Scaley leg mite

[kathyd]

Hi

Been treating this with a spray bought specially for the purpose in the UK, and rubbing vaseline in every day or two. Some of the crusty stuff seems to be dropping off by itself, and things were looking better until I checked again today. Poor little thing seems to have lost that little toe at the back of her leg, and the bump that's left is red and sore. No idea what to do about it, have put vaseline on for now. The scales on her ankle on one leg in particular have lifted so far they look as if they're about to drop off - is this normal? If so, do they re-grow? Again, seems to hurt her when I try to apply vaseline very gently. Should I be doing something else? I read somewhere you should use a soft toothbrush and baby shampoo to remove softened cruddy stuff, is this necessary? I'm worried about causing more pain unless it's essential.

Possibly linked, I don't know, but most of them seem to scratch their heads quite a lot, and the scaly leg girl also has days where she shakes her's a lot, but not every day. I did put some of the spray onto my fingers one day and rub it into everyone's wattles and combs (apart from one little madam I can't catch), but they're still doing the same thing. Is this just coincidence? Or should I continue to try to get the spray onto them all? I'm beginning to get a bit paranoid now...

[RichmondHens]

Itching and shaking is usually a sign there is a parasite somewhere, either lice or mites. Can you get Diatom in France?

Re the scaly leg, the best treatment I find is surgical spirit. Hold legs submerged in a jar full for 3 minutes. Unless very bad only one treatment is needed. It is a two man job though, one to hold the hen in (spirit should reach the feather line on the legs) and one to hold the jar steady - they do have a habit of kicking out as you withdraw the legs. The spirit is reusable, just screw the lid back on the jar very tightly.

The scales do take a while to moult off, you may not see a difference for several months at least, but as long as they are not getting worse then you have probably killed the mites. Unless you have a lot of hens I would recommend doing all of them even the ones showing no symptoms.

[kathyd]

Hi RH, thanks for your reply. Google.fr doesn't show any French results for diatom no, but I'll try to remember to get out UK neighbours to bring some across next time they come, although that may not be until much later in the year. I'll see if I can find surgical spirit - haven't tried to get that because I assumed a dedicated scaly leg mite spray would do the job! I have to say her legs look better after the spray and the vaseline, even after just a week or two. I did spray all the others as well, but only the once so far. Probably should do them again to be on the safe side. I'm not sure how to spray their wattles and combs though, without getting it in their eyes.. which is why I just used my fingers last time. Maybe I just need to keep repeating it.

Can you please clarify for me too - daft question probably! - which bit is the ear on a chicken?? They have a red and white flappy bit, and above it a tuft of short feathery / furry looking stuff in a circle. Is the ear the furry bit or the flappy bit??

Thx

[VirginVegGrower]

The ears are on the side of the head above the wattle. Kind of where our ears are. You can't mistake them.

[petal]

benzyl benzoate (hyperdrug on line sells it) is the only answer to terminating scaly leg permanently. Its in sweet itch ingredients for horses- a miracle cure- I so recommend it.

[Nicos]

I just keep going with Vaseline. 2 - 3 weeks nightly.
Then wait for the moult.
If it looks worse I start again.

Seems to work.

Strangely only one of my cockerels has ever had the problem....out of 15 chooks!

[kathyd]

That's lucky Nicos . I've been using vaseline on the leggy one every couple of days, and spraying all of them every few days to be on the safe side. She does seem more comfy. They can't be passed on via the grass can they?

[tlck9]

I used surgical spirits then vasaline. I had used the proper spray but it was near on useless & the problem didn't go away. Used surgical spirits, trying to get you chicken to stand in a bowl of it neat is somewhat are work. I put a saline on after & touchwood she hasn't had them back

[cozeekitten]

Scaley leg

I have tried surgical spirit, Vaseline, so far sudocream seems to be the winner apparently there is something in it that kills the mites

[Snadger]

I had a speight of this.........then the wet weather hit us. Thought the chickens would get trench foot instead what with all the mud. Cured the scaly leg mite though, the mud must have suffocated the little blighters!

[tlck9]

Got it back in two chucks but since henna got it it was easier to spot, so poor things ar getting covered in vasaline!