Fowl Pox Vaccine

[PippinChicken]

Hi all,

I'm worried some of my chickens may have fowl pox. They are acting fine but a few have small white-yellow spots on the inside of their mouth, and now I'm questioning if the small black scabs I've seen on combs and assumed were normal scabs from small cuts/pecks are actually dry fowl pox.

Even if this ends up being something else, I've decided to vaccinate the chicks I hatch in the future because I don't want to have to worry about this. My question is about my current adult birds. Assuming these are signs of fowl pox, would there be any value at all to vaccinating those who aren't showing symptoms? The youngest are 9 months old and have not begun laying yet (slow growing heritage breeds) and the oldest is about 2.5 years old.

Thanks!

 

[Fairview01]

Yes it MAY help. Fowl pox can be a very slow spreading problem. If they do have fowl pox the scabs that fall off remain virulent for a long time.

Once the vaccine is mixed with the diluent it's lifespan is very short. It cant be saved. Also the wing stabber is extremely sharp. If you're not careful you'll end up vaccinating yourself several times.

 

[PippinChicken]

Yes it MAY help. Fowl pox can be a very slow spreading problem. If they do have fowl pox the scabs that fall off remain virulent for a long time.

Once the vaccine is mixed with the diluent it's lifespan is very short. It cant be saved. Also the wing stabber is extremely sharp. If you're not careful you'll end up vaccinating yourself several times.

Thank you! A chance of it helping is enough for me. In particular, the two youngest ones are by far the most important to my breeding program so whatever I can do to keep them healthy is worth a shot. It's a shame the mixed vaccine needs to be used immediately but at least it's one of the cheaper ones.

Would there be any harm in vaccinating the ones who do have the suspicious scabs? I know they get the most benefit when they're younger, but if I'm being paranoid and this isn't actually fowl pox, then it would be nice for them to have some level of protection in the future.

 

[Fairview01]

@pippin Post a good head pic of the suspect birds. My flock got hit hard this fall because i was too cheap to spend the money on the vaccine even though my daughter is a vet and can get them at less than half retail. But I have to buy 10k vaccines.

Once a bird has or had fowl pox supposedly they are immune to future infections. - supposedly. Vaccinating a bird with a current infection may further stress the immune system

 

[PippinChicken]

@pippin Post a good head pic of the suspect birds. My flock got hit hard this fall because i was too cheap to spend the money on the vaccine even though my daughter is a vet and can get them at less than half retail. But I have to buy 10k vaccines.

Once a bird has or had fowl pox supposedly they are immune to future infections. - supposedly. Vaccinating a bird with a current infection may further stress the immune system

Jeez, yeah I have a very small flock so one bottle is plenty. I don't have individual pictures of each one but one picture of the sort of small black scabs I'm seeing on combs, and one of the sort of small spots I'm seeing in mouths (mostly in this same location).

 

[PippinChicken]

@pippin Post a good head pic of the suspect birds. My flock got hit hard this fall because i was too cheap to spend the money on the vaccine even though my daughter is a vet and can get them at less than half retail. But I have to buy 10k vaccines.

Once a bird has or had fowl pox supposedly they are immune to future infections. - supposedly. Vaccinating a bird with a current infection may further stress the immune system

Got some pictures of my third rooster... does the mouth look like wet pox or something else??

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to wipe off the yellow material inside the beak to see if it will come off. I don’t see anything that looks like fowl pox, except possibly the single scab on the comb in the first pic. The black dots on the wattles is peck marks. Here are some good articles about fowl pox and vaccination of flocks:
https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/publications/fowl-pox-backyard-flocks
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview
https://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35

 

[PippinChicken]

I would try to wipe off the yellow material inside the beak to see if it will come off. I don’t see anything that looks like fowl pox, except possibly the single scab on the comb in the first pic. The black dots on the wattles is peck marks. Here are some good articles about fowl pox and vaccination of flocks:
https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/publications/fowl-pox-backyard-flocks
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview
https://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35

Thank you so much! I'll wipe it with a q-tip and see what happens. What do you make of the smaller white spot in the mouth on the second picture? I know a few others have smaller ones like that- this boy in the 3rd and 4th pictures is the only one I've seen with a larger and less flat spot.

 

[Eggcessive]

I was just wondering if the yellow is food. If it doesn’t come off, it could be wet pox virus, or any number of things that can cause yellow plaques. That could be fungus, canker, and some bacteria can cause yellow plaques inside the throat and airway. Those usually are larger.

 

[PippinChicken]

I was just wondering if the yellow is food. If it doesn’t come off, it could be wet pox virus, or any number of things that can cause yellow plaques. That could be fungus, canker, and some bacteria can cause yellow plaques inside the throat and airway. Those usually are larger.

So to my surprise, that yellow did come off with some persistent q-tip rubbing. It almost peeled away in strands... I was going to get a better picture but his panicked wing flapping when I put him down knocked all but this little piece off. There was no bleeding or puss but the skin underneath was pale.