Scaly Leg Mites - Need Best / Easiest / Quickest Solution - Scaley

[azygous]

Can you actually see the mites? If you use a hand lens will they be visible?

 

[Beekissed]

I've never tried...never heard of anyone else trying either.

 

[hearthwench]

Using castor oil for scaly mites sounds like a good idea. I have not even got my chicks yet...laughing. I have bucket-o-castor oil on hand because I use it in soap making.

From a soap making site-
Castor Oil is rich in fatty acids and is soothing and lubricating. It is a humectant that attracts moisture to the skin. Castor Oil is routinely used in hair oils, balms, and other thick emulsions for the skin and hair. In combination with other oils and as a superfatting agent, Castor Oil lends emolliency to soap formulations. It, however, should be used at a low percentage to keep the soap from becoming too soft.

I think a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the castor oil would be a great idea. I use some castor oil in my blend, with sunflower oil, for oil cleansing my face. This has been an informative thread. Way cool.

Debbi

 

[azygous]

How are leg mites transmitted? How does a chicken become infected?

Sorry for all these questions, but I'm totally ignorant on this subject, but I'm an extremely curious person.

My "patient" is a six-year old Brahma hen. Am I right to conclude a chicken's overall physical health and age may have something to do with susceptibility?

I feel badly now that I may have caused her pain when I squirted the eucalyptus oil on her legs and feet yesterday. She's going to get the epsom salt bath and castor oil treatment first thing this morning. I may just "Bag Balm" the rest of the flock to head off having this spread. Will that work?

 

[Beekissed]

Why not just use the castor oil on the rest of the flock?...it's a great preventative. The scale mites are transmitted bird to bird as they roost. Older birds can be more susceptible due to their older, larger and less close fitting scales. Some will spray neem oil or dust the roosts with sulfur or permethrin powder to also prevent further transmission. Another place to do so is in the nest boxes...sulfur or permethrin powder placed there can kill any mites or nits left behind.

 

[azygous]

Yuk! The CO sure is messy! My hen's legs and feet are already caked with dirt, attracted to the heavy oil. I trust this wears off.

These mites must be invisible. I can't see any sign of them in the nest boxes or coop. How do they get there in the first place? Are they present in the fresh wood shavings that come right out of the bag?

 

[LaLa Chickie]

 

[LaLa Chickie]

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed, How do you give it to 42 day old chicks, I have just started outside? I think one of them may have worms?????

Just pour a small amount down the throat...that's how I do it. Since it's a little bird, just do a pea sized amount.

 

[DylansMom]

Vaseline works for the scaley leg mites as well. We had 1 hen come down with a case of them last summer, we coated her legs with the Vaseline and she almost seemed to have some immediate relief. We repeated after 2 weeks and her legs looked fantastic a month later, new scales clean and soft looking. I don't know how much castor oil costs, but we get the big tub of Petroleum Jelly from the dollar store for a buck or two.