Comb spot

[Ponte]

Noticed a black spot on one of my BO today. She is around 9 months old. We are in south Florida.
She seems ok otherwise.
Does it need treatment?

 

[sourland]

Looks as if she had an argument with a flock mate. It will heal without any assistance.

 

[Ponte]

Great, thanks

 

[aart]

Or it could be dry pox....near back of comb and above eye.
A virus carried by mosquitoes...no treatment, it'll pass in 4-6 weeks.
Front of comb just looks dirty, or dried blood.
Great pic.

 

[Ponte]

Or it could be dry pox....near back of comb and above eye.
A virus carried by mosquitoes...no treatment, it'll pass in 4-6 weeks.
Front of comb just looks dirty, or dried blood.
Great pic.

It’s those two spots which I was worried about, the other black regions are dirt.

should I treat the area for mosquitoes?

 

[coach723]

Dry pox usually runs it's course with no real problems, if that's what it is. If you have mosquito's out now then covering your coop openings with window screen can help a lot in reducing incidence. I just screw it over the windows with washers to hold it. You can hang a rectangle over the door, cut in vertical strips hanging down so the birds can go in and out but the bugs will have a harder time. They are most often bitten at night when the mosquito's are more active and the birds are stationary. Once they recover the birds affected by pox are resistant to that strain, so should not get it again. It's hard to say if it's pox on your bird, or just pecking wounds, sometimes they can look similar.

 

[Ponte]

The black spots have greatly increased and her egg production has markedly decreased from six eggs per week to two.
Am going with the assumption as suggested that she has dry pox.
What should I expect in the long and short term, will it spread to the other pullets, any danger to humans, etc.
Any action I should take ?

 

[aart]

New pics please?
I don't think I've ever had dry pox affect laying.
Have you checked the inside of her mouth for anything funky?

 

[Ponte]

aart
I went outside to take the picture but there is a problem with the iPhone. Will post pictures when I fix it.
Was checking the mouth and it looks ok but did notice that the black sores have spread to all the pullets.

 

[aart]

but did notice that the black sores have spread to all the pullets.

Those damn skeeters!!
Not anything you can do about dry pox as it's a virus,
best to leave them alone unless you see a secondary bacterial infection setting in.