Autumn is now moulting big time. There are clouds of feathers wherever she has been. Trust her to wait until the start of the colder weather to moult. I decided to give the girls some fish to boost their protein which is supposed to help with growing feathers.
I am throwing everything I can at Autumn to treat her legs and feet. Three nights ago I started spraying with the scaly mite spray again. This is the spray that says to use every third night for three weeks but is almost empty so I ordered another spray. The next night I slathered Autumn’s legs and feet with vaseline. This is supposed to both smother scaly mite and help soften the scales making them more comfortable.
I have used two bottles of scaly mite spray so far with the constant treating of Autumn’s legs and feet. The new spray that arrived yesterday is a poultry scaly leg formula that you use every day for a week. This spray is oil based.
This afternoon I am going to bring Autumn in and wash her legs and feet as the vaseline has made the dirt stick to them.
I will then start Autumn on the new daily spray for a week. This is much quicker than the three week one.
I am treating Autumn again in case it is still scaly mites that are causing her to peck at her feet. I have done endless research on feet pecking and scaly mites. I read other chicken keepers’ stories on the forum – Reddit. I have discovered differing information on scaly mites.
Most people say scaly mite is an easy problem to sort out. They say one treatment gets rid of the mites. I would have agreed with that myself up until now. Dot had scaly mite last year and one treatment sorted out the problem. Sugar also had scaly mite last year and again this year and one treatment sorted her out both times.
But then I read someone’s story that they had scaly mite on one hen and found it, the devil of a job to get rid of, their words. This made me think that perhaps that’s what is going on with Autumn. Maybe she is that one case that’s really hard to get rid of. That’s why I am going to continue to treat her. She has stopped pecking since I have started treating again.
I also read terrible stories of hens pecking their scales off down to the bone and one case of a hen pecking her foot off. This is horrifying and I would have a hen put to sleep before I would ever let it get that bad.
Some people said that they were sure their hen didn’t have scaly mite as the scales were smooth and not raised. The comments said that maybe it was early and didn’t show yet. Others said the pecking started after treatment for scaly mite like with Autumn. I wonder if just one mite or one egg gets left behind and starts the whole thing off again.
So after treating Autumn three times in the last three months I am treating again and hoping a different spray might do the job. I can only keep trying and hope for the best.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
You are making maximum effort in a really difficult situation. I so hope that you have success
Me too. I have just had another thought. I felt really bad that both Dot and Sugar’s legs looked so bad with raised scales but maybe that meant the spray could more easily get underneath the scales. Autumn never looked so bad and I thought I had caught her early. Maybe that meant the spray couldn’t so easily get under the scales. I may be over thinking but you never know. Any way, I shall keep going and will chart any progress.
You can’t do more, Hope it al stops again.
I have to know that I am doing all I can. I really hope it works this time.