Is this beginning of pox?

[julie42a]

So I noticed little white spots on my hen's comb yesterday, and now they look like this:

I had some left over Bactroban ointment that I put on them, because I wasn't sure what they were. Any other ideas?
Thanks!
Julie

 

[BantamLover21]

That does look like the beginning of dry Fowl Pox to me, though it could be that the comb is just dry or has a few insect bites.

Fortunately, dry Fowl Pox isn't usually too serious. The scabs will grow in size, change color, and then fall off over a period of 4-6 weeks. There is nothing you can do to speed up the process. However, it is sometimes a good idea to treat with antibiotics to prevent secondary infection.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I suspect that that is the beginnings of Fowl Pox. There isn't much you can do about it. But, fortunately, it isn't that serious, unless it turns into the wet form. To help the scabs dry up and go away, you can dab them with iodine.

 

[chicmom]

It's very hard to tell with your picture, I do see the few spots you've mentioned though, but I can't say it's the fowl pox. My whole flock had the fowl pox this year, so I'm very familiar. There's not much you can do but wait and see. The pox kind of get black and scabby. Some of my hens had some around their eyes and looked miserable for a few days.

A friend told me, and I did research too, that chickens can get fowl pox from mosquito bites, which would explain why my flock got it. The mosquitos were relentless here in Ohio this year. It was AWFUL!

So this is a virus, and the flock just had to get through it. I did give them some vitamins/electrolites in their drinking water, but that was really it. It seemed to take a month to go completely through the flock and then be totally gone. Just this past week everyone is laying great and I'm getting eggs eggs eggs!

I had no losses. I did worry about a few of them. One seemed to be very stressed and barely moving one day. But I was amazed to see her back at being perky the very next day.

Oh, and let me share that I didn't even realize they had the pox at first. I just wondered why egg production stopped. Then the next day, I saw the pox marks! The fowl pox just seemed to pop out of nowhere. I also had some of the hens appear to sneeze and sort of have a cold. But they all pulled through. Everybody's healthy now.

Good luck to you and I hope it's not the fowl pox.

 

[julie42a]

Oh we had an insane mosquito season this year! I didn't realize that was how they got it? We finally had a hard freeze last week and they're gone, but it was way worse than usual. So will all five of my chickens get it? Right now Louise just has those little spots and one on her wattles, but I can expect more? This poor girl, she gets everything.

 

[chicmom]

Well, I think they originally get it from mosquito bites, and then they can give it to eachother. But with all the mosquitos, it's likely they've all gotten it from them. You know what's funny? Once they get it, they are immune. So I sort of treated it like when my kids got chicken pox. I didn't try and separate them. I just let them all get it, that way I don't have to worry about it next year.

My friend also told me that, once you've noticed the fowl pox, they've probably had it for a week or so anyway. So I though there was no point in trying to separate my flock. Also, I really don't have the facilities to do that. I only have one large hen house.

Also, Julie, I didn't try and put anything on the pox marks. I just figured they should dry out on their own, and they did. I've heard the terms dry pox and wet pox, so I guess my flock had the dry.

 

[julie42a]

Well if its a virus I'm sure not going to waste anymore Bactroban on it! She doesn't seem to bothered by it, and if its like the chicken pox we used to get hopefully it won't be too bad for any of them.
So the dry pox is just on the outside? And wet pox is in their mouth and throat? Do they get just one or the other?

 

[julie42a]

Well I'm sure its pox now, the scabs are black, and there's a few more small black spots on her wattles. Hopefully they stay small and don't bother her much. They don't really seem to be now, she's eating and drinking and bossing the others around. No spots on anyone else, but have heard a sneeze from one and seen a little bit of a runny nose on another. Kind of just waiting right now to see what develops.

 

[chicmom]

Wishing the best for your flock! If they're like my flock, it'll take a while to get out of their system, but they'll be fine.

 

[julie42a]

I sure hope so! I'm ridiculously attached to these girls