new hen may have scaley leg, what do I do?

[Anonymous]

just bought a hen and chicks and now she's settled i had a better look at her and either she is old or maybe she has scaley leg, her chicks are only a few days old so not sure on treating her. have been told soaking feet in surgical spirit daily for few days works and also been told covering them in vaseline works, so not sure what to do for the best, also how far could this spread as don't want any of my other girls getting it? am really worried as have never had to deal with this problem before so am gratefull of any help. thanks

 

[Tim]

OK she should be somewhere isolated from the others with her chicks.. it shouldn't spread to your other chickens if they are apart.

Scaly leg mite causes the scales on the feet to seriously stick out - very obviously...

Scaly leg mite info here. Yes, Vasaline works - never tried it myself but I would presume it's pretty safe with the chicks. I know quite a few people that have done this with great success.

If you have a photo, we might be able to confirm Scaley Leg mite...?

Tim

 

[Anonymous]

hi tim
she is in a seperate pen but is only about 4foot away from my girls is that far enough?
will try to get a photo when I get home from work tommorrow

 

[Anonymous]

hi. hard work as she's a big girl (orpington cross) and have only had her couple of days so she didn't approve of showing her legs off, but here are the best photo's I managed to get. any thoughts??

 

[Tim]

Hmm - looks like she's lost most of her scales..?

If she were mine I would definately think about covering her legs in Vasaline for a few days as a precaution. That way, nothing can spread and if it is scaly leg you're treating her.

I'm pretty sure it won't bother the chicks at this stage but keep an eye on them...


Tim

 

[snifter]

My understanding is if she has sat on the eggs herself and hatched then they too can also develop it.

To me it looks like, as Tim said, most of the scales have fallen off.

I've had a few with scaley leg (oddly never had it before but bought in some hatching eggs for the incubator and a few from the hatch developed it). I dipped their legs in surgical spirt once a day for a week and also smothered on Vaseline.

It takes a long while for the scales to grow out, so don't expect it to suddenly look better once treatment has finished. Usually 6 months to a year to fully go and new scales to grow back iirc.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for advise. i covered her feet with vaseline today. do i need to dip in sergical spirit then cover them or do one one day and one the next? i am unsure as never had this problem before, i did wonder if the last owner may of picked the scales off in an attempt to make her feet not so noticable?

 

[snifter]

I'd dunk in surgical spirit, then let them to dry and then smother in vaseline.

It takes a long time for the scales to grow out so you should still see them on there. You can pick away at them also I have heard but once the mites are killed, letting the scales grow out over time is fine. A good dunking and Vaseline for a week should do the trick just fine.

 

[Anonymous]

I found Sudacrem works well. It's used for baby's nappy rash and it seems to kill the mites and help repair the damage. It has various ingredients including Benzyl Benzoate which is one of the oft-quoted remedies for leg mite. Just rub it well into the gaps between the scales.