and expedites the process. Good luck!

Thanks - I'll try on my 3 girls that I hand reared to do the wash first plan to practice and if it goes badly I will just do the vaseline on the others!

 

[trudyg]

PouleChick, castor oil is used as a laxative so try looking at the pharmacy near the enema supplies. It's not messy at all if you use gloves. I mixed tea tree oil into the castor oil and then used a paint brush to work it in. It stays much longer than vaseline so you don't have to apply so often.

 

[JessiChicki]

Hi, Supafry or lard mixed with a small amount of kerosene, smeared over the legs suffocates the mites and destroys their eggs in one step. Then dusting the coop with sulphur or Pestene powder.

 

[KaseySnow]

Hi, Supafry or lard mixed with a small amount of kerosene, smeared over the legs suffocates the mites and destroys their eggs in one step. Then dusting the coop with sulphur or Pestene powder.

I don't have kerosene, but I do have permethrin spray. If I dunk their feet in liquid permethrin then slather the vaseline on over it, will that kill everything too?

Also, does anyone know how long it takes the adults to suffocate? I likely won't be able to keep the salve on longer than overnight as the chickens will get stuff stuck in it first thing in the morning and then pick it off I'm sure.

 

[azygous]

If you have liquid permethrin, mix up a dipping solution and soak the legs in it for ten minutes. That way it will get all the way under the scales that spraying would miss.

This way, it's not necessary to do the Vaseline.

And kerosene is highly toxic to chickens. If they peck at their legs while the kerosene is on them, they could ingest the neurotoxin and bad things would follow. It mystifies me why anyone would suggest using this dangerous stuff on chickens, especially when there are so many safe treatments.

 

[KaseySnow]

If you have liquid permethrin, mix up a dipping solution and soak the legs in it for ten minutes. That way it will get all the way under the scales that spraying would miss.

Thanks for the insight! Would I still need to soak the legs in warm water first on the more severe cases? Or will a ten minute permethrin soak do the trick?

Also, when you say solution, do you mean I should dilute the permethrin with water? Is using straight liquid permethrin dangerous?

 

[azygous]

If you just have a ready to use spray container instead of concentrate, you won't be able to make a dipping solution. I imagine permethrin comes in a concentrate to mix up large amounts to spray down a coop, for example.

I use Elector PSP (spinosad) and it's a concentrate. I mix a dipping solution and soak the chickens legs and feet in it. One soak and the mites are gone for good.

But soaking in warm water and then spraying with your permethrin, followed by a thick coating of Vaseline or castor oil after the legs are good and dry will work, too. The oil seems messy, but it eventually all wears off and the legs are clean again, minus the leg mites.

 

[KaseySnow]

If you just have a ready to use spray container instead of concentrate, you won't be able to make a dipping solution. I imagine permethrin comes in a concentrate to mix up large amounts to spray down a coop, for example.

I use Elector PSP (spinosad) and it's a concentrate. I mix a dipping solution and soak the chickens legs and feet in it. One soak and the mites are gone for good.

But soaking in warm water and then spraying with your permethrin, followed by a thick coating of Vaseline or castor oil after the legs are good and dry will work, too. The oil seems messy, but it eventually all wears off and the legs are clean again, minus the leg mites.

I have a 36.8% liquid concentrate. Planning on making a .5% dilution and spraying the coop before putting in all new bedding too. Should I use that same .5% dilution on the feet? Or is it better to use the undiluted permethrin?

That's awesome that it gets the mites and the eggs with just one treatment! Also good for me to know to make sure the legs are dry before coating in Vaseline.

 

[azygous]

Make a solution, don't use straight concentrate. I use the same proportions for spraying the premises as I do soaking legs. In fact, so none goes to waste, I soak the legs first, then when that's done, I use the soaking solution to spray the premises. Waste not!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

also, halfway through the dip, scrubbing the legs with an old toothbrush will help remove a bunch of dead mites/waste and allow the solution to get in deeper.