Scaly Leg Mites?

[TheLaboratoryBF]

While tending the quail hutch and checking birds over this evening; noticed some raised scales on one of my hens. The dark splotch is just dried poop with some sand from their dust bath stuck on. They are in the middle of molting, so I’m not sure if they are just shedding their old scales or if this might be mites...thoughts?

 

[Boonie Stomper]

Possibly; you might have to wage war on them if they are. Have you used any DE lately to dust the coop and birds?

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Possibly; you might have to wage war on them if they are. Have you used any DE lately to dust the coop and birds?

I don’t use DE, but I’ve used First Saturday lime (which is supposed to be safer and stronger than DE) from the beginning both in and around the hutch and in the dust bath sand.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

It looks like mites to me. In my opinion, the best thing to do is slather their legs in bag balm or Vaseline, I know some have used coconut oil. The coating will choke them out and condition scales until they smooth out or come off. I know a fella that adds betadine to the mixture, as well.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

DE is not going to do anything for scaly leg mites.

 

[Kiki]

Vaseline, Bag Balm, cooking oil....

Not DE.

I'd remove all bedding for a week and treat the legs daily for a week or two.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Vaseline, Bag Balm, cooking oil....

Not DE.

I'd remove all bedding for a week and treat the legs daily for a week or two.

So definitely mites, then? Shoot. I currently only have two hens and they are wilder than snot, so catching them for anything usually does more harm than good. I’m already planning on adding more birds this spring (through hatching eggs), so I think I’ll process these two out and completely sanitize the hutch before adding any new birds in.

This is my first go-round with mites in over five years of chicken keeping and one year of quail keeping and I just had a new hutch built by a gentleman who raises birds of his own...could the mites have come in on/in the wood he used for the hutch? The quail have been in it for over a month now.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

After some reading up on mites it seems the kind under the scales are more like chiggers so they need to be suffocated and repeat to kill the ones not yet hatched.
So like @Kiki said not DE but yes for the lube.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Vaseline, Bag Balm, cooking oil....

Not DE.

I'd remove all bedding for a week and treat the legs daily for a week or two.

@Kiki, I did end up processing the two hens with scaly leg mites today and have cleaned out the hutch in preparation for a new covey (getting hatching eggs next week so hutch will sit empty for a couple of months)...is there anything I should do to ensure any mites hiding in the wood are eradicated? Bleach? Vinegar? Something else? Or just let it sit, empty and devoid of bedding?