Chicken Pox Chick?

[Strato]

Hi all, I moved to Hawaii recently where we have tons of feral chickens hanging around. We have one hen who had 11 chicks when I arrived, who all died one way or another (some I tried to rescue when I saw them looking sickly but they died almost immediately). She has one chick left who is now more of a "teen" and I was hopeful about his survival having made it this long, but I noticed he's developed these horrible warty growths all over his face. (See below.)

Research tells me it's probably chicken pox, which is spread through flocks by mosquitoes (which we have hoards of here!) so that tracks. I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts and suggestions on how I can help this little guy recover faster? Anything I could put on his warts to reduce them?

One side of his face is so intensely covered, he can't even open that eye. It's so pitiful! I have him sequestered on my patio in a dog crate for now, but I've been providing food and water which he's very keen on. He's less keen on being held and cuddled, but that comes with the treatment.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

@Eggcessive @topochico225 @Wyorp Rock
Saw you on a similar thread so I tagged you here

 

[dawg53]

Hi all, I moved to Hawaii recently where we have tons of feral chickens hanging around. We have one hen who had 11 chicks when I arrived, who all died one way or another (some I tried to rescue when I saw them looking sickly but they died almost immediately). She has one chick left who is now more of a "teen" and I was hopeful about his survival having made it this long, but I noticed he's developed these horrible warty growths all over his face. (See below.)
View attachment 2819685View attachment 2819686

Research tells me it's probably chicken pox, which is spread through flocks by mosquitoes (which we have hoards of here!) so that tracks. I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts and suggestions on how I can help this little guy recover faster? Anything I could put on his warts to reduce them?

One side of his face is so intensely covered, he can't even open that eye. It's so pitiful! I have him sequestered on my patio in a dog crate for now, but I've been providing food and water which he's very keen on. He's less keen on being held and cuddled, but that comes with the treatment.

It's a bad case of fowl pox. The key is making sure the bird can eat and swallow feed and drink water by herself. I suspect the others didnt survive due to wet pox. Wet pox shows lesions inside the mouth, larynx and trachea. Birds cant swallow feed and have trouble breathing and die of starvation and/or suffocation. Open her mouth and look for lesions. Let us know what you see.

You can treat external lesions by putting iodine on the lesions, avoid her eyes. You can put Neosporin in her eyes to prevent secondary bacterial infections, just a little is all that is needed.
Fowl pox is a virus and antibiotics are ineffective. Fowl pox will eventually go away on its own in about a month. After that, she will be immune to that particular strain of pox.
FYI, fowl pox is not transmittable to humans.

 

[Strato]

I’ll send u one tonight

Good luck with your quail, but this is is the wrong thread to be posting in. Please make a separate thread, I am still trying to get help about my own situation here.

Update: I gave the chick a bath and applied some Benadryl carefully around the affected areas. This morning he is eating well, although I do hear a slight click occasionally in his breathing which has me concerned.

I wonder how far along he is with the disease, if he is anywhere near the point where it will start getting better, or if it still has the potential to get worse. My biggest concern aside from having trouble breathing is his second eye swelling up and closing, after which he will be blind and I don't know the best way to feed and water him.

 

[dawg53]

Applying Benadryl on lesions will do nothing. You need to use a Q-tip dipped in iodine and apply it to the lesions. It will help shrink the lesions.
Did you open the birds mouth and look closely and see if there are yellow or dark lesions in her mouth?

 

[Strato]

Applying Benadryl on lesions will do nothing. You need to use a Q-tip dipped in iodine and apply it to the lesions. It will help shrink the lesions.
Did you open the birds mouth and look closely and see if there are yellow or dark lesions in her mouth?

I did try this morning, but it's really hard because of all the bumps and I don't currently have anyone here to help me hold his head still. I will go get some iodine today and try that!

 

[Strato]

I have applied iodine, the chick absolutely hates it. It's very difficult not to get it in his eyes, because the growths are mostly around that area.

I haven't been able to easily open his mouth, but I'm afraid I do see some of the warty growths in there as well. He seems to sometimes breathe in a strange way, I don't think he's struggling for breath because he doesn't do this constantly, and he is able to cheep angrily just fine, but he does look like he's gasping silently at times.

However, despite his worsening eyesight because of the growths covering his eyes, he ate very well today. I haven't seen him find the water easily, so I have been giving him water via plastic syringe.

He's alive, but clearly quite miserable. I really wish there was more I could do to speed his recovery.

 

[Strato]

I attached a video of the weird breathing issue:

Any other suggestions/ideas?

 

[dawg53]

Eating is a good sign. I hope you're in this for the long haul. Generally it takes about 3-6 weeks for the fowl pox to go away. I've dealt with it and fortunately the strain wasnt as bad compared with your bird.

You wont see "warty growths" inside his mouth if he has wet pox. They are yellow in color plaque like growths or yellow looking lesions.
Try to firmly pull down the skin under his lower beak and his mouth will open. Then maybe you can get a look inside his mouth.

If there are lesions inside his mouth, use iodine on a Q-tip and swab the inside of his mouth just like you're doing with the external lesions. Again, pull down the skin on his lower beak to get his mouth to open to do this procedure. It would help if someone held him for you or if you can wrap him firmly in a towel to limit his movements. If his eyes are infected, put a little dab of regular Neosporin in his eyes as needed.

You can give him Poultry Nutri Drench orally with the eyedropper provided with the bottle. Give him one drop orally twice a day for no more than 5 or 6 days. Poultry Nutri Drench is loaded with vitamins and minerals and will help in his recovery and boost his immune system. You can find it at feed stores or Tractor Supply stores.
Make sure you are feeding him "Chick Starter" feed, preferably crumbles and not pellets. You can buy a small sack at any feed store or Tractor Supply..

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Eating is a good sign. I hope you're in this for the long haul. Generally it takes about 3-6 weeks for the fowl pox to go away. I've dealt with it and fortunately the strain wasnt as bad compared with your bird.

You wont see "warty growths" inside his mouth if he has wet pox. They are yellow in color plaque like growths or yellow looking lesions.
Try to firmly pull down the skin under his lower beak and his mouth will open. Then maybe you can get a look inside his mouth.

If there are lesions inside his mouth, use iodine on a Q-tip and swab the inside of his mouth just like you're doing with the external lesions. Again, pull down the skin on his lower beak to get his mouth to open to do this procedure. It would help if someone held him for you or if you can wrap him firmly in a towel to limit his movements. If his eyes are infected, put a little dab of regular Neosporin in his eyes as needed.

You can give him Poultry Nutri Drench orally with the eyedropper provided with the bottle. Give him one drop orally twice a day for no more than 5 or 6 days. Poultry Nutri Drench is loaded with vitamins and minerals and will help in his recovery and boost his immune system. You can find it at feed stores or Tractor Supply stores.
View attachment 2822145

You can open a beak by holding on the sides of it I think