Re: Lame chicken - advice please ? Scaly Leg Mite!!!

In article <1h9dq8g.1k0xwzegz6dr4N%fowls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
fowls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (nuele mersch) wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet <Omelet@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Scaly leg mites in chickens can cause lameness. Scaly leg mites bore
> > under the scales on the legs of the chicken. The scales enlarge, get
> > rough and become infected. If not treated early the bird may go lame. To
> > treat, soak the bird's legs in an oil or cream to suffocate the mites.
> > Treat every 3 to 4 days for 2 weeks. The old scales will then fall off
> > over time and be replaced with new scales.
>
> Works a treat.
> I've treated my neighbour's five chickens that way (I used vaseline, but
> I suppose with feathered feet something like sunflower oil would be
> easier to use).
> Two of them had it so badly that parts of their toes had already fallen
> off, it was the worst infection I've ever seen. The cockerel's spurs
> were invisible, so thickly were his legs covered in scales. Horrible.
> However, one little bantie didn't seem to be affected at all! Of course
> I treated all of them.
>
> Repeating every 4 days did the trick. I had used vaseline on mine
> before, but only once or twice, and it always came back until I was told
> the schedule you mentioned, and followed it strictly. In fact, I
> repeated it five times every four or five days, which means my treatment
> lasted about three weeks.
>
> One tale that is often told is that hens get it as they get older, but
> in my flock only some of the pullets had the scales, and the old hens
> didn't. They may have carried the mites, though. No new bird enters (or
> re-enters, e.g. after a show) my coop without a quarantine and repeated
> checks for lice, and a routine vaseline treatment. (learned that the
> hard way)
>
> what makes you think the sparrows give it to the hens?
>
> Nuele (D)

That is actually a direct quote from the website I mentioned. :-)
I personally used a combination of pyrethrine spray and Olive oil...

I was told by another chicken breeder that sparrows carry scaly leg mite.

It had to have been carried in from somewhere to infect my bantams.
There are no other chickens that close to my flock, and I quarantine new
birds.

Sparrows and wild doves ate the grain in my henyard.



Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson
.