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

[Wickedchicken6]

Sevin is no longer "labeled" for use in poultry in the US, but many still use it. I prefer permethrin but would use Sevin if that was all I had.

Thank you. "Labeled" was the word I wanted to use...lol.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

So I've just done the adult chickens (2 as a repeat). I got up at 3 a.m. and snagged the rooster first. Carried him to the garage, where I had a table set up with towels, sevin dust, ivermectin (already measured out in disposable syringes), blu kote, and castor oil w/ a paint brush. While he was held by the feet, head down (and no, he did not pass out during the whole time), I inspected his vent and under the feathers/wings/etc looking for nasties.

I found nothing but dry skin, so I applied ivermectin drops to each armpit and belly just up from the vent, then gave him a dusting of sevin. Laid him on his back on the towel and wrapped him like a burrito, covering his head so he'd be in the dark. I was able to clean his feet and, using the brush, really get a good coating of castor oil on his feet and legs. He had been done the day before, so I could see where the oil had already been applied. But I had not done so well on his comb and was able to get it real well today. Put him back on the roost and snagged the next one. It's funny who resists and who doesnt. Both chickens that I was doing a repeat on had needed a spritz of blu kote for injuries (I'm not a great chickenwrangler), those injuries looked real good and didn't need more attention.

The think I'm noticing most is the dry skin. What should I do about that? Also, just a side note, yesterday during the day I could tell that the 2 who I did that morning were looking at me like what happened? And they seemed so much more comfortable. I think the moisturizing effect of the castor oil,plus the fact that it draws out inflammation/irritations and soothes joints, made a big difference. I don't plan to do the younger birds, since they still keep thier distance pretty much (in process of integrating) but they are in the same coop. I still need to butcher several of them, so can't see treating them and then butchering.....

Thanks for all the input.

so both you AND I were out early dusting our birds yesterday morning!
After several hours of dusting, I just have the roosters tonight and I'll be done. I considered oiling their legs after hearing your input, but decided against it because I could just imagine the oily mess I'd make of myself. So I opted to trim toenails and spurs instead.

I use the cheapest version of Pam cooking spray and spray their legs while they're on the roosts. I like the way the oil sticks on their legs and doesn't run off. I'm thinking I'll do that after dusting the roosters tonight. I noticed a couple of birds had some reddish looking skin mainly on their underbellies. But the skin looked more irritated than dry. I only saw a few mites. I'm keeping on eye on the redness. I'm not certain about your birds with dry looking skin.

Others on here have commented how well castor oil works. I'm happy to hear it worked well for you.

 

[trudyg]

The castor oil was not messy at all. I wore gloves (which were shredded quickly by flapping and claws), mainly since I don't care for the warm chicken feather smell. After the dusting and doing drops of ivermectin, I made sure the bird was securely wrapped in the towel and held him under my left arm, legs in my left hand, so I had easy access to the feet. The head was no longer covered with the towel, but I was aware and ready to react. My castor oil is in a bottle with a small medicine cap, about 8 oz total. My brush is small enough to insert into the bottle, so I dipped the brush and painted the legs, trying to get it under the lifted scales. Only a few drips onto the table, but it's a garage table so it's seen worse. When the legs were done, I reversed him so his head was in my left hand and I could apply the oil to his comb and wattles--any red spot. I used my fingers for that and I think he actually enjoyed it! He kinda purred. None of the females liked it one bit. Glad it's done, but plan to redo it again next weekend and the one after that.

 

[Gert555]

Well, just finished round 2. Inspected for pests, saw nothing, clipped feathers around the vents since it had white matter on it (I looked closely at the white stuff and do not think it was lice eggs, but poop remains), felt them all over for anything unusual. Then, instead of sevin dust like last week, I gave each a squirt of permthrin spray (armpits, butt, back of the neck) making sure it reached the skin. Then I did the castor oil on the legs. I put some tea tree oil in the castor oil--they seemed to not like the oiling as well this way, or maybe they just were feisty. Anyway, back on the roost. Took longer this time, but I think they could hear our owls. We had 2 this spring and now hear 5, so the babies must be out flying too.

Since I used the permethrin spray a week after dusting with sevin, do I need to do a repeat next week? I also cleaned and sprayed the coop yesterday, so everything there should be good. What about the castor oil for the scaly leg mite? This is the second round, first was last week. This time had tea tree in the castor--do it again next week or wait and see?

 

[parzhin]

Hey everyone!

We've got scaly leg mites. A couple of our 7 hens look affected, but one of our RIR looks the worst... by far.

I've tasked Emily with researching how to treat them, but I wanted to post here to leverage the great wisdom of the group. Here are my questions:

1) Is this really scaly leg mites?
2) What is the BEST solution?

I know there are LOTS of suggestions (Vaseline, DE, orange oil, WD-40, etc. etc. etc.). I don't know how many of these are old wives tales or super excellent solutions that seriously work.

So, if you have experience with whatever you see in the pic below, and you effectively treated it, please reply with what worked best / easiest / quickest for you and your girls.

Thanks so much in advance for your help and ideas!

use ampecilin ointment even that one use for human eye infection..so all ampicilin or any antibiotic cream work well like a magic.

 

[trudyg]

Why an antibiotic ointment? This isnt a bacterial infection, but rather a live pest eating your chickens body, protected by the scales. Am I missing something? Does ampicillin kill pests? I thought it did not, only bacteria. Maybe use it for a secondary infection, but how to get it up to the infection?

 

[parzhin]

sorry..I thought its kind of infection or wunds..I didnt see it before in kitchen's leg at all.I wish I could help you.keep searching on it.

 

[DPWPDX]

Glad to see someone else tried this too!

I had elector psd in the chicken kit after a lice infestation, and then a feather mite infestation. I mixed it up and used a spray bottle to spray down the roosts, bedding got changed and then dusted with poultry dust. Then I mixed another round of elector (1.25 cc/18 oz water) and sprayed it on all the chickens legs after they were in the coop for the night. I’ll probably repeat over the weekend, but the great news is that one hen who hasn’t laid eggs in about 8 months or more just laid eggs yesterday and today!

Basically it seems like if I do a deep clean every 6-8 months and spray down the coop and roosts and chickens w elector, no bugs!

Spinosad is a biological control agent that works with enzymatic action. It's what's in children's lice shampoo, only in very small amounts.

Elector PSP is pricey, but very concentrated so you will have a supply for a very long time. I believe I got it on Amazon. Be prepared for a price tag of over $150 for an 8 oz bottle. But it mixes at a ratio of 1/4 tsp to a quart of water.

 

[PouleChick]

Wow that took me so many days to read the whole thread!!!! I'm going to try to get my hands on some castor oil, never seen it here in France but never looked either! I did manage to find some vaseline though and have mixed in a few drops of Tea Tree Oil am going to start on my easy girls that I can catch tomorrow then start night catchining off the roost tomorrow night. I've been looking on lots of French sites and they allll rave about Cade Oil as being amazing so was surprised to only hear it mentioned once or twice. Apparently it is incredible! Most of my chooks seem to have it to some degree or another. It was my fault as a new chicken owner when I bought 2 silkies that I now realise had it from the start earlier this year and due to a hugely busy year / health issues I've been putting off sorting them and now it all seems to have gone from 'just a tiny bit' to lots of them and some of them bad (actually over the last few weeks huge change when we had weeks and weeks of rain).

You might need to soak and clean off the Vaseline before applying the Castor oil to get any good out of it. It's not just for smothering the mites, but poisoning them....castor oil is toxic to them....and it may not penetrate in between the scales well if the Vaseline seals it out of those spaces.

Hi, I'm jsut wondering how long the vaseline will hang around as I'm going to do Vaseline first (that is what I have) then try to source some castor oil.

Elector PSP )spinosad

Eeek need to have a look to see if that exists here!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Wow that took me so many days to read the whole thread!!!! I'm going to try to get my hands on some castor oil, never seen it here in France but never looked either! I did manage to find some vaseline though and have mixed in a few drops of Tea Tree Oil am going to start on my easy girls that I can catch tomorrow then start night catchining off the roost tomorrow night. I've been looking on lots of French sites and they allll rave about Cade Oil as being amazing so was surprised to only hear it mentioned once or twice. Apparently it is incredible! Most of my chooks seem to have it to some degree or another. It was my fault as a new chicken owner when I bought 2 silkies that I now realise had it from the start earlier this year and due to a hugely busy year / health issues I've been putting off sorting them and now it all seems to have gone from 'just a tiny bit' to lots of them and some of them bad (actually over the last few weeks huge change when we had weeks and weeks of rain).

Hi, I'm jsut wondering how long the vaseline will hang around as I'm going to do Vaseline first (that is what I have) then try to source some castor oil.

Eeek need to have a look to see if that exists here!

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!