Fowlpox or mites? Or both?

[Josie_G]

I have a small backyard flock and one of the birds has developed a very mild case of dry fowlpox - only 2 scabs that have been there a few weeks now. None of the other birds have scabs, however a few of them have developed small patches of black on their combs, which seems to have started afer we have a run of 35-40 degree days. I did some online research and the 'black smut' is apparently aanother sign of fowlpox, so I have been assuming that is what it is. However, I just took a close up picture of one of the birds face and am now wondering if it is actually mites?

This is the guy who I believe has fowl pox - the 2 lumps at the back of his comb. I took this picture indoors and the light shows that he too has little black specs on other parts of his comb which you cant see in daylight ad I hadnt noticed before....

 

[Kiki]

Stick tight fleas....or could it be dirt?
Are you in the US?


Not fowl pox.

 

[Josie_G]

Stick tight fleas....or could it be dirt?
Are you in the US?


Not fowl pox.

In Perth Australia. Its summer so hot and dry.

 

[Kiki]

In Perth Australia. Its summer so hot and dry.

Go try to pick some of the dark stuff off the tops ones face real quick....to see if it's bugs or not.

 

[Josie_G]

In Perth Australia. Its summer so hot and dry.

So, i just looked up stick fast fleas and yes they are know to be a problem in Perth in summer and yes, the pictures look just like my chooks face. Ivermectin apparently work so i will dose them with selemectin (Revolution for dogs). Do you think that the 2 lumps at the back of his comb are clumps of fleas not scabs as I had assumed?

thanks for the advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

The black on the comb looks like injury from pecking or running into fencing, but in the second pic, the 2 brown scabs at 10 o’clock might possibly be fowl pox. But I would look closely for mites, since all of the dark specks in the feathers look a bit like mites if it isn’t dirt. You should be able to see the mites crawling around with a magnifying glass. Some mites only come on them at night while one type is on them 24/7. Permethrin is a good treatment for mites.

 

[Josie_G]

Go try to pick some of the dark stuff off the tops ones face real quick....to see if it's bugs or not.

Hmm, he is the one chook that hates being handled, I have to spend 10mins chasing himand there is alot of crowing and swearing invovled. May try the other roo first!

 

[Josie_G]

The black on the comb looks like injury from pecking or running into fencing, but in the second pic, the 2 brown scabs at 10 o’clock might possibly be fowl pox. But I would look closely for mites, since all of the dark specks in the feathers look a bit like mites if it isn’t dirt. You should be able to see the mites crawling around with a magnifying glass. Some mites only come on them at night while one type is on them 24/7. Permethrin is a good treatment for mites.

Its not injury, a few of my hens have it too, it seems to be slowly spreading through the flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

The best time to handle them is to take them off the roost after dark, and use a flashlight. I am leaning more toward it being mites, but you would be the best judge. Here is a good pic of sticktight fleas:

 

[Josie_G]

So, just grabbed one of the hens - she didnt have any black a few days ago (yesterday even maybe?) but she has a blob of it now in the end of one of the points of her comb. The area immediately round the black blob is pale like the blood is being sucked out, while the rest of her comb is pink. I couldnt scratch or rub anything off, so whatever it is seems embedded in her flesh, so Im guessing it fleas not mites?