HELP! Sores on combs and wattles

[butterflygrooves]

I noticed the other day that one of my girls had a black sore on her wattle and assumed she got pecked by someone else. Today I went out to gather eggs and noticed that all of them had at least one sore on the wattle or comb, one of the girls in particular had a lot. What is this and how do I treat it? All 5 girls have it in some degree.

Here are a few pics of Mulberry and her sores, she has them the worst.

 

[butterflygrooves]

bump

 

[Brindlebtch]

Could br fowl pox, caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitos, I think. Nothing you can do. It should resolve itself in about 6 weeks, hopefully. Search fowl pox here or on google for more info.

 

[ruth]

It's Fowl pox. Treat the sores with iodine to help them heal, dry and fall off. If it's wet pox there will be sores inside the mouth as well. Check in the mouth. If there are sores there, use a q-tip dipped in strong, old fashioned Listerine and wipe the sores till you can get them to come off. They will look like a white/yellowish rubbery coating. Apply iodine if they won't come off in first attempts. Repeat the Listerine and Iodine treatments till the inside of the mouth heals. Treat the outside sores with iodine - a couple of times a day if possible.

 

[butterflygrooves]

Thanks! I will pick up some iodine tomorrow.

Maybe a stupid question but is Fowl Pox something humans can pick up? I've told my daughter she can't play with the girls until they get better to be on the safe side.

 

[callen]

this is probably from another roo fighting if you have another

 

[HHandbasket]

I have a wellie with fowlpox that I am treating right now. At first I thought, "Ohh, Martha's getting a cute li'l mole on her face. We'll call her Martha The Mole!" But then it got big and angry-looking, like the ones in the pics. I'm treating it with tincture of iodine twice a day & it's drying up now. I'm also keeping her separated from the other girls so she can have antibiotic water. I don't want to put medicine in the "general waterer" anymore now that one of the girls started laying this week & have set up a "chicken hospital" in a giant dog crate, a place where ill chooks can "re-coop" (boo-hiss) and get better.

 

[butterflygrooves]

Quote:
No roos at all (according to the feed store guy who sold them to me).

 

[ruth]

It's not from fighting - it is Fowl Pox and will quickly get worse if not treated. It can spread to their sinus cavity inside their mouth, down their throat and close up the airway and eventually kill them. Isolate the sick birds because it is contagious. Antibiotics aren't needed. Just treat with iodine and do check inside their mouth and down the throat. If sores are present there, swab them with Listerine and then coat with iodine. After the first treatment, you can usually lift the rubbery coating off the inside of the mouth.

Here's a couple of pics of one of my roos from last year. For some reason, only the Welsummer roos I had gotten as chicks from a breeder got Fowl Pox - no other bird on my farm came down with it. It was during our very wet rainy period. All 6 roos fully recovered.

 

[Morgan7782]

Boy this must be going around! My Joon bug has it as well. Here is some information I found on it. I am giving vitamin water and ACV, but not antibiotics until a secondary infection happens (if it does). Antibiotics can mask the symptoms, but may not help get rid of the virus.

What I have been doing with my girl is putting ACV and vitamin mix in waterers, giving yougurt as treats, and cleaning the scabs on her comb with iodine. I have not seperated her from the flock, and am treating everybody in the flock with the above. I have read that when one bird shows leisons chances are the entire flock has the virus in their systems (whether symptoms are shown or not) so might as well treat the entire flock with the immune boosting probiotics. At least that is how I am doing it.

Fowl pox is very similar to chicken pox in people it seems, once they get over it the virus should not return. Right now my girl only has the dry version, I have read a few places that the wet version has about 10-15 percent survival rate, but the dry has 85-90 percent survival rate.

Basically it seems darwins therory strikes again. If the chicken's immune system is strong enough to fight it off, let them. You can aid with ACV, and others (look up probiotics), and if you feel better you can isolate the symptom showing bird. But do not be surprised if the flock has the virus as well unless isolation is very very well managed.

just IMO and personal experience. That is how I am treating my girl.