silkie chicken's feet and another one sneezing

[girls and guineas]

Some of my silkies have scaley, white, rough feet--toes. Also, they have long toenails.
Also, I have a couple of silkie/frizzle chickens that have a sneeze/cough! Hoe do I treat them??

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Some of my silkies have scaley, white, rough feet--toes. Also, they have long toenails.
Also, I have a couple of silkie/frizzle chickens that have a sneeze/cough! Hoe do I treat them??

First thing in the morning, replace their water w/ an astringent solution of Apple Cider Vinegar at the rate of four teaspoons to each gallon (but never in galvanized metal containers). This is considered a treatment for many respiratory diseases, as the tannin from the apple helps them to more easily expel mucus, and it also helps to cut through the coatings w/in the mouth, throat and intestines, which improves the uptake of nutrients/vitamins, and further boost their immune systems.

Toenails can (and probably should) be clipped, but I'd deal w/ the scaly leg mites first -- that's most probably what's goin' on w/ their legs/toes.

Puttin' both symptoms together brings up another possible cause of these symtoms, including scaly legs, and that'd be ... hate to even type it, but ... fowlpox.

 

[littlecritters]

Sneeze and cough may need an antibiotic from your vet or feed store. I've never dealt with scaly leg mites. You may want to search this site or even post these questions in the silkie thread (not the breeding and showing thread) and see if anyone has experience with these issues.

 

[girls and guineas]

I do use the Apple Cider Vinegar, but will increase the amount! I also use DE in their food.
I've not heard of scaly leg mites? How do you treat that? Also, I've never heard of fowlpox?? Sounds pretty bad?? We have treated them with antibiotics, both in their water, and shots in their necks.

Thanks for your answers!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

I do use the Apple Cider Vinegar, but will increase the amount! I also use DE in their food.
I've not heard of scaly leg mites? How do you treat that? Also, I've never heard of fowlpox?? Sounds pretty bad?? We have treated them with antibiotics, both in their water, and shots in their necks.

Thanks for your answers!

You're welcome ... really love the ACV, as it's remarkably simple, and literally as cheap as good dirt ~'-)
Dimetomaceous Earth is also a good thing, at about 2% of the weight of their food.
Both have been proven to lighten the loads of internal parasites.

The scaly leg mites are ridiculously tiny, and spend their whole lives under the scales of infested birds. Petroleum jelly, a 1 to 1 mix of kerosene and cooking oil, or other coatings that would serve to smother the mites is applied, and ideally after a warm soak and exfoliation of their legs. They can sometimes be found around their nostrils and along (I think) where their beaks meet the feathers ... it takes a while to get rid of 'em, but they're mortal.

As for the fowlpox? If you begin to see blotches, or bumps 'n such appearing on their combs or wattles? We'll cross that bridge, then ... no real cause for concern, otherwise ~'-)

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

One quick and easy way we have heard to control scaly leg mites is to spray cooking oil on their feet. It suffocates the mites and it is easier to apply than petroleum jelly. We do this with our birds when getting ready for a show after they have had their baths with no problems.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

One quick and easy way we have heard to control scaly leg mites is to spray cooking oil on their feet. It suffocates the mites and it is easier to apply than petroleum jelly. We do this with our birds when getting ready for a show after they have had their baths with no problems.

Yeah ... I'm constantly finding ways to apply anything I want on my birds via spraying, as my guineas and some of the chickens think I'm tryin' to eat them.

Follow along w/ me for a minute, if you don't mind ... for furniture, and on animals, I've used murphy's oil soap for years. I've also used alcohol (cheap vodka, when it comes to skin), and vinegar, and lemon and olive oils. But, for butcher blocks and handles w/in the kitchen, I always use mineral oil, as it never goes rancid, which got me to thinkin' that it might be best to use it on the birds as well. I've been spraying their feathers w/ a mixture containing white vinegar and murphy's oil soap, with the theory that it'd help clean their feathers/skin, but replenish the oils as I go ...

So, w/ your background, and havin' read through my ramblings, what do you think folks could/should do to maintain/protect their birds?

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

So, w/ your background, and havin' read through my ramblings, what do you think folks could/should do to maintain/protect their birds?

Honestly, I feel as if I still have a lot to learn, dispensing advice here and there as I stumble along. Right now the extras we do to protect our flocks and would suggest to others is as follows:

1. I carry a spray bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar along with me when watering the birds and spray three times for each gallon;
2. We use the deep litter method using pine shavings and clean entirely out twice a year or before introducing a new flock to a coop;
3. We dust the bottom halves of our birds with poultry dust twice a year and worm twice a year;
4. We use poultry dust under the shavings;
5. We pour oil on wooden roosts to soak through, effectively killing mites there;
6. We bleach bathe the nestboxes periodically (most are made of aluminum); and
7. We always isolate any new birds for 3 weeks, but prefer introducing hatching eggs and chicks as opposed to older birds.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Honestly, I feel as if I still have a lot to learn, dispensing advice here and there as I stumble along. Right now the extras we do to protect our flocks and would suggest to others is as follows:

1. I carry a spray bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar along with me when watering the birds and spray three times for each gallon;
2. We use the deep litter method using pine shavings and clean entirely out twice a year or before introducing a new flock to a coop;
3. We dust the bottom halves of our birds with poultry dust twice a year and worm twice a year;
4. We use poultry dust under the shavings;
5. We pour oil on wooden roosts to soak through, effectively killing mites there;
6. We bleach bathe the nestboxes periodically (most are made of aluminum); and
7. We always isolate any new birds for 3 weeks, but prefer introducing hatching eggs and chicks as opposed to older birds.

As good as your advice sounds, I was meanin' to ask you to apply your experience w/ maintaining their appearance to my intentions to provide a more effective barrier of protection on the outside of birds (but, in a much more convenient fashion than bathing/grooming/etc. ~'-)
I've been using Murphy's Oil Soap and Vinegar in a spray bottle, which has so far worked very well w/ no apparent harm or discomfort to my birds, but still hope to improve upon it a bit ... sorta picture a 'chicken wash' of sorts.

As to the Apple Cider Vinegar? Consider replacing those three sprays w/ four teaspoons of it -- the target pH is 5~6, and will do many wonderful things for your chickens, yet can't possibly harm a single feather.

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

As to the Apple Cider Vinegar? Consider replacing those three sprays w/ four teaspoons of it -- the target pH is 5~6, and will do many wonderful things for your chickens, yet can't possibly harm a single feather.

Thank you for the advice. I will do that. As for the bathing/grooming, the cooking spray is probably the best quick and easy idea I have. When we get ready for a show, we use three buckets lined up in our bathroom tub to dip the birds in followed by blow drying.