Fowl pox?

[cajun heart]

I have 8 chickens. A mixed flock. One of my chickens has black crusty spots on her comb. From my research, it seems to be fowl pox. I assume it will run its course through the flock. Will these spots go away? Is there anything I can do?

 

[komakit]

We are in the middle of it too. My sons and l are working on a cure flock wide. Another web page suggested cider viniger in their water. But salt bath may help.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Yep, it will go away on it's own. It usually takes about 10 days to two weeks to run its course through each bird, but it will likely infect any other birds that do not have immunity to it yet. There are no cures, other than some vaccinations which use pox virus as a carrier for other viral particles. Very occasionally people will use antibiotics for secondary infections, but that is rare and I don't recommend it unless you begin to see signs of other infections.

I would look over the flock and be sure they are eating and drinking. You may notice a drop in egg production, but that should go back up after the virus has run its course. The pox themselves (the scabs) will fall off on there own and the lesions left behind should heal. In the meantime, I would not bring in new birds or sell any birds while the virus is in your flock. I would also tell people who visit to wear different shoes than ones they use for their flock, as the virus is shed in the scabs and can infect other flocks. However, the dry form (with the scabs) is generally not fatal, just highly contagious. Once birds contract pox, they should not get it in the future.

 

[Eggcessive]

Pictures might help to be sure it is fowl pox.