HELP. Deaths, sneezing, and now black spots...

[Calamus]

I've had my chickens since early May. In that time, I've lost two birds with similar symptoms. My lavender ameracauna pullet in a nesting box one morning in early June. She had seemed slightly lethargic, but still alert and moving around.

I lost a roo last week. He was also lethargic, so we moved him out to keep an eye on him but he declined rapidly (to the point of not being able to stand up) the next morning, and I ended up culling him.

I introduced two year-old laying hens to my flock after an (apparently unsuccessful) quarantine period. Several in the flock have been sneezing since the new girls were placed in quarantine on the other side of the property. They were there for a month, but moved to the main coop several days ago.

These chickens don't free range (they have a large, enclosed run), but we live in a rural area and keeping wild birds away from the run is next to impossible.

I went out this morning and one of my introduced hens has black spots on her comb and wattle (see pics). She is my rooster's favorite, but the spots don't look like peck marks to me (please correct me if I'm wrong). She is alert and isn't acting out of the ordinary.

I started with seven chicks. Three pullets, four roos. I lost a pullet and a roo, culled a third roo for the smoker, and added two hens. I've ended up with the bare minimum of females, and if I have a sick flock, I don't want to add more birds to further complicate things. But I would really like to stabilize the situation, and I really don't want to lose any more birds to disease. Any recommendations for diagnosis or treatment are appreciated.

IMG_6998 2

• Calamus
• Aug 23, 2019
• 1

IMG_6997

• Calamus
• Aug 23, 2019

 

[Eggcessive]

The marks on your hen look more like peck marks or injuries from rubbing again wire fencing, but there could be some fowl pox. I just cannot tell for sure with those pictures. Fowl pox can look different in different chickens, but starts out with biege marks that raise into brown scabs. It is a virus spread by mosquitoes and may spread from other chickens if scabs are disturbed or have fallen.

If you should lose another chicken, keep the body cool, not frozen, and send it in to your state poultry vet for a necropsy. You could be dealing with a disease, or the deaths may have been something like a crop disorder or reproductve problem. Coccidiosis could be ruled out with a fecal test done by your local vet. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Eggcessive]

You have 2 locations for state poultry labs in Ft. Collins and Rocky Ford, and those are listed here:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

This is a good link with pictures and treatment of fowl pox:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/

 

[Ebony Rose]

Possible dry fowl pox, is sure looks like it; may have lost your others to the wet version. Absolutely nothing you can really do about it since you cannot keep wild birds away from your run. Dry pox runs its course in 4 to 6 weeks; (think of it as a common cold, but without the mucous membrane involvement). Wet pox can be (and often is) deadly; treat wet pox as you would with a respiratory illness (aggressively and with antibiotic assistance) with a heaping helping of prayers.
If this is indeed fowl pox, You should be able to introduce new birds to the flock a few weeks after all symptoms have cleared from your existing flock. You should be able to get them now, house them across the yard like you did this last set of birds... and they should be ready when your existing flock is healthy.
I will keep you and your feathered family in my prayers.

 

[Calamus]

The marks on your hen look more like peck marks or injuries from rubbing again wire fencing, but there could be some fowl pox. I just cannot tell for sure with those pictures. Fowl pox can look different in different chickens, but starts out with biege marks that raise into brown scabs. It is a virus spread by mosquitoes and may spread from other chickens if scabs are disturbed or have fallen.

If you should lose another chicken, keep the body cool, not frozen, and send it in to your state poultry vet for a necropsy. You could be dealing with a disease, or the deaths may have been something like a crop disorder or reproductve problem. Coccidiosis could be ruled out with a fecal test done by your local vet. Sorry for your loss.

Thank you for the information, this is really helpful!

 

[Calamus]

Possible dry fowl pox, is sure looks like it; may have lost your others to the wet version. Absolutely nothing you can really do about it since you cannot keep wild birds away from your run. Dry pox runs its course in 4 to 6 weeks; (think of it as a common cold, but without the mucous membrane involvement). Wet pox can be (and often is) deadly; treat wet pox as you would with a respiratory illness (aggressively and with antibiotic assistance) with a heaping helping of prayers.
If this is indeed fowl pox, You should be able to introduce new birds to the flock a few weeks after all symptoms have cleared from your existing flock. You should be able to get them now, house them across the yard like you did this last set of birds... and they should be ready when your existing flock is healthy.
I will keep you and your feathered family in my prayers.

I really appreciate this information, it's very helpful. I feel much more confident about how to move forward. And thank you for your prayers, as well.

 

[Quackter]

I have no idea on what's causing it. Consulting a vet is probably the first option. If your yard isn't chemically treated, throwing in some grass clippings can do wonders for caged chickens, I guess just the exercise of going through them and vitamins the. Vegetable treats, just fresh vitamins. I use a tea, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 cardamom pod crushed, and an 1/8 tsp of turmeric per gallon of water, kinda an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti fungal triple whammy. In waterers side by side they drink it over plain water, and I haven't seen any negative effects. I had wheazy sneazy turkeys this spring, thought for sure they were all gonna die, 10 o'clock at night. I made the tea about quadruple strength, gave them all about a Tbl spn orally with a syringe, they acted wayyy better by 6 in the morning. Really it surprised me how much it helped. I gave them a second dose for good measure, and changed their water to the standard tea for a couple weeks. Professional approved? I dunno. Worked for me? Yes