bumps on my chickens eyes and beaks and eye swollen shut! has anyone seen this?

[CLBM4]

Two of my chickens died from it and now I have taken all of my chickens out the coop and washed it out real good. Now 3 of my existing chickens have the same bumps around the eye and beak area. And my small rooster has one eye swollen shut and a bump on his beak . The corner of my hens mouth are also bloody looking. What is the deal?

 

[chicmom]

Could your chickens be getting bitten by gnats or mosquitos? Those buffalo gnats can kill a chicken from all the biting...

 

[Leslieb118]

Can you post a picture of them? That would help a lot.

 

[welasharon]

I believe I may be dealing with this also. I attributed it to fowl pox. The only ones having the bumps on the beak are the polish and the only one with swollen eyes was a silkie. A friend had this but thought it was bull gnats also. Only thing is, I don't have the gnats here. If I pick the outer layer off the bump it bleeds and is a swollen area underneath. Eventually it falls off. Some don't seem to notice. Others have their tail down like they don't feel good,. It's only the younger ones. All the older ones that had pox last year are fine. Also, it makes bumps on the legs that look like ant bites....but it wasn't.
sharon

 

[CLBM4]

It is possible that they are getting bitten by mosquitoes, but I'm not sure that these are bug bites. They are hard, scaby-looking bumps. On my little rooster it started on the corner of his eye and eventually grew so large it swoll his eye completely shut. On my hen, it is on both corners of her mouth and they look a little bloody. I will post photos when I get home this evening. Thanks for reading!

 

[hanginggatefarm]

Could it Mareks? I'm having the same issue! I'm worried too because this is how I make a living and I don't want it to affect production. The new batch of babies I have coming, I asked that they be vaccinated because the hatchery said it sounded like Mareks disease.

 

[welasharon]

How do they figure Mareks? They only have facial issues. Biggest risk seems to be of dying from lack of interest or ability to eat or drink well. Mareks affects them neurologically.

 

[CMV]

How do they figure Mareks? They only have facial issues. Biggest risk seems to be of dying from lack of interest or ability to eat or drink well. Mareks affects them neurologically.

Marek's has several different different subsets of symptoms. We only ever hear about one or two subsets. We almost never hear about cutaneous Marek's. Here's a quick write-up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek's_disease

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

This is fowl pox. There are two kinds. Wet and dry. The wet effects the mucosa of the eyes and mouth and is the most severe. It can cause death due to airway obstruction and inability to swallow. The dry form is self limiting and is most severe in old and young chickens and those with a compromised immune system. Once they recover from it they have a life time immunity. Both forms are transmitted by mosquitoes. There is a vaccine available, Jeffers has it for around 5 bucks.

 

[welasharon]

From that link I am even more sure it is not Mareks though. I too am pretty sure it is the fowl pox. They have little spots on the legs as well. I will try to get pics of mine later today.