TREATING SCALY LEG MITES (SLM) ~ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Super helpful! Thank you for taking the time to add all the photos.

very informative. however, I will say that gently massaging her feet in vegetable/ canola oil works too!

So very helpful and so very clear. Thank you. Love how calm your chooks look helping you demonstrate with the photos. Much appreciate your step by step and also the alternative ways to treat. Very helpful.

Everything I needed to know about what to do for my chickens' feet is right here, clear and easy to understand. Thank you!

I really liked how the article covered different ways for treating bumblefoot

I liked the different ways to treat a chicken's legs explainded in the article. All should work well getting rid of mites and nits.

I am giving this article a high rating because of the multiple suggested ways to treat SML, and the thorough, detailed instruction with photos.

This was the most informative article on SLM. Thank you so much.

Very informative!

Thank you for the article. A couple of my hens SLM got bad while I was distracted after my youngest was born. I am grateful to have some options for bad cases.

I wanted to share a simpler way to treat scaly leg mites. I found on YouTube (the chicken whisperer) couple of years ago and have refined a bit. Use an old pot, ~20cm (8") diameter. Put petroleum jelly (Vaseline or other brand) in pot to depth of at least 6cm (2.5"). At night, heat until liquid, then let cool until just opaque - test with finger, should be warm and coat finger - not too hot, don't want to hurt chickens feet, but not too cold, need to coat leg. Will form a seal, like plastic case over finger. Put warm pot on stable clean surface in coop, easier on your back if not on ground. Pick up roosting chook from Perch, lower into V to cover whole feet and legs, not feathers, then hold chicken out in air for at least one minute (ensures V set, not fall off when touches perch), carefully put back on perch, will be bit slippery, make sure chicken has footing before let go. Repeat for rest of flock, even if no sign of mites, can spread between chooks. Can reuse V infinite times (heat each time, top up when gets too shallow). Effective, painless, quick. Makes seal over whole leg and foot, so mites can't breathe and die. Can repeat application if think didn't get good enough seal. Takes about a week to start see results. Very effective. Does need lots of V to start with, but can reuse. Works regardless of outside weather (will still make coating on chooks feet in hot weather, bit quicker if really cold). Stressfree for you and chickens. I use just enough light to see chickens and pot (angle mobile phone light down, away from chooks eyes). Hope is helpful to others.

Great article!! i have a dumb brain so the summary at the bottom helped. The rubbing alcohol doesn't hurt?

Super article. The pictures and helpful comments make this extra helpful. Thank you so much!

Bookmarking!
Well written instructions and great photos.
Can't wait to see more photos added as you continue with treatment and see the final outcome.

Very good article!

Can you add pictures of the legs after treatment?

This is a wonderfully well written article.

Simple and informative.