Stubborn case of scaly leg mites

[dab19031]

Hi,
We have a hen who has had scaly leg mites for months. We've repeatedly bathed her legs and treated them with vaseline/olive oil/iodine spray/etc... dusted her with DE, cleaned out the coop, added DE to the bedding, basically tried everything we have read about or thought of and her legs have not healed. She has no scales at all on her legs now and she still picks at them and at the feathers at the tops of her legs.
We were thinking of bathing her whole body with flea & tick shampoo and then putting vaseline on her legs but not sure if flea & tick shampoo is safe, or effective, on mites.
Any suggestions??

 

[Silkiesarefluffydinos]

Flea and tick shampoo is safe, and very effective for birds who have lice, but we have the same problem with Scale leg- one of our hens is so bad she may have to have her toe putted because it broke, swelled, and scaley leg helped make it worse. What I have been reading is to give their feet a good soak in a warm Epsom sat bath, but only their feet. Get a toothbrush and gently scrub their feet, and after you are done with the bath, you can put Vaseline on their feet and repeat it every day, and it should help. I'm going to try that, but you can also try bathing their feet with the flea and tick shampoo. I use it all the time on my silkies, who are show birds, and it works very well for lice, so if you have a lice problem too, that will help. Treat every chicken, even if they do not have scaley leg mites, and treat the coop as welll. They also have sprays for scalet leg mites that you can spray directly on the chickens. Keep treating the coop, even after the scaley leg is gone, so your birds don't get it agian.

 

[coach723]

Here is a link that may help. I have always used castor oil on the legs, every day for a week, and then once a week thereafter until all looks normal. Soak in epsom salts, clean with a soft toothbrush, then I apply the castor oil with the same soft brush and work it into the raised scales and coating the entire leg and foot. But I've never had a severe case, mine are always pretty mild as I catch it early. I personally prefer castor oil to vaseline, just isn't as messy to use. But maybe one of these will help you: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html
Also you need to clean out the coop to get any out of there or it will just come back.

 

[GinaNew York]

Ok - here goes - please don't scream at me - I'm a holistic supporter 90% of the time, but with these kinds of issues that could cause amputations I'm willing to go with experience - I saw a video on-line of a chicken mass production facility - they show the putting the chicken in the bag with pyrethrin powders or seven powder (I'd never put a bird's head in the bag, just the body so they flap and get it everywhere - but they use gasoline on the legs - he said to soak the legs in gasoline for 45 seconds day one and they let it dry and cover it with vitamin A&D ointment - next day just do the A&D ointment and the third day the gasoline treatment again with the A&D - has anyone ever done this? have you given the ivermectin orally - the chicken chick shows how to use it on the body in a video - I'll try and find it - what about the roosts - are you treating the roost and putting seven powder or pyrethrin powder under wood where it rests on supports or putting oil on the roost - I know they have the oil in pigeon supply

 

[GinaNew York]

I found the video

what's interesting is that the gasoline kills the adult mites and gets under the scales and dehydrates the eggs - that must be the problem - you keep killing the adults but not the eggs so they come back - I honestly would do this before amputating any part - if there's a bad infection I'd do this and treat the infection with Epsom bath soaks, antibiotics and blukote - I'd be very aggressive before amputations