Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

Quote:
Other than making the legs look and feel awful, what affect does leg mites have on the hens?

Pain and discomfort mainly. I've heard of folks having more severe issues due to the damaged legs getting infected.

I thought one of my girls might have fallen victim of those nasty things, but on closer look her legs look normal. Whew. But I took the opportunity to do more reading and found something interesting. I'm going to pass it along here in hopes of spreading good information.

Most posts I saw said that it's necessary to do a complete clean out and treatment of the coop, nest boxes, perches, etc. to kill the mites. Turns out that scaly leg mites live their entire life cycle only on the bird. Other types of mites can live and breed elsewhere in the coop, but not scaly leg mites. Which makes treatment so much less complicated.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I don't know how run space is calculated, but I figure it's big enough if the grass can keep up with the population of chickens foraging and scratching. If they turn it into a barren wasteland... Too small!

General rule of thumb is 4 sqft per bird in coop, 10 sqft of run per bird (you can do less, I have used anywhere from 8-10 sqft total for birds depending on their size).  Even at those first larger numbers they're still turn it barren.  It's been a while since I looked into it but I want to say for them to not destroy it the requirement is something like 200 sqft of pasture?

Edit:  I currently have three rescued hens in a 16x24 area, which works out to 128 sqft per bird and it is barren dirt.  Just as an FYI

Hi Matt.... not wanting to be argumentative, just discussing....

I've more often seen/heard 3 sq. ft. per bird for the coop.  And I would agree and even go a bit less if necessary based on my experience because....

my birds are inside only to lay and sleep.  They never go inside otherwise, so they are never milling around on the floor.  My nest box is even taking up some of that sq. footage. 

 
My pen is covered so there is no need for them to go inside during the rain or snow. 

Also, we should mention for newbies, the 10 sq ft per hen outdoors is the minimum recommended, just to keep them from pecking each other, etc.  And coop space doesn't substitute for run space.  (Suggestion.... lift the coop off the ground 3' and let the girls use that ground space.) 

I think one thing that I can generalize from cattle to chickens is this: no matter how much pasture you have for your animals, it'll last longer if you divide it into four pieces and move them between the pieces before they get chewed down.

Although today I do not feel competent to say anything: I have scaley leg mites on the older Hamburgs, AGAIN, and know I will never be rid of them until I get them OUT of that run (which is 200 sq ft for three birds), treat them with Emprinex, and oil their legs, and put them on clean ground with clean perches. Which isn't going to happen until I get more help than I can afford, or feel comfortable asking for.

Bad day here in the feelings of dread and incompetence department.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I was given 3 chickens in need of help here is a couple of pics of their feet. I read that cooking oil helps and this could be mites Will the more experienced please help me help them? This is the roo. This is the hen. Poor baby picks up that left foot, I can imagine that she must be in some pain. Help please. I will be leaving shortly but will be back. This is the fastest moving thread I thought of to get a response from. Thanks in advance.

Heh, heh, heh and there they are: that's a BAD infestation of scaley leg mites, to be sure. I've heard of using WD40, but my chickens hated me for a week after I tried that. Trader Joe's spray olive oil is cheap and works well. The chicken-whisperer's mom says vaseline. You need a systematic treatment (Emprinex, for instance) and also an external pesticide (Permithrin in a dust bath with sand and diatomaceous earth and peppermint oil was what finally knocked the blighters) and clean perches, clean, ground, and no source of reinfestation They drive me spare: I have never had any other mites, but these blamed things are persistent.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Since I've confessed to the blasted leg-mites, I might as well put up the pictures I took to try to demonstrate to Matt the reasons Elvis has his good points along with his bad tail. Unfortunately the only time I've had to take photos was right after I'd given them their compost treats- sow bugs and red worms, yum! So they were not interested in posing.

That's Maggie on the left- her dark comb is a DQ, probably, but has not been inherited. She's the nearest to an egg a day hen that I have (about 6.5 a week) Terre is behind Elvis and has the best breed characteristics and is the one I can pick up pretty regularly; they're all tame, but I'm slow and clumsy and they don't have to move much to get away from me (and if they're out of the run I can catch all of them, I dunno, they're inconsistent).

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I was given 3 chickens in need of help here is a couple of pics of their feet. I read that cooking oil helps and this could be mites Will the more experienced please help me help them? This is the roo. This is the hen. Poor baby picks up that left foot, I can imagine that she must be in some pain. Help please.

Definitely looks like scaly leg mites. Dipping in oil daily works, because it suffocates/drowns the mites. You could use frontline if you're not opposed to chemicals.

Other than making the legs look and feel awful, what affect does leg mites have on the hens?

It definitely reduces lay.

 

[hennotrooster]

Thank you all for the advice. These 3 were given to me yesterday and before bringing them home I dusted their yard very well and the yard and coop for my original girls, I even dusted them. When I got the three in for the night I dusted their feet and their feathers. Not sure what to start with I guess I will bring them in and dip their legs in vegetable oil tonight and put them back in their coop for the night. They may not be able to hold on to their dowel to perch.

Someone asked "how does it affect the hen?" being that she hikes up her leg and is willing to stand on only one I will take the leap and say she is in pain, and the roo has a limp, which is not a good thing to live with.

Vaseline, WD40, I will smother the pests any way I can I think the hen is an old girl. The white hen lays a light blue/greenish egg I will assume that they are EE's. The roo is a little guy not very big at all. The neighbor has a naked neck roo that I will be going over to get as well. The chickens were left behind and they do not care to keep them, so adopt we did I only hope that I can get this mite issue cleared up so they can be comfortable the white hen does not see to have the issue.


They kept turning from me when I tried to get their photos. They are not human social, they take flight when I go into the yard. how can I teach them to interact with me as my others do? The little brown girl seems to be an old hen not sure if she is still laying today is my first day with them. He is not aggressive toward us at all stays away from us completely and so does the white hen. The brown one will approach then quickly leave. Isn't he a handsome roo? does anyone know from his back side what breed he might be? Thank you for your advice.

 

[hennotrooster]

Carolyn to me it looks very painful they seem to have had a rough life I am glad that the neighbor thought to ask us if we wanted them. I will oil tonight but when I do get the Emprinex do I apply that first then oil or visa versa? Well it seems I have some work to do. Thanks

 

[Hinotori]

They kept turning from me when I tried to get their photos. They are not human social, they take flight when I go into the yard. how can I teach them to interact with me as my others do? The little brown girl seems to be an old hen not sure if she is still laying today is my first day with them. He is not aggressive toward us at all stays away from us completely and so does the white hen. The brown one will approach then quickly leave. Isn't he a handsome roo? does anyone know from his back side what breed he might be? Thank you for your advice.

Treats are the way to them coming to like you. Really tasty treats are the best. With my birds, bread has always been a winner as have dry roasted peanuts.

 

[hennotrooster]

Treats are the way to them coming to like you. Really tasty treats are the best. With my birds, bread has always been a winner as have dry roasted peanuts.

My original 5 walk all over my feet and will jump up on the bowl I take out with breakfast for them but they were held and socialized with us when they were chicks so they come running when they hear is. I do not believe that these 3 had that type of interaction. I sat in the yard for a bit with them but they stayed away from me and lord forbid that I move the went into a tail spin except for the oldest of them she just moved away. I guess I will just have to make myself part of the yard till they get used to my being their source of food and protection. My 5 girls will come to the back door and beg for more food as if they do not get fed. I sit there with a bowl of treats for them. Thanks

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I was given 3 chickens in need of help here is a couple of pics of their feet. I read that cooking oil helps and this could be mites

Will the more experienced please help me help them?

This is the roo.

This is the hen. Poor baby picks up that left foot, I can imagine that she must be in some pain.

Help please. I will be leaving shortly but will be back. This is the fastest moving thread I thought of to get a response from. Thanks in advance.

Quickest treatments for leg mites are coating in vasoline or nustok. It takes about 3 weeks to completely get rid of/heal the legs.