Identified fowl pox

[Practicedm]

had a question regarding fowl pox.

1. is this something humans can contract?

2. my chickens were vaccinated but still getting the fowl pox. how concerned should i be? i have started to put antibiotics in the water for secondary infections.

3. what other things should i now do and/or look for?

thanks for any help

 

[Eggcessive]

People cannot get fowl pox. When did you vaccinate them. I believe it takes 4 weeks for immunity to develop, but i will check on that. Once chickens get fowl pox, they become immune for life from that particular strain. For dry fowl pox there is nothing much to do. For lesions around eyes, I would use antibiotic ointment plain Neosporin, Bacitracin, Terramycin, etc) in the eyes, and some use iodine on the scabs to dry them up, but it's not always necessary. For wet or diphtheric form of pox, that is very serious, and secondary infections may need to be treated. Can you post a picture of your pox?

 

[Eggcessive]

The only info I can find on when vaccines are effective is that a successful take happens after 6-7 days, but can't find anything if that means they are then considered immune. In other diseases, immunity does not occur for 2-4 weeks depending on the vaccine and disease. Here is a pretty good link to read on pox and shows the wet pox lesions that can affect the airway of chickens, as well as good vaccination info: http://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35

 

[Practicedm]

they were vaccinated as chicks before i purchased them at the feed store

 

[Practicedm]

they are full grown now i bought them last november

 

[Eggcessive]

they were vaccinated as chicks before i purchased them at the feed store

Are you sure that they were vaccinated for fowl pox, and not just Mareks disease or coccidiosis? There is one vaccine that apparently vaccinates for Mareks and fowl pox at 1 day old, but I believe that it must be followed up by a second dose. That should be in the link above. Can you post a picture tomorrow? That would give some idea on the severity of their pox.

 

[Practicedm]

i will post a pic tomorrow but im pretty good at identification of things. i was a faunal analyst/archaeologist as well as a forensic archaeologist for dept of coroner LA county. when i did a search on google and looked at others they appear to be similar, not as wide spread as some i saw but none the less dark and scab like. i did not notice any puss or mucus on any.

my one chick an ameraucana was noticeably not well the other day. she did not run up to me like normal and bedded down in a different perching area away from the others. this happened with another awhile back but both were fine the next day. my daughter noticed the little dark spots on her crest and below the beak and showed them to me today.

but i will put a pic up tomorrow.

 

[Practicedm]

i call the feed store lady whom i had talked a lot too before i bought them. the chicks were about two weeks old and she says that all the chicks they sell are vaccinated. i will call her back tomorrow and ask what specific vaccinations they received.

 

[Practicedm]

thats was "called the feed store..."

 

[Eggcessive]

The only reason for a picture was to see how bad it is. It doesn't sound serious at all from your description, but some people have chickens covered with horrible pox lesions, and many of those can die from starvation due to pain and not being able to see food and water. My experience with pox has only been a single lesion or scab, so it can run the gamut of how bad it is. This link, which is pretty graphic, shows the wet and dry versions of pox in the same flock: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...x-xxx-rated-graphic-pictures-of-pus-and-scabs