Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: sussexchook on June 18, 2017, 10:44
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I've heard tea tree oil/vegetable oil works for scaley leg mite but what I don't know is how often do I repeat this process can anyone please help me?
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I think most go for weekly treatments for 3-4 weeks. Oil suffocates the mites, so the bird should stop pecking at its legs and the skin should calm down. The raised scales will stay until the bird grows new leg scales and sheds the old ones. Don't scrub at them or pick them off though.
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Vaseline works on the same principle
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This worked for me over the space of just over a week.
Get the cheapest bottle of cooking oil you can i.e. a quid. A one pint cooking jug or plastic tub. A volunteer to hold the jug/tub and dip both legs in at the same time for about 30 seconds once a day. Don't worry if it ends up on any feathers they will just look manky for a bit and won't come to any harm.
For the last two/three days stop the oil and use swarfega with a toothbrush and a volunteer. You need to scrub hard but not forcefully with the toothbrush slightly angled to get under any raised scales as the aim is to clean not remove them. The swarfega does not need to be cleaned off and a coating can be left on as it suffocates the mite the same as vaseline. Again they will look manky and end up with it on their feathers but do not worry.
Check all of your birds as the mite spreads at night when they are having a kip and clean the coop and use BioDri to hopefully stop any occurrence.
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you can also use over the counter remedy for crabs (human lice)
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Thanks very much for all your suggestions I will try it