Scaly Leg Mites

[danschicks]

I got a Barred Rock hen from a friend getting out of the chicken hobby. She is about 2 years old and still lays large brown eggs regularly. I noticed she had a bad case of scaly legs mites. She actually had been pecking her own legs and pulling the scales off. The crust was considerable and added a good quarter inch to the diameter of her ankles. Good thing he got out of the hobby!

Anyways, I took some vaseline, mixed it with 5% Sevin Dust and coated her legs from the feather line to the bottom of her feet. I waited 3 nights and applied again. I got a good look at her this morning and she is making a miraculous recovery. All the crust is gone, Some popped scales have come off and her leg coloring is returning to normal. The vaseline is helping with the snakeskin texture of the legs.

I knew vaseline smothererd mites, and carbaryl dust killed them, so I took a chance and mixed them. The hen is more lively now and does not peck or even seem to be bothered at all by her legs anymore. I will do one more treatment for good measure. Thought this might help someone in the future. - Dan

[RonL]

Thanks, Dan. Another one for the notebook .......

[tbcross]

Yeah Thanks Dan,
I am gonna remember that! A couple of months ago I got 4 little sultans that were supposed to be 7 mths old they were about 1/2 the size they should have been. I go them from a local "breeder" when I got there I knew I shouldn't buy them but I couldn't leave them there. They were standing in red mud as were the rest of his flock all in small rabbit cage like things most with no shelter in freezing temps. I brought them home and quarantined them, washed them, found they had the most horrific case of poultry lice I have ever heard of. I spent 3 wks. getting rid of the parasites and treating them for everything they could possibly have, (at least that's what I thought) I introduced them to the outside slowly to let them get used to the temps again, kept them in a chicken tractor seperate, even with all that care they died in a couple of days. They never did start to eat right again or drink for that matter. Broke my heart. I am glad yours is clearing up. And now if I ever buy adults again I will know what to do for this. Wish the guy who sold me mine would get out of the bird game but I doubt it. I did inform him and the local breeders club he belonged to of what I found and of the fact that he wasn't providing adequate shelter or treatment for his animals. The man who runs the breeders club there in that town said he would take a look and call authorities if necessary but I don't have a lot of faith that they will do anything as they just had a case where a man had left his 15 horses without food and water for more than a month back in Dec. till Jan. they knew that he had the horses there with no food and below zero temps with no shelter on little more than 2 acres and only did something when the horses began dropping in the fields. Frustrating!
Barb

[dragnlaw]

Dan, I know you kept her in quarrantine but still keep an eye on your other girls. Lice are so insidious!

Thanks for the recipe!

[Fowl Visions]

I got a hen from a friend that had scaley leg mites really bad over 9 months ago and I am still having problems dealing with it on my other hens now. I used vegetable oil on mine and it did work within a week but evidently the little bugs scattered because other hens got it in the long run.

I coated my roosting poles with the oil but I read somewhere that you should use WD-40 instead of the vegetable oil on the roosting poles. I don't know if that would have made a difference or not but the mites did manage to get into my flock.

[RonL]

Hi Fowl Visions. I wouldn't use motor oil. A better choice to rub on the roosts (and initially on the legs) would be one part kerosine to two parts raw linseed oil. Scaley leg mites are difficult to get rid of ......

[JamesC]

Fowl Visions:
The mixture of Kerosene and Raw Linseed Oil works very well but if you decide to use it, the proportions are 50/50; I think 2 Linseed Oil to 1 part Kerosene would burn the birds' legs. It can be used to dip the legs up the hock joints, and as Ron suggested, painted onto the roosts. Make sure to get it on the underside as well.

James

[cgmccary]

Campho-phenique, Mineral Oil or Vet-RX work as well. Many ways to smother them.

[Vampyra]

I love the Internet. I wish I would have had it with my first pet rooster. Although I cured his leg mites his legs were never normal. I knew he was cured because chickens I had later on, that ran around with him never got it. I never thought about coating his legs with petroleum jelly. He'd have been more comfortable I'm sure. He always walked funny.

Vamp

[MsBigA]

Thanks for the information Dan. I purchased 4 hens last Saturday without knowing anything about what I was doing. The hens are a little older than I would have liked (although, I am starting to get eggs) and they have scaly leg mites. I treated them yesterday with vasoline and cleaned their coop. I also sprinkled sevin dust. I haven't had a chance to look at them good today (due to rain) to see if I can see improvement. I will treat again in 4-5 days. Your information was very helpful.