Silkies missing toes, could it be Scaley Leg Mites? See Pics below

[Carol.in.WV]

I have 4 Silkie Cockerels 30 and 32 weeks old as well as a Silkie pullet. All had the normal 5 toes as baby chicks, but they have been out free ranging and not being handled much. I noticed a few weeks ago that one had only nubs for the outer toes on both feet. Then a couple days ago I brought another one inside and washed its feet and noticed the same thing. I have not yet checked the other 3 silkies but will later today. Now I have 2 of the boys in the house until I figure out what to do and what it is.

Their legs don't look particularly scaley as in pictures on the web, but upon close examination some scales may be a bit lifted. One of the boys doesn't seem to have enough feathers on his legs either.

Does anyone have any idea what this is and will it progress to losing other toes and what can I do....Of course I like any excuse to keep them in, but one boy is an awful crower from about 3 to 7 am and them periodically throughout the day, which is why I brought the second one in, thinking he would crow less... its a good thing he doesn't mind the diaper I made or DH would really be on the warpath.

BTW, we have a total of 35 chickens all but 4 bantams of different breeds and I have not noticed anything wrong with the legs and feet of the others, but haven't examined them with a magnifying glass either.

 

[horsejody]

Scaley leg mites can cause them to lose toes. I would treat them for it to be on the safe side.

 

[robin416]

If there isn't obvious, heavy infestation I question it being caused by mites. Any chance of a pic?

Either they did not have five toes or something else has gotten at them.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Photos are needed. To help limit crowing, keet the rooster in a very short box/crate where he cannot stretch his neck up. Also keep him in a place as dark and soundproofed as possible--or play some sort of masking music or noise to block him from hearing disturbances.

 

[Carol.in.WV]

OK, I took some pictures of 3 of the Silkie boys, one boy and the girl are in the coop and I looked last night for missing toes but will examine them better today. I now have the 3 boys in the house to be able to treat them when we figure out what for. Fancy Pants has the worst feet so those pics will be first:

All of the above pictures are of Fancy Pants, I also notice that his leg feathers are very sparse or gone. The next worse boy is Wooly Bully, contrary to his name he is a real sweetheart but not so much with the other roosters. Here are the pics of his feet:

Wooly is wearing a homemade diaper, which he doesn't mind at all

Next is Yum-Yum, the girls favorite maybe because he coos and sings. He has not lost any toes, and at first I thought his feet were fine, but the pictures show some discolorations I did not notice with my eyes. See what you think:

 

[PandoraTaylor]

Are they on wire in the coop?

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Quote:
They have been free ranging outside with just a little sleeping coop that is a couple feet off the ground and has a floor and 3 1x4" roost boards. One of the silkies likes to sleep in a box of hay the others all prefer to roost. (or sleep with me if I have them inside as they are now). So they have never been on wire. They have been pretty muddy and they are always scratching around in leaves which may have broken some of the foot feathers, not sure.

 

[robin416]

I'm not seeing a mite infestation, at least not heavy enough to cause loss of toes. There might be one or two raised scales but nothing there to think that its the reason the birds are missing toes.

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Quote:
Please help! What else could cause loss of toes? And yes, they did have them all when they were chicks ...the first thing I checked when I got them from the hatchery.

 

[AHappychick]

dont know but will be watching this thread. Good Luck finding out.