Advice Needed: Spots or Pox?!

[FlaChickenMom]

Good afternoon everyone...

I have some questions/concerns in regards to one of our hens. I have searched the threads on this topic and I am still on the fence what, if anything, is going on. Our Black Sex Link hen, approx 24 weeks of age, laid her first egg around the 21st of Sept, which was fully formed. The next next egg was very soft followed by two eggs that where best described as deflated balloons. Very soft/missing half or all of the shell. She has not laid since the 26th/27th from what I can tell. We have two other hens in with her, a brown leghorn and a RIR, who are laying like champs, all are the same age. Since she is still alive, I am assuming she is not egg bound, and she is pooing just fine. Secondary to the off eggs being laid she has developed what is best described as spots/scabs on her comb. I live in east central Florida, very coastal. Our mosquito population after Irma has exploded. I dump every bit of standing water I can find in our yard out daily (buckets, bird bath, kids whatevers) to make sure I'm not aiding and abetting in helping further the mosquito agenda, but it's Florida, it's nearly futile. My main concern is Fowl Pox, they are not vax'd as we only have 3 hens and we purchased them from Ace as 5 day old chicks. Until they started to lay all were feed a mid stage chick feed crumble. I've slowly switched them over to Purina Layena pellets (which they hate and only eat under protest) and have been adding in electrolytes into their water due to the heat here recently. The are in the coop during the day and let out to free range when we're home. Her appetite seems to have tapered off as well. I've tried to entice her with live crickets, dried cranberries and nada. She pecks at the crickets till their dead and leaves it, totally ignores the cranberries. She has always been the heavier of the trio and is maintaining her weight. She doesn't feel swollen on the back end and her vent it clear and clean. She is the low hen on the totem pole but probably also the most docile. My autistic son and her get along famously and she will sit with him and let him pet her (we practice good hand-washing skills!) She still has a good attitude, remains inquisitive, will eat the crumbles and is drinking. I've included photos of her and her comb for a better idea of what I'm seeing. Maybe it's just fly/mosquito bites or the other hens pecking at her. None of the other girls have this specks as much as she does. I have started putting on on bacitracin/neosporin on her comb just to see if it helps clears things up

Sorry I've gone long winded on this... Appreciate your thoughts and input. I'm an overly concerned chicken momma to say the least!

 

[sourland]

It may very well be a slight case of fowl pox.

 

[FlaChickenMom]

It may very well be a slight case of fowl pox.

Thanks for your feedback.

Would you suggest normal treatments for Fowl Pox? Or see how it plays out? Considering typical treatment from what I’ve seen for dry Pox would be supportive care, there’s not much more I can do in terms of clearing it up otheriwse I assume.

 

[coach723]

It does look like it might be fowl pox, also some of the smaller black marks may be pecking wounds. If it's dry pox it usually runs its course in a few weeks with no real issues unless you have a bird that is weakened by another issue. Wet pox is more of a problem, but it does currently appear to be the dry form. Leaving the scabs alone is the best, the pox can be spread through the scabs also (to other chickens, not to people). More than likely it was contracted via mosquito. If you see any lesions around the eyes those bear watching for any signs of secondary infection in the eye, for which you can use terramycin eye ointment. If your birds don't like layer feed you can feed them grower feed or flock raiser, just make sure they have oyster shell available free choice in a separate feeder all the time for their calcium needs. They will take what they need. My birds prefer crumbles to pellets, it's the same food just in different forms so use what works for you. As for the eggs, some new layers will have glitches as their egg laying apparatus begins working and it will straighten itself out as they get going. And any stress can cause a stop in laying for a time, or anomalies in the eggs. If she seems ok, not acting odd or ill, I would just keep an eye on her and see if it all works itself out.