Solitary chicken - need advice

[whoopsie]

hi All

 

My friend is about to rehome some chooks and they have been living with others wo have scaly leg. I thought this was infectious and they were all at risk if they lived together? Please can you advise me and i'll pass it on to her (trying to persuade her to join!). I'm thinking of getting some more from the same source and would like to know if it's a good idea. Thanks in advance x

[The Dogmother]

Yes, they will all be at risk from getting the mites, but the previous owner has been slack in not using a preventative and spray on a regular basis to stop them getting mites. Personally I wouldn't re-home any bird which I knew to have health/parasite issues as you'd face a lengthy isolation and risk infecting your own flock.

 

Farm vets will usually recommend a spot-on preventative to be used quarterly, and a spray containing permethrin* to be used in 2 treatments a week apart on any mites/lice that are visible.

 

*not licensed for use on poultry in the UK

[whoopsie]

Thank you that's very helpful, and what I thought. I don't have any girls at the moment to infect but I don't want to start with an issue, plus these girls are already 5. I will tell my friend - apparently the owner has been treating them but with no success so maybe it's really bad. She's moving to Australia so needs to home the girls before she goes, I hope she can.

[The Dogmother]

I am sure you're offering to help out with the best of intentions, but I'd avoid old and unhealthy hens if you can. Scaly leg can be very nasty, causes them a lot of pain if left and will eventually make them lame or even kill a bird when an infection sets in.