scaly leg mites

[mcChicken39]

I’ve just discovered bugs everywhere thousands of them grrrr!!!

 

[CluckerFamily]

It can be frustrating. Bugs come with owning chickens. Chickens pick up the pest from free ranging or not quarantining new members for some time first.

 

[mcChicken39]

I’m not sure where they came from if they are from free ranging or the few new chickens I just got.
But if you see the legs do you think they look bad. I don’t k ow how long they have had the scally leg mites for

 

[Aunt Angus]

I've seen worse cases of scaly leg mites get fixed - lots of time and care. I will find that thread and post a link.

For bugs, get yourself some pewthron and spray the birds, clean out the coop completely, spray the coop. Repeat after a week.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here's that thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-do-with-this-foot.1285351/post-20784654

It's long, but you will see what she did to save that chicken's feet.

 

[mcChicken39]

Here's that thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-do-with-this-foot.1285351/post-20784654

It's long, but you will see what she did to save that chicken's feet.

That great thanks I don’t mind if it’s Long I’m happy to learn. This is the first time it’s happened to my chickens

 

[Alaskan]

A spray with permethrin will work wonders for the lice. I usually end up buying horse fly spray. Just look at ingredients. Usually the product labeled for chickens is in powder form, which is harder to apply than a spray.

It looks like the red around the bottoms is from lice.

Super loose bottoms are often simply the sign of a prolific egg layer.

Do a good deep coop clean. Spray the coop with the permethrin spray, put the bedding back in. Wait for night, go into the coop with a dim headlamp. Spray each chicken with the spray, once on the rear, and once under each wing.. Wait 7 to 10 days, repeat, and tada,you should be all fixed. (Well... until some wild bird brings more in....)

For the feet.... sadly, I have not found a quick fix, unless the case is super mild.

If one has scale mites,they probably all do.

It is best to soak the legs every other day in super warm (but comfortable to the touch) water. Epsom salts,or just regular salt will do. Luckily my chickens found the water calming.

The longer they soak the better, especially if the water is good and warm. Then super gently clean the scales with a super soft toothbrush. A tiny bit of mild dish soap can help, especially if there is caked on muck. But soft and gentle is the key.

Then rinse the legs, dry them, and apply a coating of Vaseline or other thick smothering type product. (I actually used left over baby bottom cream).

You have to keep up the treatments as long as possible... about a month to 6 weeks.

There are various toxic products that you can put in the vaseline if you want to make sure the mites die... but even with toxic products you have to do at least a couple of weeks of treatment .... so... you need to decide your opinions on that one.

 

[mcChicken39]

A spray with permethrin will work wonders for the lice. I usually end up buying horse fly spray. Just look at ingredients. Usually the product labeled for chickens is in powder form, which is harder to apply than a spray.

It looks like the red around the bottoms is from lice.

Super loose bottoms are often simply the sign of a prolific egg layer.

Do a good deep coop clean. Spray the coop with the permethrin spray, put the bedding back in. Wait for night, go into the coop with a dim headlamp. Spray each chicken with the spray, once on the rear, and once under each wing.. Wait 7 to 10 days, repeat, and tada,you should be all fixed. (Well... until some wild bird brings more in....)

For the feet.... sadly, I have not found a quick fix, unless the case is super mild.

If one has scale mites,they probably all do.

It is best to soak the legs every other day in super warm (but comfortable to the touch) water. Epsom salts,or just regular salt will do. Luckily my chickens found the water calming.

The longer they soak the better, especially if the water is good and warm. Then super gently clean the scales with a super soft toothbrush. A tiny bit of mild dish soap can help, especially if there is caked on muck. But soft and gentle is the key.

Then rinse the legs, dry them, and apply a coating of Vaseline or other thick smothering type product. (I actually used left over baby bottom cream).

You have to keep up the treatments as long as possible... about a month to 6 weeks.

There are various toxic products that you can put in the vaseline if you want to make sure the mites die... but even with toxic products you have to do at least a couple of weeks of treatment .... so... you need to decide your opinions on that one.

WOW! THUMBS UP TO YOU thankyou so much for you very informed information.
its very very helpful and i really appreciate it.

 

[Aunt Angus]

WOW! THUMBS UP TO YOU thankyou so much for you very informed information.
its very very helpful and i really appreciate it.

I agree! Very helpful.

 

[Dephora]

I like to give the feet a scrub as well and a pat dry. If you have any on hand NuStock works wonders on scaly leg, I use it in place of Vaseline. The main ingredient is sulfur, which kills mites on contact. If you coat the legs in it and reapply every 2-3 days to get the newly hatched eggs you should be good after 2 weeks or so. I read somplace the whole life cycle for scaly leg mites from hatch to adult is 2-3 weeks. So maybe 3 weeks to be sure they are gone. Though I haven't had a case this bad before, so unsure if you will need to do it for longer.

https://www.amazon.com/Duvet-001-0530-Nu-Stock-Ointment-12-Ounce/dp/B000HHSIYQ