Fowl Pox or what?

[josiecoop]

So I treated my flock for what seemed to be CRD last week when I noticed a few that had bubbly eyes and a couple with swallows eyes. No other symptoms. I treated with injections of LA-200. All seem to be doing great, no more bubbles or swallowing eyes, until today. I find a girl looking like this. I treated her eye with terramycin and then noticed her yellow lesions on her wattle. Checked my other birds and some have the same lesions. Is it fowl pox and if so what should be my next treatment plan.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, I would agree that you are dealing with dry fowl pox, a virus spread by mosquitoes. It lasts about 3 weeks, and your hen with possible MG is already in a weakened state. I would make sure that she is eating and especially drinking. I would try to remove any pus in the eyes especially the left eye. Clean the eyes with saline or a clean wet cloth, and apply either Terramycin eye ointment or plain Neosporin into the eyes twice a day. This video may help with the swollen eye:

 

[josiecoop]

Sorry for a dumb question, but what is MG?

 

[Lortiz]

Sorry for a dumb question, but what is MG?

Don't feel dumb, I didn't know either. It is Mycoplasma Gallisepticum. Now I do because I have a chicken with bubbly eye and have been researching it myself. It is an infection that doesn't usually kill them but once they have it they are usually carriers for life and the rest of the flock will likely have it as well even if they don't have symptoms. If they are carriers, it can re-surface during times of stress, like weather changes, change in feed or housing, or fighting other infections (like fowl pox). So your chicken may have already been a carrier and now that they are fighting pox it is re-surfacing. Or it could be a new infection. Any time they have an infection it makes them more susceptible to other infections because of their immunity being compromised and/ or the tissue itself being compromised and creating conditions for easy infection (secondary infections). MG can be treated with antibiotics and it is up to you if you want to get them and treat yourself without a diagnosis. If you do and it is MG, it should help if you use the correct antibiotic. But if it something else it may or may not work. I just ordered antibiotics to treat myself since I cannot take every chicken to the vet, but I am also trying to get culture swabs so I can send a sample for culture to the state lab. I would really like to know if it is MG because I should not re-home chickens that have it and I probably won't want to add new chickens to this flock. If I treat it before I culture it I will never know for sure. You can order antibiotics from Jedds online. You can use either Tylosin or Doxycyclin alone but it is supposed to be better to use both. Jedds has two product that have both. They are listed as out of stock but he just got one in and I ordered it over the phone today. You should ask about the dose for your chickens. https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylodox-100g-medpet/.

Here are links to an article about common diseases in poultry, and some info about MG. I will discuss fowl pox below.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/poultry/FS-1008 Recognizing and Preventing Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf
https://thepoultrysite.com/disease-...tion-m-g-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/mycoplasmosis/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-infection-in-poultry

Also, I found out about an interesting disinfectant called Oxine that is very safe to use around chickens and can even be added to their water and be used in a vaporizer to give sort of a breathing treatment that is supposed to help with respiratory infections. I read a lot of reviews saying it was like a miracle cure after trying lots of other treatments from vets. I am going to try this on my chicken with MG. And it is recommended as a treatment of the water while they have fowl pox (see The Chicken Chick article). It can be used unactivated and activated. If it is activated it is more potent but also creates fumes so it is not safe to use with animals present, and you have to wear a respirator. So most people use it for chickens unactivated. It is recommended by The Chicken Chick. If you find it on Amazon you can see there are many positive reviews about it with some info about how others used it. Here is info about Oxine (made by Bio-Cide).
https://the-chicken-chick.com/biosecurity-for-backyard-chickens/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/
https://www.bio-cide.com/applications/animal-health/oxine-ah/
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/chlorine-dioxide-for-respiratory-sickness
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oxine.607937/
https://www.revivalanimal.com/pet-health/how-to-use-oxine-ah/learning-center (you can purchase from them or sometimes on Amazon, but it costs more).

Some of my flock have dry fowl pox and it is working it's way through the flock. It is usually from mosquitoes. It progresses slowly, but once one has it, it is contagious and the other flock members will likely get it too. There is another form called wet pox that is much worse, so you should make sure they don't have that. You can vaccinate them yourself and it will prevent some from getting it and may help the others not get as much or recover faster. The vaccine is given by poking a tool with two needles through the wing web, so it isn't difficult to do. You can order the vaccine online or some feed stores will order it for you or may stock it. Here is some info about vaccines. There are many brands. This is just one example that someone I know used. I used a different brand and feel it didn't work as well.

Fowl pox vaccine from Jeffers Vet: https://www.jefferspet.com/search?utf8=✓&animal[]=&q=fowl+pox&button=search. You can get the one for fowl pox only or a combination of fowl pox, pigeon pox and AE (avian encephalomyelitis). I read somewhere that giving pigeon pox with fowl pox might be more effective ( mine didn't have that).
This video was the most helpful one I found for the “how to” for administering it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Njy7R4ngoo

Some people do nothing to treat the pox but there are some things you can do to make them more comfortable, speed up healing and help prevent secondary infections. Here is a great article about these things. https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/ (also referenced above for info on Oxine). I ordered some of the treatments she recommends but didn't receive them yet. So I am using Neosporin ointment on their pox sores and it helps keep them moist which helps healing. Plus it helps keep them from getting infected with bacteria. Also, someone mentioned on a Facebook post that their very experienced friend recommended using Abreva to help them recover faster. I tried this on the first few and I think it did help, but it is expensive. Good luck with your babies. I hope this info helps.