Chicken Question

[jaidenelenart]

i just noticed this on my chickens lower comb and i was wondering if y’all could help me out?! My others have some black dots on theirs but nothing as bad as this one.

 

[azygous]

I think you are referring to the wattle - hanging tissue under the lower beak. If you are in a humid area with lots of mosquitoes, it's very likely fowl pox. If so, it appears to be a light case and will clear up in a couple of weeks.

 

[coach723]

Agree, it looks like it could be fowl pox.

 

[jaidenelenart]

I think you are referring to the wattle - hanging tissue under the lower beak. If you are in a humid area with lots of mosquitoes, it's very likely fowl pox. If so, it appears to be a light case and will clear up in a couple of weeks.

yes i live in louisiana and we have lots of mosquitoes but with the cool weather they shouldn’t be here much longer. i thought it was fowl pox i just wanted to make sure. do you have any suggestions of what i could do in the meantime to help without hurting them?!

 

[azygous]

It has to run its course. There is no cure. But you can paint Blu-kote or iodine on the lesions to help dry them up.

There is a vaccination you can employ to treat any chickens not already exposed. You can buy it online. It may be something you want to do before next mosquito season as pox can be very serious in some cases, causing lesions to form over the eyes and nares and make life very difficult for the chicken.

 

[coach723]

It's usually better to leave the lesions alone, but if it gets really bad looking you can dab a bit of iodine on with a q tip, gently. The most effective thing I've done for fowl pox is prevention, I put window screen over all the openings on my coop (I just use screws and washers). I cut a square of screen and cut in strips that hang down over their door (like car wash strips) so they can still go in and out but it stops most of the bugs. They are most likely to be bitten at and after dark when they are stationary on the roosts, keeping the skeeters out helps immensely. I also have small 12V fans in my rafters(where they are safely distant from curious birds) to move the air over the roosts to make it harder for the bugs to land on them. The screens do catch dust and dander and can reduce your ventilation, so have to be cleaned periodically. I just take them down and wash them and put them back up when needed.