HELP Hen with scabs forming on her comb!!! What is it? PICS included

[HaileyandJoliesMom]

Big red has several small scabs forming on her comb, They werent there last night.

We had a chicken "rescue" recently develop similar scabs on her comb and around her eye, she has humanely culled because she was obviously sick. She was kept 100 or so yards from the other chickens so no contact is possible.

Big red is still eating and drinking and just enjoyed her cooled pasta treat, please help!!!

 

[speckledhen]

Raised like that, the lesions look like fowl pox to me. Hopefully, someone can confirm that. Could be peck marks, however, these being raised and wart-like seems more. You could use iodine on the lesions to dry them up and it will run its course in a couple of weeks, I believe.

 

[Pine Grove]

Cynthia nailed it...its pox

 

[lilchick]

Don't rule out the possibility of bug bites... they can leave little sores that scab over also...
aren't pox marks usually larger?
would hate for you to kill her if she isn't really sick!
keep us posted....

 

[HaileyandJoliesMom]

I seperated her a lil while a go. And will treat her with iodine. Do i dilute it and apply with a sponge? My only "barnyard" experience is with horses, so please excuse my ignorance.

The last chicken had tons of issues, she was kept in a small rabbit cage with 2 other roosters before i got her. she woulnt eat or drink, though I did force feed her with an eyedropper. She got to the point where she would fall down and not be able to get up. Poor girl

 

[lilchick]

I would use full strength iodine and use Q-tip to apply it...
good luck....

 

[Pine Grove]

Quote:
These are little bug bites(mosquitos) and will probably get larger, It's just according to the birds immune response..Vaccination is the only control of pox, If it were me I would consider it, I've vaccinated against pox for the past 20 or so years...

 

[HaileyandJoliesMom]

Can you give me more info on where to get the vaccines and how to adminster them?

 

[LindsayB]

definitely fowl pox. My 4 girls just got over that and are now laying again. It takes about 3 to 4 weeks for them to get over it. Honestly it wasn't really that bad for my chickens. they kept eating and drinking and didn't loose any weight at all. the only thing they stopped doing was laying eggs. I bought avia charge from mcmurray hatchery to put in there water. and it really helped out too. I even sprinkled some in their yogurt. Its good that you isolated the sick bird bc it spreads very easily. The good thing about it though is once the disease runs its course they will never have it again!

 

[kinardmommy]

I am battling fowl pox right now and that is definately what your hen has. Seperating her will not do any good unless you can put her in an absolutely mosquito free environment. I had not vaccinated my chickens either so they were all at risk.

I would suggest checking with any local feed stores for the pox vaccine. If you have no luck there then get online and order it. I had to order mine from Jeffers Livestock and it arrived in two days. Vaccinate the ones who are not showing any signs. It is very simple.

As for the ones already infected, iodine is good to apply to the sores. I do it in the morning and evening. Immediately start all of your chickens on an antibiotic. You will just have to sacrifice your eggs. Some sores or lesions may also spread to the eye area. For these I would suggest that you use Neosporin and apply that to the affected area atleast two times a day, three times if you can manage it. Clean and disinfect their water containers EVERY DAY. If you can manage it, give fresh antibiotic water two times a day. Most importantly control the mosquitos. Bug zappers, screening in the coop to keep them out, or even spraying with Malathion are good ideas.

This may seem like alot to do,and it is, but in the end it will really help your chickens to deal with this. It looks terrible but they can definately make it through it. I would not cull unless there is no other option. One of mine had sores on both eyes so bad that she could not see and it had also spread to the inside of the mouth. I chose to cull her b/c the wet version, with the blisters inside the mouth, will spread through their water and food. I had to sacrifice her to protect the others.It can be very hard to watch your chickens go through this. Good Luck. I hope every thing turns out well.