...now fowl pox!

[jak2002003]

I am so fed up with the problems I have been having with my flock. I have had one thing after another go wrong. Everything was fine for 1 year, now they just seem to keep getting problems.

1st they got scaly leg, which took months to clear up and lots of time rubbing in vasoline and bathing legs in insecticidal shampoo.

2nd They had fighting and pecking order chaos, which led me to have to re home several of my best roosters and hens

3rd My broody hens kept leaving eggs to chill near the end of the incubation time, and I lost so many chicks.

4th I was conned into buying several sick silkie bantams, which cost a lot of money and time to sort out.

5th My dog suddenly decided to kill 2 of my chickens and now I cant let them free range any more.

AND NOW........ My flock has got FOWL POX! It just seems one thing after another. I raised my first batch of quality Japanese Bantam chicks and they are 5 weeks old, and I am worried they will catch the fowl pox and have stunted growth.

One of the silkie bantams looks really ill with it and she is lethargic and not eating or drinking, with swollen eyelids. She separated herself away from the flock and I think she might die as she is very skinny from her previous illness. Its heartbreaking for me. They are all my pets.

Can I help the ones with the dry crusty combs by rubbing vasoline on them?

I really am at the point of giving away all my chickens now. Its such a shame as I really love them, but its just so depressing and worrying for me now. The chickens look awful.

 

[CMV]

Sorry you are having a tough time of it. Unfortunately, poultry keeping isn't always wine and roses. There are a great many times when the work is seemingly endless with no relief in sight.

I would not use vaseline on the crusty scabs. You want those nodules to dry up, so applying vaseline will only prolong the process. If there is no sign of secondary infection then I would let them go untended. Any sores that are looking nasty should get a swabbing of iodine/betadine twice a day to help them dry out. They will all heal up in a few weeks, but they look terrible in the interim. Nothing can really be done about that. Fowl pox is a ugly nuisance.

Good luck. And keep your chin up.

 

[WI FarmChick]

Please don't give your chickens away. You mentioned fowl pox..I am so sorry you are going thru all this.

But please don't give your chickens away. You wouldn't want to send this disease to another family to have suffer as you are.

Please put your chickens down so the disease will not be spread. I know it is not an easy thing to do.

I have a copy of a recent post that you should read. you are not alone with these issues. Yes her disease is different than yours but they both can spread. Again, I am so sorry. please read.



[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]I was trying to incubate my eggs to sell the chicks this year. My first set of eggs died after piping, I only hatched one girl. I opened each egg to find out what happened so I could correct this problem. After this first chick survived we had several chicken owners at our farm picking out hens from one coop. After they collected a couple of hens, they came into my hatching room where my one lonely chick was kept so I could write up the paper work and show them the NPIP certification. The whole time this is going on my two week old chick was riding on my shoulder. I spent most of my day with her with me since she hatched. If she wasn't with me she would drive everyone nuts crying for me.[/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]I was out of chickens to sell, but my second batch hatched a week later.

My baby chick was now four weeks old and thought she was mom to the new chicks. She taught each of them how to eat, scratch, drink and kept them warm at night. Every morning when I opened the lid she would jump on my lap. That's when she sneezed on me

, about two weeks after buyers had been in the coops and some had held her. I didn't think anything of it that day. The next day, when I got home I opened the lid to see my baby girl. The other chicks now a week old in the brooder were sneezing too. No other problems, just a simple sneeze.

[/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]I called the vet who got me in right away! They did a stool sample which came back negative and a blood test. He told me the white blood cells are slightly elevated and I had [/FONT][FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]Mycoplasma[/FONT][FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]. He gave me Tylan to treat everyone with. I looked up the [/FONT][FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]disease[/FONT][FONT=helvetica, sans-serif] and freaked. [/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]After killing all my eggs in the bator and all my chicks

I got on here and read a story of a woman who had the same problem. I don't remember who it was or where I found her story but I cried as she asked someone to come out and cull her birds. I cried for her, I cried because of all the people telling her not to cull them,

to just treat them. We still have 8 birds to cull, and one more coop to bleach. I don’t want to pass this along to other chicken owners when I go out to buy feed or go groceries shopping. The disease can be spread on my clothing or hair, so I have been taking care of the remaining 8 to cull at night only, before going to bed.[/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]I didn't know I had it, none of my other chickens showed signs of it (and still don't), just those chicks. They didn't even show signs when I stressed them out by chasing, chatching and culling half the flock. I didn't know that the people who were coming into the coop could be carriers. I didn’t know that my adults could be the carriers and not show any symptoms. My adults have not been tested for it yet, but will be culled. [/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]I am going to start over. I have eggs on order. When those eggs hatch I have to wait two weeks then swab them and send the swabs to MSU. If they pass the Mycoplasma and NPIP testing then I would like to vaccinate them just like I vaccinate my dogs. I have contacted the company who makes the vaccine, but the only way they sell it is in quantities of 10. Each one would treat 2,000 birds and must be used as soon as I mix it. Each of the vials is around $60 which to me is worth it since each of those adult birds were $20, then $91 for NPIP testing, and I paid around $140 to be told the sneezing was a disease. After paying for that vet bill I discovered I could have swabbed my flock and sent the swabs to our vet school (MSU) and saved quite a bit of money.[/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]After losing all my chickens to a disease, I discover it is easily spread by people, other chickens, wild birds and passed through the eggs. Most chicken owners don’t even know they have this disease, because the chicken only shows signs when it’s stressed. My only symptom was a couple of sneezes from week old chicks! [/FONT]
[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]The hardest part about this disease and most chicken diseases is that a lot of people treat the chickens with antibiotics. When they no longer show any symptoms the flock owner keeps showing, selling and trading from the diseased flock, infecting others.

[/FONT]

[FONT=helvetica, sans-serif]Sometimes being a responsible pet owner is the hardest thing to do. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Edited by Wickischickies - 4/12/12 at 10:21am[/FONT]

 

[jak2002003]

Thank you for your views. Thanks to CMV, you have make me think about things rationally. I love my birds, and we have been through so much already that it would be a waste to give up my flock.

WI Farm Chick. Thank you too. It was a shock to have someone telling me to have my pets 'put down'.

Only 3 birds are ill with the fowl pox at the moment and the rest are very healthy. I am vegetarian and Buddhist and could not kill them. I did say they were pet birds, not for eggs or meat. Your post shocked me into realising I would be more upset to get rid of them. They are my responsibility and I have to take care of them.

Having researched the fowl pox, I now know I have to just let the virus run its course. Poor birds. After this they deserve a break - and me!

 

[WI FarmChick]

I am sad you have to let them go. When I have to put an animal down it is not for my sake but theirs alone. I could not watch my family or pets included just waste away .

I am glad you have found a way.... with in your beliefs... to do what you need to do. My way is not your way...and your way is not my way.....but we have the same endings.

I am again sorry for your loss. I am hoping your break isn't a long one.

 

[dawg53]

Thank you for your views. Thanks to CMV, you have make me think about things rationally. I love my birds, and we have been through so much already that it would be a waste to give up my flock.

WI Farm Chick. Thank you too. It was a shock to have someone telling me to have my pets 'put down'.

Only 3 birds are ill with the fowl pox at the moment and the rest are very healthy. I am vegetarian and Buddhist and could not kill them. I did say they were pet birds, not for eggs or meat. Your post shocked me into realising I would be more upset to get rid of them. They are my responsibility and I have to take care of them.

Having researched the fowl pox, I now know I have to just let the virus run its course. Poor birds. After this they deserve a break - and me!

Your birds will be immune to that particular strain of fowl pox thereafter. No problem, just let it run its course as others have mentioned. I've been through it.

 

[CMV]

I am sad you have to let them go. When I have to put an animal down it is not for my sake but theirs alone. I could not watch my family or pets included just waste away .

I am glad you have found a way.... with in your beliefs... to do what you need to do. My way is not your way...and your way is not my way.....but we have the same endings.

I am again sorry for your loss. I am hoping your break isn't a long one.

What the heck are you talking about? You don't put birds down for fowl pox! IT"S A NUISANCE VIRUS....not a death sentence. Good gracious! That would be like shooting someone because they had an poison ivy on their face. It's ugly, but it will be gone shortly, and leave the bird with a partial immunity to the virus. No harm, no foul (or should I say "fowl").

 

[WI FarmChick]

You are right...I wasn't thinking.

 

[texascwb]

so if you the chickens become immune and I have read they can be carriers... does that mean after you have let it run its course and you hatch new chicks out (your own from these hens) will they contract the disease or will they have the immunity? Next.. if you buy new poultry and you still have your chickens which have recovered from fowl pox will the new poultry get the fowl pox? Since your flock has run its course with fowl pox, is it safe to have these birds introduced into other flocks? so many questions.. so many threads...

 

[CMV]

so if you the chickens become immune and I have read they can be carriers... does that mean after you have let it run its course and you hatch new chicks out (your own from these hens) will they contract the disease or will they have the immunity? Next.. if you buy new poultry and you still have your chickens which have recovered from fowl pox will the new poultry get the fowl pox? Since your flock has run its course with fowl pox, is it safe to have these birds introduced into other flocks? so many questions.. so many threads...

Fowl pox is not a problematic virus and doesn't render birds carriers. It is a nuisance virus contracted via mosquitoes. Dry pox is a short-lived and usually strictly cosmetic issue. Once a bird contracts is that particular bird acquires a partial immunity from the virus meaning that although they can get it again in the future (from mosquitoes, not other birds) they will not get it as severely. Chickens do not spread the disease even if they have had it in the past. Mosquitoes spread the disease. These post-pox birds can be introduced to other flocks with no issues. New birds will not get pox from birds that have had it in the past.

I hope this clears up the matter.