Chicken Pox

[konatreehugger]

Does anyone know how long chicken pox usually lasts? My hen has had it (at least I think that's what it is) for almost 5 days. Any advice? I'm giving her antibiotics, she's eating well, drinking plenty and getting lots of stress-less rest.

 

[emilysteng]

When some roosters had it, I put neosporin or iodine on it. But it looks like hers are close to her eye so that might be hard. I think I also put hydrogen peroxide or maybe it was rubbing alcohol on it also. I'm pretty sure I got that advice from the forums here - so do a search. I don't know how long it lasts though. Hope she gets better soon!

 

[dawg53]

Fowl pox is a virus, antibiotics wont help unless there is a secondary infection. My recommendation is to stop the antibiotics. Fowl pox will eventually go away on its own in about 3-4 weeks. Do NOT put liquid meds in or around the eye, ie iodine, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide etc..... For infections around the eye use neosporin. You can use iodine on the wattles to help dry the scabs. Mosquitos are mainly the cause of fowl pox, drain all objects/areas of standing water to help eliminate them. Eggs are safe to eat.

 

[konatreehugger]

Hi, thanks for the good tips... I'm now worried that her eyes are making it hard to eat... one eye is fully closed, and the other eye is beginning to ooze. She can't seem to find her food and water. Please help! can I put neosporin on the eye lid, or wipe away some of the ooze??

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
I recommend flushing her eyes with saline solution and using terramycin eye ointment which is specifically used to treat eye infections. Check and see if there's any lesions in or around her nostrils, especially inside or around her mouth. This could possibly be turning into "wet pox" and can be terminal for her. I recommend that you google and read up on "wet pox in poultry."

 

[Rodster]

hi there,
Sorry for your problem, I know first hand how awful it is to watch them go through this. I had 2 turkey poults a male and female about 6-7 weeks old and they both developed the pox within a week of joining the flock with it affecting them just as yours have been, really fast. one had a pock on one eye lid (upper AND lower- the female) and the male had one on both eyes lids, poor thing. They also got eye infections and i went insane trying to beg, borrow or steal some form of specific eye anti-biotic ointment without seeing a vet. i was told to try neosporin on the eye itself and that totally blinded both birds for 3 days. Do NOT use ANY skin antibiotic in the eye under any circumstances. i was lucky it wasn't permanant. I FINALLY got a friend of mine to hand over some 8 year old stuff from her fridge (bacitracin opthalmic). it was now 2 weeks into the episode when the danger of loosing the male became real, as he couldn't eat and was dropping weight, unable to keep up with the others, and it just sucked. Finally, the eye cream began to work (about 3rd day) and both began improving, however the boy fell out of bed a few nights later and broke his poor neck and that was that for him. The female got over his loss much quicker then i did and within another week was vastly improving. i'd say within 3 weeks the pox finally began to dry up, and within a week after that they all fell off almost all at once with no scarring, not even on the eyelid... just as clear as a bell. it's now about 4 weeks after the last pock and my girl is now double the size she was when i first got her. She's also the easiest turkey of the bunch to handle now as she is used to being handled from being so sick. So there may be at least a tiny bit of good from this horrible plague. Good luck and keep us posted please

 

[MandyH]

Sounds like it's turniong into wet pox and that can be trouble. Click on the link in my signature and check it out. Other than that that dey version will go away in a few weeks, no need to do anything to them. Once they have fowl pox they will not get it again.

 

[konatreehugger]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this post. I'm a new chicken mama and was horrified and felt helpless... I do believe that it turned into wet pox. She had them in her mouth, on her beak... she was oozing from her nostrils and both of her eyes were completely shut. I had to hand feed and cuddle her for several weeks. I think we even became closer friends... But I think she is one of the lucky few to have survived... I'm thankful for that and am now building her a beautiful condo on my Lanai where I can see her all day, every day.

Thanks again everyone!