Fowl Pox

I am new to raising chickens, my chicks were born April 209 and I have 11 pullets. About a month or so, I noticed on one of my barred rocks a black spot on its comb. Since I didn't know any better I thought it was a freckle. However, I now see that a few more birds have this and the original bird has more spots on its comb. There are no symptoms of disease, birds are eating and laying well and do not seem to have any respiratory issues, etc., I have a few questions (1) Is Fowl Pox contagious to humans? (2) Will this kill my flock? (3) Is there medication for this? (I fed my chicks medicated feed when they were little) (4) Does this need to be reported at the city, state or federal level? (5) If there are any birds in my flock not exhibiting any visual symptoms, should I keep them seperated from the infected birds or is it too late?

I am not sure if this is important, but the varieties of birds I have are barred rocks, rhode island reds, golden comets and light brahmas.

If these questions seems stupid, I am sorry, I just don't know how they got this as I am very careful to keep everything clean and they have not been exposed to other birds, etc.,

Tina

Hi there. If you look at the blue bar near the top of this page and click the word "search" you can do a search for fowl pox. There are a lot of threads about how it spreads and how it's treated. It's not communicable to humans, so you'll be safe caring for your birds. Good luck!

Here's the link to a page of info about fowl pox;

https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-diseases-AvianPox.html

As the other commenter already noted, it's not contagious to humans (but it is to other birds, so if you have pet birds indoors, be careful to wash your hands, leave your shoes outside, etc., to avoid contaminatioin). Dry pox is usually not deadly, but if a bird contracts wet pox (lesions forming inside the mouth and throat), it can be...although not always. Our little roo came down with wet pox but recovered and now he's fine.

There is no medication for fowl pox because it's a virus. Sometimes birds will get secondary bacterial infections under and around the lesions, and you can give them antibiotics for this. As far as I know, fowl pox does not need to be reported to authorities (it's pretty common).

Fowl pox is transmitted by mosquitoes. The birds get lesions where they've been bitten, usually on combs, wattles, legs (unfeathered areas). It can be transmitted from bird to bird through contact with the scabs, though, so if you can isolate the affected birds it's a good idea to do so, although this doesn't mean your other birds won't also come down with the disease through mosquito bites, too.

Just watch your birds carefully to see how they're doing, and offer supportive care (warmth, isolation, extra food) if any start acting not right. The disease will run its course and then your birds won't get it again (although the scabs that drop off could infect next year's batch of chicks or any new birds coming in, so you might want to clean out the bedding after all of your birds have recovered). You can vaccinate for fowl pox.

First off, yeap all the info on the above post is dead on.
But, is it just black dots, or is it more like pussed up wart like knots, as that is fowl pox, little black dots could be anything, can you post a pic.
There is a fowl pox, wing stab vaccine for birds, I use it as a precaution as I had it many years back..and yes once they get it, you just have to hope they pull threw, wet pox is more deadly than dry pox too, wet is internal knots, dry are external.
Post a pic or two before you get too excited though, you may just have parasites on them that can easily be treated with a quick dusting of Sevin dust
Good lcuk
Aubrey

Occasionally my birds will have a black spot or two on a comb. I assumed it was a scab from the rooster mounting them and hanging on to whatever he could reach. There is no sign of sickness, unless abundant energy and voracious appetites are signs of disease.

yep, can be from that, insect bites, fleas and such, or several other things too

From what I have read thus far on the topic...No need to report to anyone as it is a common ailment among chickens that is transmitted via mosquitos. It doesn't transmit to humans. I just found this on my chickens and I will take the same action as I do whenever any of my animals show signs of illness. I use Sovereign Silver Brand Colloidal Silver (I use this particular brand as it is manufactured differently than all the other brands so the silver particle stays within the molecule, doesn't deposit into the tissues). I will add 1-2T per gallon of water & in this instance I will add this for a month.

Now trying to find out whether it is transmitted to dogs...