Deformed faces - baby chicks

[cundare]

...and here's mama bird. She doesn't seem to be affected.

 

[cundare]

There are debilitating cases of pox...but I agree the pics are horrible and make it hard to determine the cause

I managed to capture one of the babies last night for a few minutes & take some good close-ups. Maybe you'll find these more useful.

So far, no progress. We haven't been able to keep these birds away from our flock, and it may even be too late to even try at this point. The chicks have no problem squeezing through the tiniest spaces to get into the yard, and the hen flies over all our fences with ease. The travails of free-rangers in a rural area.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm going to just guess you live in Hawaii, but that's a guess. Knowing what part of the world you live in can be helpful.

It looks like Fowl Pox to me. Fowl Pox is a virus spread mainly by mosquitoes and insects. It can be harder on chicks, but generally if it remains the dry form, it will resolve on its own over the course of several weeks.

Once the virus has run its course, the birds will have built resistance, likely this is the reason Mama seems to be unaffected, she may have had FP earlier in life.

Do you notice any lesions or yellow material inside the beaks? This is when Fowl Pox turns to Wet Form which can be more serious.

Doesn't look like it at this point from what I can tell. The lesions have not covered their eyes (which is good) and they can see to get to food/water.

I would not disturb the scabs, this can cause spread of lesions on the bird and make things worse. Some do paint the lesions with Iodine to help dry them up, but if you do that, just dab/paint on as not to disturb them.

Keep water stations clean. You can sanitize water with Iodine or Oxine if you wish, this may help reduce spread in shared water.

To use Oxine for sanitation of drinking water, add 1/4 teaspoon Oxine per gallon of drinking water.

To use Iodine for sanitation of drinking water, add 1 teaspoon 1% Iodine or 1/2 teaspoon 2% Iodine to each gallon of drinking water.

 

[McChooky]

I managed to capture one of the babies last night for a few minutes & take some good close-ups. Maybe you'll find these more useful.

So far, no progress. We haven't been able to keep these birds away from our flock, and it may even be too late to even try at this point. The chicks have no problem squeezing through the tiniest spaces to get into the yard, and the hen flies over all our fences with ease. The travails of free-rangers in a rural area.

I rescued and quarantined a neighbors hen after their dogs killed the flock(Predators killing many of them before dogs had their turn)I still have this beautiful hen and named her Lacy.This is a picture of her first day in the run. She ran over and took a dust bath with them like she was one of them.

 

[McChooky]

My advise is quarantine them (separate from your flock) so they don't spread it

 

[cundare]

I'm going to just guess you live in Hawaii, but that's a guess. Knowing what part of the world you live in can be helpful.

It looks like Fowl Pox to me. Fowl Pox is a virus spread mainly by mosquitoes and insects. It can be harder on chicks, but generally if it remains the dry form, it will resolve on its own over the course of several weeks.

Once the virus has run its course, the birds will have built resistance, likely this is the reason Mama seems to be unaffected, she may have had FP earlier in life.

Do you notice any lesions or yellow material inside the beaks? This is when Fowl Pox turns to Wet Form which can be more serious.

Doesn't look like it at this point from what I can tell. The lesions have not covered their eyes (which is good) and they can see to get to food/water.

I would not disturb the scabs, this can cause spread of lesions on the bird and make things worse. Some do paint the lesions with Iodine to help dry them up, but if you do that, just dab/paint on as not to disturb them.

Keep water stations clean. You can sanitize water with Iodine or Oxine if you wish, this may help reduce spread in shared water.

To use Oxine for sanitation of drinking water, add 1/4 teaspoon Oxine per gallon of drinking water.

To use Iodine for sanitation of drinking water, add 1 teaspoon 1% Iodine or 1/2 teaspoon 2% Iodine to each gallon of drinking water.

Thank you, @Wyorp Rock! This is very helpful. What you say agrees with a lot of what I've read about fowl pox, but I had no idea if that was what we were actually dealing with.

I wish we could separate the chicks from the other birds, but in this state (you guess correctly!), chickens are everywhere and we don't have a lot large enough to erect a coop for all 20 of our birds. And these inquisitive, fast-running little chicks are just about impossible to keep away from every other bird.

Most of our chickens are rescue birds that we adopted as pets after their mothers had abandoned them too young, or that escaped from a local cockfighting ring. We let them all free-range b/c we want to give them as natural a life as possible after their early trauma (in addition to simply not having enough land to erect a large coop & run. These guys sleep in our large mango tree.)

We do have to deal with the occasional cat, mongoose, or chicken-eating dog, but this is the first time we've ever experienced a disease like this. Your help is MUCH appreciated.

 

[McChooky]

MORE PHOTOS

There are at least a couple in this batch that I think give a better idea of what this looks like. Does this look like fowl pox to anybody? Some kind of parasite?

Glad you know what it is and have a good idea how long it will last. Those poor babies look miserable

 

[aart]

I'm going to just guess you live in Hawaii, but that's a guess. Knowing what part of the world you live in can be helpful.

Yes, please, @cundare ....
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you, @Wyorp Rock! This is very helpful. What you say agrees with a lot of what I've read about fowl pox, but I had no idea if that was what we were actually dealing with.

I wish we could separate the chicks from the other birds, but in this state (you guess correctly!), chickens are everywhere and we don't have a lot large enough to erect a coop for all 20 of our birds. And these inquisitive, fast-running little chicks are just about impossible to keep away from every other bird.

Most of our chickens are rescue birds that we adopted as pets after their mothers had abandoned them too young, or that escaped from a local cockfighting ring. We let them all free-range b/c we want to give them as natural a life as possible after their early trauma (in addition to simply not having enough land to erect a large coop & run. These guys sleep in our large mango tree.)

We do have to deal with the occasional cat, mongoose, or chicken-eating dog, but this is the first time we've ever experienced a disease like this. Your help is MUCH appreciated.

Separation can be hard on them, sounds like they roam, so it would be stressful too.

I think they will be o.k. as long as they keep eating/drinking and the Fowl Pox continues as dry form.

Keep us posted.

 

[Squawkers]

MORE PHOTOS

There are at least a couple in this batch that I think give a better idea of what this looks like. Does this look like fowl pox to anybody? Some kind of parasite?

Poor babies!!! I hope you can get it figured out