8 birds, 3 are 12 months old, 5 are 6 month old, all but three young ones are laying. All but two adults have at least one dry pox lesion on their combs. It's been about a week since I noticed the first lesion, but a couple of my young ones are very fast and tend to avoid me, so it may have been a little longer. There hasn't been any standing water around, but I live in Florida; mosquitoes and other biting insects are just a thing here. Since I can't practically screen in the areas where the chickens are, bug-borne illnesses are a risk I have no choice but to take.
I know there's no cure once they have it. I've read about antibiotics in the drinking water during an outbreak to prevent secondary infection, but then I read that I have to throw out the eggs for up to a month after treatment. We go through far too many eggs for that, a dozen a week easily. Similar-quality (organic, more or less free-range) eggs around here are running between $5 and $6 a dozen. I don't want to spend money on eggs when I have a yard full of laying hens! What treatments are available to me that won't require me to throw away the eggs?
I know there's no cure once they have it. I've read about antibiotics in the drinking water during an outbreak to prevent secondary infection, but then I read that I have to throw out the eggs for up to a month after treatment. We go through far too many eggs for that, a dozen a week easily. Similar-quality (organic, more or less free-range) eggs around here are running between $5 and $6 a dozen. I don't want to spend money on eggs when I have a yard full of laying hens! What treatments are available to me that won't require me to throw away the eggs?
