HELP!! SCALY LEG MITE?!?!

[The Backyard Bantams]

I don’t know how well they’ll take the treatment

A couple weeks ago, we had “chicken spa day”

Eb is the most tolerant of me, she’ll run away if I don’t have food, but puts up with small cuddles and walks around my street. I did her first, soaking her footsies, clipping her nails, gently filing her beak, trimming her butt feathers, and finally clipping her wings.

I knew Kiwi was the most skittish, she HATES being picked up. But, I wanted to get it over with. I tried soaking her feet. She hates it. I tried burritoing her to clip her nails. I was SO CAREFUL NOT TO HIT THE QUICK! I clipped like 1mm of her long nail. It started bleeding. I felt SO BAD! I stopped the bleeding and dipped it in cornflower, it has been fine since. Clipping her wings was also so hardddd!

I did poppy and chai’s wings with not TOO much difficulty, but overall, my chickens did not enjoy it

Funnily enough, I got them as young pullets, spent hours everyday in the coop, feeding them and sitting there quietly, and they hate me so much. I have my second batch of chicks now, got them much younger. It’s been so nice, I’m really hoping to get a cuddly chicken out of them!

People say to “flake the scales off”. The scales aren’t loose?? I don’t want to pull them off, wouldn’t that hurt? I think my plan is to soak them in water, dip in vegetable or canola oil, and put Vaseline on as best I can??

So is it ok if I can’t disinfect the whole coop? I’m due to clean it out soon, but my site was out of stock of hemp bedding, so I’m waiting in it a bit longer.

Also, do I have to treat the chicks? They aren’t properly quarantined.

Some photos of chicken spa day

I love how she poses the prettiest when she’s in the compost pile

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

After you soak them in warm water for ~20 minutes, you will be able to flake *some* scale off. Severe SLM will push them up alot and make the scales very "thick" so the top layers are easily taken off. For lesser cases, it is not as important. In all cases, the active part is the petrolatum/oil that suffocates the things and destroys them in place.

Some breeds are notoriously unlikely, easter eggers are one I think. I had one who had very pretty and soft feathers and would run away and fight and complain.

The coop isn't as big a priority for SLM. Other offenders like feather mites require a thorough disinfection because they travel so fast.

For nails, if they are outside alot and have hard surfaces to use, they often keep their beaks and nails at the correct Length. If you want to trim them, a human nail File reduces that risk.

I am unsure about the Cicks.

 

[The Backyard Bantams]

Only chai has it, but it hasn't gotten better or worse. Treatment doesn't seem to help. Other than that, she's healthy and happy.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

It is possible it is not an infest but just the way her feet are.