white crusty feet

[Eggcessive]

There are mites in the dirt. Most chickens I have seen with leg mites have not been dust bathing, or are older and arthritic. Sometimes they have long toenails also from not wearing down the nails. Cleaning out old bedding and replacing with fresh is a good practice.

 

[CurlyChickenGirly]

Welcome to BYC! Sorry for this issue. I’ve never experienced it but it looks like there are members who know how to help.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi again, Amy,

We've had SLM (scaly leg mites) three prior times, and I'm noting they're getting them again. Over 8 years, four times is once every two years. I use diatomaceous earth in the coops, but that does nothing to prevent these kinds of mites.

@TwoCrows mentions two ways we've used. The first two times we did the vaseline. We go in at night while they're roosting. One holds the chicken while the other slathers around the toes, both sides of the foot, and up the leg. Then put that one back on the perch and take another. We repeated this every third day for three times.

We did this when we had just a few chickens. Then we had about 20 of them and greasing up 40 feet just didn't sound fun, so I got the Ivermectin Pour-On from TSC. I looked up how many drops, and for silkie size, it was one drop, for larger chickens two to three drops, on the back of the neck. You don't want to overdo it. We repeated in 7 days.

We'll be doing the Ivermectin on them this fourth time.

SLM take a long time to show improvement, so don't be disappointed. You may see some improvement in a few weeks, but to shed their scales and grow new ones or heal the injured ones takes months. Both ways do work! Good luck!

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC. I've dealt with scaley leg mites several time. Follow the advice you've received and be vigilant about following up your treatments. You will succeed.