Please help with my silkie chicken's feet and how to treat lice

[MThomas08]

Hi all. We are quite new to chicken and trying to learn as much as we need to keep our pet chicken healthy and happy. Last week I tried to bath my silkie chicken and when I picked her up I saw her feet and thought they looked quite strange so I did some research and found out she would have lice. I checked her feet today and took photos then looked all over her body and she does have lice. I have four chickens all together and my question are,
- How do I treat her feet and lice on her body?
- I looked on all four of them and only my white silkie I found lice on, should I treat them all because they live together in the same coop? I would not be able to separate her because we only have one coop and they are all out in the garden most of the day, what should I do?
I feel very bad now that I just found out this after we have them nearly two weeks. I did clean their coop just before and springle "Pestene Insect Powder" in their coop and all on four of them but I think it would not be enough since she already got it. What else can we do to help her get rid of it? Please help us. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[TwoCrows]

That looks like Leg Scale Mites. They are microscopic parasites that burrow under the scales of the legs and toes. There are a few things you can do. Start with some Ivermectin Pour On for Cattle. Depending on how big your Silkie is, the dosage is generally 6 drops for large breeds, 3 drops for Bantams. So I would imagine your Silkie falls somewhere in between these. Get a medicine dropper and you are going to pull back the feathers on the back of the neck and drop 4 or 5 drops on the skin only. This stuff is useless on feathers, so make sure it hits the skin. I find it is easy to do this if you towel up the bird and lay them in your lap. And because this situation is so severe, you may need to repeat this dosage every 7 to 10 days for about a month.

Next, get some vaseline. You are going to gently rub this all over the scales to help soften them and this will also smoother the mites as well. Never pick at these crusts as they will bleed. Just let them fall off naturally. You will need to apply the vaseline every day to every other day for several weeks if not a month or more, depending. So don't expect over night improvement with this. Be patient.

Spray your roost bar down with some sort of poultry or permethrin spray. Make sure to get under the bar as well.

These mites travel fairly slowly from bird to bird, but keep an eye on the rest of your flock. You might give them all one dosage of the Ivermectin Pour On as well.

Another thing to consider is that many times when birds have external mites, they also have internal parasites as well. So consider worming your birds too.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Alex1010]

Leg scale mites are hard to get rid of sprinkle DE all over the coop

 

[Sonya9]

Frontline puppy and kitten spray should treat lice, squirt once under each wing. Usually only needs to be repeated every few months.

 

[Red Banks]

From the Chicken Chick

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html

I just followed her bumble foot procedure.

Hope this helps.

 

[BellsCluckers]

I think twocrows treatment would be really good for the scale mites. DE never hurts to sprinkle around the coop either. Good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

@MThomas08 Be careful with wild birds. Often they carry these mites. So keep your chickens away from wild birds and their feeders.

 

[MThomas08]

Thank you so much everyone, I can't find Ivermectine around my area and a phamarcy at the vet won't sell it to us because it's off label, but we did purchase one online last night so hopefully it will arrive soon.
What I got in hands at the moment is "Aristopet Mite & Lice for Ornamental Birds", "Vaseline", "Chlorhexidine" and "Pestene Insect Powder" but I will try to get the rest above you all mentioned, I will keep you posted.
Could you please also teach me what the best way to worm my chickens? I'm pretty sure now that they have got worm. Thank you so much for your advice, greatly appreciate it.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you so much everyone, I can't find Ivermectine around my area and a phamarcy at the vet won't sell it to us because it's off label, but we did purchase one online last night so hopefully it will arrive soon.
What I got in hands at the moment is "Aristopet Mite & Lice for Ornamental Birds", "Vaseline", "Chlorhexidine" and "Pestene Insect Powder" but I will try to get the rest above you all mentioned, I will keep you posted.
Could you please also teach me what the best way to worm my chickens? I'm pretty sure now that they have got worm. Thank you so much for your advice, greatly appreciate it.

Yes, you have to order Ivermectin. Most feed stores just don't carry it. You should start with the vaseline tomorrow. Stand the bird in a warm tub of water and gently wash off all the dirt and crud. Get the feet dry and then slather on the vaseline. Keep this bird in a clean place too after applying the vaseline so gunk doesn't get stuck to the vaseline.

Worming....many feed stores carry Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer. It is usually around the horse section. Get an empty syringe, no needle and you are going to give this orally down the throat. Generally it is 1/2 ml for large breeds, 1/4 ml for Bantams. So dose somewhere in between these for Silkies. Once a day for 3 days straight. Repeat in 10 days.

If you can't find the liquid goat wormer, you can also use the Equine Safeguard Paste. Not as effective but still works well. You can get this stuff at feed stores and even Walmart in the pet section. A pea sized or a bit smaller dolup on a piece of bread once for each chicken. Repeat in 10 days.

Wazine can also be used, but is only effective on Round Worms only. They are the most common worm in poultry, however there are other worms that can kill your birds as well. So I don't use Wazine much. However if this is all you can find, it is dosed 1 tablespoon Wazine to 1 gallon of water. Let them drink this for 2 full days. Repeat in 10 days.

I like to offer up probiotics as well in the water after worming to help rebuild the good bacteria in the birds system that could have been lost through worms and the chemicals used to rid them of parasites.

 

[MThomas08]

@TwoCrows Thank you so much for your advice, and sorry I forgot to mention my location, we live in Melbourne Australia but I will try to find everything you have mentioned above and I will keep you posted. Really appreciate your time. Thanks a lot.