I need some serious help please!!!

[luvmybirdies]

I have been raising chickens, ducks and just recently geese...gotta luv the geesers..lol. But on a serious note, I just lost my best rooster, Mr. Cheeks, he was just like a dog he was so good, to what I believe to be Avian Pox. The pictures I have seen looks just like what he had and I have other chickens whom have the same kind of spots. What do I do? I dont want to loose anymore birds...lost two laying hens today alone. I have heard that there is something we can get from our local feed store but what is it? Please help. THX

 

[Kevin565]

. So sorry to hear about Mr. Cheeks

. I'm not personally familiar with the illness but hopefully one of the experts can chime in.

 

[luvmybirdies]

Thanks. I hope someone is familiar with this too.

 

[buildingmyark]

I've been battling pox too. My friend, who is a poultry vet for Mississippi State, said that everyone is having trouble with pox this summer. If you just see the wart-like growths on the comb/wattles, you are really in the clear. There's no treatment for that. The virus will run its course and the warts will scab over and fall off within a week or two. The dry form of pox is usually never deadly.

The other type of pox, wet pox, is more serious, and even deadly. If your birds have wet pox, they will have yellow or white-colored lesions in their mouth or throat. You may also notice some foaming in the eyes, difficulty breathing and eating (I'm now tube feeding one of mine), and foul breath. There is no treatment for this form of pox, either. There are things, however, that you can do to support your bird while they recover. Just search for wet fowl pox and you should find plenty of suggestions.

I hope that you figure out what's going on so that you won't lose anymore of your babies. Good luck

 

[luvmybirdies]

Thank you for your information. It was very helpful. I did some more research and I do believe that I am now battling both "wet" and "dry" pox, unfortunately :/ I called my local Humane Society and got some good advise.I am going to start a 14 day antibiotic treatment both in water and food for all my backyard babies. I just went and bought some Aureomycin Antibiotic Crumbles to go into the food and I will be putting Tetracycline in the water. I was also advised to take the black scabs off the chickens and wash the spots with peroxide and also mix up some bleach water, not too strong, in a spray bottle and spray around their nesting boxes and clean the roosting poles with it as well. This is what I am going to try. I hope this lil bit of information might help others with questions about this as well. I will keep everyone updated on the progress of my birdies. Wish me luck

 

[leadwolf1]

Why were you told to use antibiotics? Fowl pox is a virus.

Also, were you told why you should remove the lesions? I would think that would open wounds to secondary infection. I have heard that you can dab them with iodine but, never to remove them.

 

[luvmybirdies]

Yea, it sounded that way to me as well. I dont think I will be "picking chicken scabs" today. The antibiotics are to prevent the resperitory infection I guess. I have only been raising birds for a year and a half so I am fairly new to this. I am terrified to loose my flock. I was told when we first started with the chickens that we will either love it or hate it. Well we started with 15 chickens and now have about 40 chickens, 12 ducks and 3 geese. I would be lost if they werent here. I just hope we can save the rest.