Scaly leg mites

[Ladybug7252]

Hello,

This is my first flock of chickens so please be kind. I noticed after evacuating from a large wildlife in our area, after I got my chickens back their scales were more raised. I’ve been treating them for scaly leg mites.

I have been soaking their feet with some natural dish soap/thieves and vinegar. Scrubbing lightly with toothbrush to remove dirt. Then dipping in olive oil and then costing in Vaseline. The chickens look so much better already. Their combs are back to dark red. I’ve disinfected the coop twice completely in one week.

My questions:

1) Do I keep doing the cleaning of their legs/Vaseline until their old scales fall off? (Lots have fallen off)

2) How often to completely disinfect the coop? Every week or? I am very OCD about cleaning their coop and keep it very clean. I’m out there scooping poop every second day.

3) What should I be doing with their chicken run? I replaced all the roosting bars (as they were wood) just incase and sprinkled DE on their dusting area.

Thank you everyone!! I love my chickens a lot and I’m a little anxious about any issues they have.

 

[aart]

Pics of the legs would help here.
Just the vaseline should do the trick....reapply every couple days......and give it time.
No need for the DE(won't do anything anyway).
Leg mites don't spread very easily, no need to disinfect.

 

[Ladybug7252]

Pics of the legs would help here.
Just the vaseline should do the trick....reapply every couple days......and give it time.
No need for the DE(won't do anything anyway).
Leg mites don't spread very easily, no need to disinfect.

okay, thank you. Everything I read said they live in the wood in the coop so I have been spraying the wood and soaking it too with disinfectant. Good to hear it mainly just sticks on the chickens, so I can focus mainly on them. I’ll get some pictures tonight when they have their nightly foot soak and Vaseline haha

 

[aart]

Everything I read said they live in the wood in the coop

I believe you are thinking of Roost Mites, not Scaly Leg Mites.

 

[Ladybug7252]

I believe you are thinking of Roost Mites, not Scaly Leg Mites.

That’s good to know as these are not red mites on their body. These are scaly leg mites. Thank you.

 

[Ladybug7252]

Pics of the legs would help here.
Just the vaseline should do the trick....reapply every couple days......and give it time.
No need for the DE(won't do anything anyway).
Leg mites don't spread very easily, no need to disinfect.

here is a picture from tonight. The scales that were raised have fallen off. I have been putting vaseline on every night for the past 8 days. (Washed their feet almost every night before hand in a warm bath). There was never any crusty parts just raised scales.

 

[Ladybug7252]

here is a picture from tonight. The scales that were raised have fallen off. I have been putting vaseline on every night for the past 8 days. (Washed their feet almost every night before hand in a warm bath). There was never any crusty parts just raised scales.

I should also mention since putting the Vaseline on every night the dirt just sticks to their feet like crazy so they look dirtier than normal.

 

[aart]

I should also mention since putting the Vaseline on every night the dirt just sticks to their feet like crazy so they look dirtier than normal.

Yep, it sure does.....gets on their breast/belly feathers too.

 

[Pippin quail]

I started my own thread about this. But just saw this... So if the scaly leg mites mostly stay on the chickens, does all bedding still need to be removed? What about any run bedding?
I'm all paranoid from other things I've read that say to completely remove all bedding and clean out the coop, bedding boxes, roosting bars, etc, and spray with some kind of insecticide to kill them and then possibly remove bedding again and clean out coop a week or two later. Is all that overkill? I've already started removing the deep litter from my coop... And not sure what to do with it, just been putting it in a corner of my big garden.

 

[Ladybug7252]

I started my own thread about this. But just saw this... So if the scaly leg mites mostly stay on the chickens, does all bedding still need to be removed? What about any run bedding?
I'm all paranoid from other things I've read that say to completely remove all bedding and clean out the coop, bedding boxes, roosting bars, etc, and spray with some kind of insecticide to kill them and then possibly remove bedding again and clean out coop a week or two later. Is all that overkill? I've already started removing the deep litter from my coop... And not sure what to do with it, just been putting it in a corner of my big garden.

I have read a lot to disinfect the entire coop also. I did that and wondering whether to do it again in a few days. My chickens look much better but want to make sure they are gone for good!