Treating Scaly Leg since March 10

[yawningreyhound]

Hi everyone. I've treated with Vaseline and DE every 3-4 days. It's a VERY early case, but a few scales near the claws are lifted on 3 of my 5 hens, so I've called it "early". On one girl, the 3 scales that are lifted are lifted significantly. Which sure makes it easy to get the vaseline in there. I've been treating most recently at night so they have the whole quiet time to let the vaseline do its smothering.

When do I stop with the treatments? I've read here I believe that the lifted scales don't lie down again, so how does one know when to stop treating?

Thank you all so much!

 

[Michael Apple]

Vaseline mixed with DE won't do much. DE won't do anything for scaly leg mites. I've used a sulfur salve or Nu-stock with success in the past. Apply either every other day at night just like you have been. it is important to massage the product into the leg scales. Nitrile gloves come in handy for that. You must treat the roosts with an emulsified concentrate like Permectrin II or Ravap EC. Paint or spray under, on both sides, and top of roosts. Do that once a month. If you haven't cleaned your coop out in a while, it would be good to remove shavings, dust, treat the floors, roosts, walls, nests, cracks and crevices also with an emulsified concentrate before putting in new shavings. Here's a link for Nu-stock:
http://www.nustock.com/

Permectrin II is available at most feed stores.

 

[yawningreyhound]

Just some explanation, I dust the DE on so the vaseline has a small chance to work (got that from BYC!), not for any other reason. Basically to let them have some prayer of traction on the roost after all that vaseline applied!

Coop is brand new, 5 weeks old. And I keep it sparkling clean. They got these at their previous homes (they're displaced chickens from the Colorado floods).

But I did completely empty the coop and the run, their roosts were brand new 2x4's with no marks for hiding places (tho' I've read the mite is a completely-on-the-chicken life cycle in the Veterinary Parasitology book), but I scrubbed the roosts, platforms, floor, etc., nevertheless and DE them by hand.

Their coop is vinyl floored and completely caulked so there's no hiding places for the other parasites who don't live their whole life on the chicken. But I sprayed DE with a poofer everywhere in the coop and the run before putting down clean wood shavings in the coop and straw in the run.

I've got the NuStock, but some folks have had "burning" issues with it, so I'm approaching with Vaseline right now.

I have Ivermectin (it's used in veterinary medicine for lots of canine parasites), but I'm resisting if I can cure this with Vaseline since it's such an early early early case.

My question is basically if one keeps up with the treatment at what point does one stop? I un derstand that scales take a long time to replace themselves and they don't lie back down once the mite infestation is gone, so it's not visual that the legs are better.

The reproduction cycle is about 2 weeks; I just found this: http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf.

Darn bugs!

Thank you so much! If I decide to go chemical, I'll refer back!

 

[Michael Apple]

Moist straw is a great mite attractant. I'd get rid of it. I've never had "burning" issues with Nu-stock or sulfur salve. DE does nothing despite the claims. It is added to some feed rations in milling operations to keep moisture out of the product. Did a year long trial with DE (Worm-Guard Plus) in feed and DE to treat premises. Cecal worms were discovered during that period and Safeguard was used to effectively remove them. The premise treatment of DE did not prevent Northern Fowl mites nor Knemidokoptes mites. The treatment of coops I recommended have prevented these problems since I made them common practice. Also, providing areas for birds to dust and keeping the coop environment dry and well ventilated prevents those problems. Removal of swallow nests and preventing contact areas where wild birds gather is also a good practice. Good luck.

 

[dawg53]

Moist straw is a great mite attractant. I'd get rid of it. I've never had "burning" issues with Nu-stock or sulfur salve. DE does nothing despite the claims. It is added to some feed rations in milling operations to keep moisture out of the product. Did a year long trial with DE (Worm-Guard Plus) in feed and DE to treat premises. Cecal worms were discovered during that period and Safeguard was used to effectively remove them. The premise treatment of DE did not prevent Northern Fowl mites nor Knemidokoptes mites. The treatment of coops I recommended have prevented these problems since I made them common practice. Also, providing areas for birds to dust and keeping the coop environment dry and well ventilated prevents those problems. Removal of swallow nests and preventing contact areas where wild birds gather is also a good practice. Good luck.

x2

 

[yawningreyhound]

Check out this great link the owner of my e.r. clinic just sent me....everything you wanted to know about the life cycle of the leg mite.

It's a long read, but interesting!

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=392958&sk=&date=&pageID=3