veg shortening and mites

[Andi]

Luckily I haven't had to deal with this issue yet (hopefully never will), but it seems to me that scaly legs and mites aren't a normal thing. I mean chickens didn't evolve having them. There wasn't someone to oil up their legs when they lived in the wild. There must be something that's creating conditions that increase the likelihood of bring scaly legs and mites on. Wouldn't it be better to eliminate conditions where scaly legs and mite are more likely to occur? I'm not sure what conditions those would be, so if anyone knows, I'd appreciate the knowledge. Also, I use DE. Would that help?

 

[leighhancock]

Will Adams Flea and Tick spray get rid of the leg mites? Or just prevent them?

 

[Andi]

Bump

Still hoping someone can answer our questions.

 

[Lollipop]

Adams is great stuff and will kill any mites or lice, however all that is needed for leg mites is somekind of oil to drown them. You don`t need to spend the bucks on any medication........Pop

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Andi, mites and lice of all kinds are carried to your birds by contact with wild critters like birds, rodents, etc. Dust bathing helps keep the problem down, but the fact that our birds use the same roost night after night ads to the problem of leg mites. They hide and lay their eggs in the pores of wood perches. That`s why you should oil the roost whentreating for leg mites. Never used DE, but many folks use it with good results on lice and mites as a preventative. DE will not kill scaley leg mites or stop an infestation of other mites and/or lice, oil must be used as the idea is to drown the little suckers..........Pop

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
It will get rid of them and I think it prevents for up to 2 months If I am not mistaking.

I guess I should have been more specific in my first reply.... I don't grease every birds legs every few weeks just the feather footed birds I have, they seem to be the only ones who are prone to it. the clean legged birds have never had problems. That adams spray is great, you can get in the cracks of the coop and even spray the roosts with it.

 

[scooter147]

The leg mites are a naturally occuring creature. They are brought into the environment by wild birds. I have yet to figure out how to keep wild birds off my property.
In the wild roosting birds will generally roost in different trees as a way of preventing a "build up" of leg mites in one spot.
I tried all kinds of remedies from veg. oil, Wd40, motor oil, vaseline (messy messy messy) Vetx, insecticide sold as a treatment of leg mite etc. etc. the Adams Flea and tick works the best for me. When my chickens first developed them I noticed a difference in their legs within a month. I've not had a problem since.

 

[Sissy]

Great stuff but use it only once a month
on the roost, have never seen mites or ??
how can you see on the featherd legged mites?
or do you just spray to be safe.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Oh yes they did, yes indeedy! My goodness, wild birds are teeming with mites and lice. Why do you think *they* are so keen on bathing and dustbathing? LOL

Pat

 

[Andi]

Quote:
Would changing the roosting boards, or rotating them out solve it? Depending on how a roost is built I can see that being a problem. What about occasionally going in and sanding the roosts? (Is it obvious I'm not too excited about the idea of oiling chickens?)