Rooster has black smudges on cone and face

I'm thinking it's fowl pox. Chickens get that from mosquitos, I've heard. It's something they just have to get over, sort of like when we get chicken pox. I think it might be good to isolate him from the others, so it does't spread by contact, and if he looks really sore or tender, you can apply some kind of topical ointment to make it feel better, but it has to run it's course.

You could give him an antibiotic in his drinking water if you think the sores might be getting infected. Vitamins and electrolites in the drinking water would be helpful, just to give him a boost and help him get through it.

OH! HE'S A BEAUTIFUL ARAUCANA! I LOVE HIM!

Good luck,
Sharon

Not like you think of a scab a person gets. I have had some wear it looks just like this and it feels rough but not like you think a scab would feel. It looks black when it dries, just like in the picture. I am not saying he doesn't have pox, just saying it looks like he got on a scrap.

Hi all,
Big thanks to everyone who has responded and given tips and advice!!

He is doing well and even though it has only been a couple days he is looking much better. I am thinking maybe he went next door (we live in an orchard so the nearest house is several hundred feet away but they sometimes wander that why while scratching around during the day...) Anyway, I know they have a rooster over there and he MUST have gotten in a brawl with the other Roo. None of my hens have come down with any black or white marks (thank goodness) and his seems to be improving daily.

I believe he is mainly Araucana... BUT, I can't be sure he's not somewhat of a mutt. I LITERALLY scraped him off the road one day on my way home after he had been hit by a car. He was probably only 3 months old at the time and I didn't realize right away he was a "HE". I have egg laying hens and had no interest in a rooster. Of course when I realized he was one, it was too late and I was already attached so now my poor hens have to deal with him

My roos get that when they fight. Its like a blood blister and not scabby. It goes away. Hope its just an injury for you!

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Glad it appear he has just been fighting with the neighbor!... It is a shame they are not as cheap and easy to neuter as a cat or dog.

I suspect it might be lice or mites, as in this pic of a Dominicker rooster.

Could he have been eating MANGOES? Mine live under the mango tree, and every summer their entire faces are black. They get mango juice on them, then roll in the dirt! I actually look forward to the end of mango season - my chickens faces get clean again

I don't see any point in plain Vaseline. What was recommended was Vaseline with sulfa powder.

When mine got fowl pox a couple of years ago, I smeared all the lesions with Neosporin or dilute Betadine, depending on how close the lesion was to the eyes (Neosporin isn't irritating to eyes.) I did this to prevent secondary infection, just as I would any simple wound.

Fowl pox is a virus carried by mosquitoes. Like most viruses, there is no treatment. Usually the lesions simply go away in 3 weeks.

It can be tricky to differentiate fowl pox from scabs caused by fighting or getting into brambles or the like. On mine, the fowl pox lesionss looked more like a small dab of black paint than a scab; most were not raised at all. In most cases you really don't have to do anything for it, though for that rooster I would do the Neosporin simply because there are so many, so I imagine the risk of secondary infection is higher. I did have one hen who had so many lesions they got infected and her face swelled.

Wet pox is unusual but is also a form of fowl pox and much more serious.

The good news is, once they've had it, they are immune.

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My rooster had fowl pox last year. He has black smudges on his comb, but not the round scabs like pox. Any suggestions?