[Elvira]

Having successfully treated Josephine for dreadful scaly leg (she now holds the title of "Miss Lovely Legs" in the coop), I have just discovered that she has kindly passed it on to the two white babies! 

I am using the Johnson's Poultry Scaly Leg Cream to treat them both as it was so successful with Josephine's legs (took 3 months of daily application - she seemed to quite like her daily pedicure and my nails were great at the end!!).

However I have found a hard growth on the bottom of one of their feet at around the heel - it looks like scaly leg and is hard like a build up of scales - doesn't look like bumblefoot or a spur (they are all silkie hens).  I was wondering if I could pare it away with a nail file or whether it is better to keep applying the cream which hopefully will soften it over time?  Any thoughts please!

[ghost61]

If it's on the back at or near the base, it's natural.  Mine all have a little wart like bump on their legs.

[joyfull]

could you post a photo as this may help others who have had similar to diagnose it.

[Beekissed]

Daily application for three months??  That seems like a very time consuming and long drawn out cure...is there nothing better over there on the market for such things?  If not, can you get your hands on some castor oil?  It works amazingly well, amazingly fast and it works without many repeated applications...worked on mine with just one application, for other folks with worse and further advanced infestations it can be applied once every two weeks and get the job done. 

[joyfull]

it will have worked quicker than 3 months but they will still look infected until your hen goes into a moult and loses her scales.

[Elvira]

I did it for so long because her infestation was so bad when I took her in and her feet were obviously painful - the cream clearly helped to soothe them.  Also the cream stays on longer than liquid and you can really work it under the scales as it is quite gloopy which helped to soften them - I have tried all sorts of sprays, Vaseline, various oils etc and they weren't quite as effective. I am aware that it has been suggested to put oil in a jamjar and dunk their legs in but my hens are only bantams with short wee legs (feathery in places) and when I tried that, there was more oil on me than left in the jamjar and none on the hen! 

Yes it was over a long time but it only took a few minutes a day and given the results, was definitely worth it as she is now scale free and has lovely new feathery growth on her feet.  I am watching her like a hawk though as I don't want her to catch it again from the babies. 

I would post a photo but it is a 2 man job - these small chickens are pretty wriggly!  Will see when the Husband can spare time from watching the bike racing/rugby/any sport and digging out stump in the back garden (now that is worth a photo!)

Thanks for the replies so far!

[grinling]

at least you did mother to hen bonding which is always great.
Tell hubby to dig wide circular trench around the stump as it is much easier to find all the fiddly roots, dug up various trees and shrubs form and the neighbours 20+, but they do lovely bacon sarnies.

Treat the hen house for mites after a thorough deep clean and bin the waste.

[Beekissed]

Oh, boy!  I didn't mean that to sound that way....     I wasn't criticizing your method, so please forgive me...I was just thinking about handling a chicken every day for three months and how tiring that would become and thinking of ways you could avoid that.  Sometimes I think out loud and don't proofread it afterwards....it's a life long problem of mine.    

I'm a fixer...I'm always trying to fix things and my fixes just blurt out sometimes.  Please forgive me?   

[Elvira]

No problem Bee - takes a lot more than that to offend me   

Oh yes Grinling - the excavation for the "stump" has been extensive! Keeps the Husband occupied for hours though which is a bonus