HELP

[rogandodo]

my chicken has swollen crusty feet which we think is severe scaly foot mite but it's really really bad. she has mobility problems and we just started her on her treatment of foot baths vasaline and frontline yesterday, but today she hasn't come out of her nesting area. she's been eating and drinking and acting fine but she hasn't come out at all. Any insight into what's going on would be massively appriciated

 

[chrismahon]

Scaley leg mite is extremely painful (effectively the scales are being ripped off the feet) so walking can be a problem in severe cases Rogandodo. Coupled with fungal infection which occurs in the mite poo and it's worse. Someone suggested a soak in vegetable oil for 5 minutes, once a week for three weeks, worked for them and conditioned the scales as well. I haven't tried this but intend to. Benzol Benzoate solution was the original vet treatment but I have heard it is difficult to get hold of. When we treated fungal leg infection with mite we used herbal oils which smothered the mite as well. But they were a one-off from a medical herbalist so I don't know what was in it. Took about 6 months for the old scales and fungus to drop off and new scales start to grow.