Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Scaly crusty legs. Mites I presume. Big Freedom, a hen with two month old chicks, and I just noticed yesterday. Caught her and splashed coppertox on the affected area. That should kill all mites and or fungus or leprosy there. This morning I caught her again and slathered on bag balm between the toes and up the leg over crusties. I will figure to do her like that once a day for the next week or so, gently scraping off scabby cruddy stuff, and she should heal up and be much more comfortable again.

I had the same thing a couple weeks ago with Bianca who hatched about the same time, mid October, and the treatment regime worked pretty well. But wondering, no others in the coop seem to have leg mites. I painted the perches with used oil last summer, which is my prophylactic for mites, fills the cracks and takes away the hidey habitat. Now both of these set their eggs in nest boxes. Wondering if the immobility of setting on eggs allowed the mites to take hold?

Anyone else with ideas about this? Noticed hens with leg mites particularly after brooding?

A couple pics I took, day three of treatment, this before I did any debriding and salve this morning. Sort of surprised, she is one I have not handled a lot and she is taking it relatively calmly, squawks when I hit a sore spot grumbles and complains but doesn't fight.

I helped a friend with this and we soaked the legs in warm water with baby shampoo, he really enjoyed this part. I also slathered with coconut oil and told him he was in an up market salon!

I agree with KB. I had issues with SLM awhile back, and found that a nice Epsom salts foot soak did much more for loosening scales and debris than rough scrubbing that I've seen suggested on other forums. That's gotta hurt! I used an old soft-bristled toothbrush to very gently remove any loose bits, then dried and applied VetRX. Coconut oil is even kinder, but it's what I had on hand, plus it contains Oregano oil, which is a really good antimicrobial/antiseptic. I reapplied every other day for about a week.

Yes, the immobility of a brooding hen attracts critters of all sorts. Scaly Leg is an ongoing battle here. You don't know you have them until they've been entrenched for a while and scales start to lift at the edges. After that happens, it's a short trip to the full-on scabby uglies. There is really nothing you can do to eradicate them from the environment, just kill them on the chickens and stay on top of them getting out of control by treating as soon as leg scales start looking rough. Looks like you're doing an excellent job, she should be good as new in no time!