Scaly leg mites are small (invisible to the naked eye), but they tend to make diagnosis pretty simple. These mites spend their entire lives burrowing in the scaly, unfeathered areas of a bird’s legs and shanks or, less commonly, beak. A flaky or powdery appearance to a bird’s legs is often the first sign of a problem. Infestations can become gruesome as lesions form and eventually develop into the large, crusty “scales” that have earned the mite its name. These growths can cripple a bird if left unchecked – so you may want to have suspected cases confirmed by a lab as soon as possible but there are some quite simple treatments that can be very helpful in getting rid of the mites (especially if caught early) and are not too intrusive to your chickens – although if yours are not handled very often they are bound to be a bit indignant.
Step One : Killing The Mites
The simplest treatment for Scaly Leg Mites is to suffocate the mites which essentially means holding your chickens legs in a bowl of vegetable oil or baby oil etc for at least a minute or perhaps lathering their legs with vaseline. Any oil would work at sufficating the mites but obviously from your chickens point of view it needs to be a non-toxic one – your old motor oil would probably not be a good option for example.
If your birds will let you then soaking their legs in warm water and gently brushing away some of the dirt from underneath the scales should help soften and clean the scales ready for the treatment but if that is going to upset them too much just stick with the oil/vaseline initially so as not to stress your chickens out too much.
I say chickens – plural – because with parasites if one has them, they all do, and it is better to treat everyone together so they can’t keep spreading them between themselves.
Step Two : Re-apply at least once more
To be sure you have dealt with all the mites repeat the method you used to suffocate the mites at least once more in a week or so’s time.
Step Three : Clean the Coop
It is easy for parasites to hide out in the cracks and crevices and nesting material etc. so giving your coop a good clean and changing out the bedding can only help.
~ If you are dealing with a more advanced case and the leg scales are looking very lumpy and sore a stronger treatment such as Ivermectin may be advised by your vet (they still may also suggest using something like vaseline as well).
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