Scaly Leg Mites in Chickens – Symptoms & Treatment
Scaly leg mites make a chicken’s leg look thick, scabby, and rough. It’s very common in domestic poultry and can be dangerous when left untreated. We discuss the condition, the symptoms, and how you can treat and prevent scaly leg mites in chickens.
- What are scaly leg mites?
- Symptoms
- Causes
- Transmission
- Treatment
- Prevention
- The Scaly Leg Mite: K. Mutans
- Summary
Let’s start by addressing first-aid products to help out your chicken immediately. Several over-the-counter products are available to provide first aid and supportive care to treat scaly leg mites in chickens:
What are Scaly Leg Mites?
Scaly leg mites are microscopic critters that nestle under the keratin scales of a chicken’s legs and feet. The mites dig minuscule tunnels beneath the skin, damaging the underlying tissue. This results in thick, scaly, and crusty skin. It’s painful and causes deformations and toes to fall off.
Symptoms of Scaly Leg Mites
The symptoms of scaly leg mites are:
- thick, rough skin on legs and feet
- crusting, scabbing, and flaking of the skin
- uneven scales and scales lying disorderly
- lifted scales or bumps in the skin
- deformation in the feet and toes
- irritation and itching
- lameness and difficulty walking
In the early stages, the scales lose their bright and slick appearance, and you start to see some crusting and thickening of the skin.
A veterinarian uses skin scrapes under the microscope to identify the mites for diagnosis.
Causes of Scaly Leg Mites
The condition is caused by tiny mites: Knemidocoptes mutans. They are so small they can’t be seen with the naked eye. The burrowing mites have little claws to dig tunnels and feed on the keratin underneath the unfeathered skin of the legs.
The tunnels in the underlying skin tissue cause swelling, irritation, and inflammation of the skin. In severe cases, the toes and legs can become malformed.
For a long time, scaly leg mites were thought to be a fungal infection.
Transmission of Scaly Leg Mites
The primary form of transmission is through direct contact, where the mites jump from bird to bird. They can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, other domestic poultry, and wild birds.
Transmission of scaly leg mites can occur in several forms:
- Direct contact, the primary form of transmission
- Prolonged close contact when roosting or when mothers are raising chicks
- Indirect contact via feed contamination, face rubbing on the perches, or sharing of unfumigated pieces of equipment from a previously infected poultry flock
Treatment of Scaly Leg Mites
Scaly leg mites can be hard to eliminate. It takes 6-8 weeks for recovery, or even more. It’s best to act quickly.
Treatment consists of:
- killing the mites by suffocating them or using medication
- treating the skin with ointment to keep it moisturized for healing
- removing dead skin and scales regularly
- cleaning and disinfecting the entire chicken coop and replacing the bedding
Mild cases
Repeat this every few days to treat mild cases of scaly leg mites:
- soak the chicken’s legs in lukewarm water added with Epsom Salt
- remove any dead skin and clean the scales
- dip the legs in oil to suffocate the mites
- clean the legs and apply a thick coating of vaseline to lubricate the skin or apply a commercial anti-scaly leg mite remover
You can use any available household oil, like olive oil, coconut oil, neem oil, or linseed oil.
Be careful when cleaning the scales; they can bleed if you pull them off. If the legs are dry and scrubby, use a small brush to ensure you get the jelly in all spots.
Many poultry keepers add petroleum or petroleum-based products to the mix to loosen the scales. Petroleum is toxic to chickens, so we won’t recommend it here, but it’s still an effective practice that even veterinarians use.
As an alternative, many commercial treatments are available, usually as a spray.
Severe Cases
A veterinarian will prescribe medication if the condition worsens.
For severe cases of scaly leg mites:
- Apply Ivermectin or an equivalent either in oral or injectable form
- Use mild disinfectants like Savlon or antimicrobial Hibiclens to clean the legs
Treatment will take about three to five weeks, but it can take much more time for the new healthy scales to regrow. The feet can look deformed for quite some time, even when the mites are gone.
In very severe cases, the damage can be permanent.
Prevention of Scaly Leg Mites
To prevent scaly leg mites:
- use toe spray monthly on chickens prone to leg mites
- prevent wild birds and ducks from accessing the coop
- keep the coop dry and clean
- regularly check the legs of your birds
- keep new flock members quarantined for a while
- practice good biosecurity
The Scaly Leg Mite: K. Mutans
The responsible mite is Knemidocoptes mutans and is widespread in domestic fowl. The tiny burrowing mites have a roundish body with tactile hairs and claws.
A single mite lives for about two to three weeks. For most of its lifetime, it’s actively digging tunnels underneath the skin. The mites mate on the chicken, and the females lay their eggs in the small tunnels they burrow in the skin tissue.
Summary
Scaly leg mites are tiny little mites that dig tunnels under the skin of a chicken’s leg. This results in thick crusty skin and deformities. These mites can be hard to get rid of, so it’s a good practice to regularly check the legs of your birds.
When you notice any of the early signs, simple treatment with any available household oil and vaseline may be enough. For more severe cases, a veterinarian will prescribe medication.
Treatment is important. The condition is painful and causes deformations and loss of toes when left untreated.
Further Reads
Another common mite that affects backyard chickens is the red mite.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
No, the mites are host specific and do not affect humans, only domestic poultry and wild birds.
No, the mites can not affect dogs or cats and will only affect domestic poultry and wild birds.
No, scaly leg mites are Knemidocoptes mutans and feed on the keratin layers of the chicken’s skin. Poultry red mites are Dermanyssus gallinae, and feed on a chicken’s blood. While scaly leg mites are too small to see with the naked eye, you can see red mites crawling around in the coop.
Dr. Abrir A. is a licensed veterinarian with many years of experience on poultry farms and poultry feed. He has published several scientific articles on poultry diets, amino acids, and prebiotic usage in poultry. Dr. Ibrar is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in animal nutrition and nutritional diseases.
