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Notice thickened skin on shanks as well as on feet with raised scales. This will slowly spread throughout the flock. If not treated will cause lameness and loss of toes.

TREATMENT: Smother mites. One treatment is to daily smother the legs & toes of the chicken with warmed petroleum jelly and garden sulfur powder for a minimum of 1 week using 1/2 cup of Vaseline to 2 tablespoons of dusting sulfur, rub in gently but apply thick. Then treat twice a week with warm Vaseline. This will continue to smother mites that hatch and loosen old, crusty scales. Don’ t expect raised scales to return to normal. Use warm petroleum jelly every few days to loosen scales. Gently wash the legs & feet with a mild soap and warm water.

PREVENTION:

On caged birds that are off the ground spray with WD-40 once every month or two. For ground keepers dust the floors with 10% Sevin Dust or Rotone which can be purchased at your feed store or local plant nursery. Many people are now also using diatamacious earth which seems to work well.   Also, be sure to get in cracks & crevices, the nesting boxes, and on perches in the cages as well as perches of the ground keepers. An old fashioned flour sifter works great. This helps prevent most lice & mites from taking over your barn .

Along with the above treatment to prevent future problems all burrowing mites can be controlled with Ivermectin (trade name Ivomec). Give bantams 5 to 7 drops by mouth; give large fowl 1/4 cc by mouth. This is also an excellent wormer for poultry. The can be used up to 3 times a year but is better used as part of your worming program.

Do not eat eggs or meat of these birds for a minimum of 2 weeks so plan your worming/parasite program ahead of time.