Is this fowl pox?

[dawg53]

As an update to this I found Mason's eye worms in the eyes of the smaller chick this morning. Judging from all their symptoms I think fowl pox + eye worms explains everything. I pulled out two worms by hand but I can't get the rest so I'm going on a quest for Oxyrid tonight.

The chicks are quarantined from my other birds and I'm practicing good quarantine hygiene.

I'm sure your culling advice is very good for anyone in a similar situation but I have no intention of adding new chicks to my flock, and since there are so many feral birds around it seems like whatever illnesses are going around will just be in the neighboring feral flocks anyway so culling won't make a difference. Plus if it's just eye worms + pox these lil dudes should recover and be fine later.

Thanks for your concern and for your answers.

Eyeworms are difficult to get rid of. Their eggs will contaminate the soil and you'll end up tracking the eggs into your chicken pens and will be picked up by your existing flock.
Oxyrid will not prevent nor treat unseen worm eggs. Cull.

 

[jameverywhere]

Eyeworms are difficult to get rid of. Their eggs will contaminate the soil and you'll end up tracking the eggs into your chicken pens and will be picked up by your existing flock.
Oxyrid will not prevent nor treat unseen worm eggs. Cull.

This is Oahu. The worm eggs are already in the soil everywhere.

 

[dawg53]

This is Oahu. The worm eggs are already in the soil everywhere.

No need to treat the birds, waste of time and money. You'll learn eventually. Good luck.

 

[jameverywhere]

No need to treat the birds, waste of time and money. You'll learn eventually. Good luck.

Out of curiosity -- if my two 3-year-old laying hens ended up with pox and/or worms and I was asking for help would you have the same advice? Cull and start over? Are there any chicken illnesses you think can or should be treated instead of culling? Or are you more tolerant of treating established flocks and your only issue with these chicks is that they were feral, and ergo not worth treating?

I usually kill feral birds that trespass in my yard, but they're adults. These little dudes were cute and cold and I let myself get attached. I don't mind spending money to play vet, experiment with treatments and see what works in case I have to treat similar illnesses in the future. I find a benefit from this exercise and I don't mind spending some money. I don't have a large flock or a commercial operation at risk. Plus my area is crawling with feral birds that bring mites and pox and other diseases, and cockroaches that apparently have these worm larvae in them, so learning how to deal with these issues and figuring out what works and what doesn't will help me in the long run.

If one of the chicks ends up dying I'll kill the other, double-bag and throw them away. But I'm gonna do what I can (within reason) to keep them alive, unless it becomes very clear that something worse than pox and worms is at play.

If something bad happens in 10+ weeks I'll take the L and comment here to that effect, but I'm pretty confident that everything will be fine.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

For eyeworm, here's a better treatment than the Oxyrid, but if the Oxyrid is all you can get, then try it. Recommendation would also be to make sure you treat for mites as well.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/eyeworms-in-coturnix-quail.1508859/#post-25331589

 

[dawg53]

Out of curiosity -- if my two 3-year-old laying hens ended up with pox and/or worms and I was asking for help would you have the same advice? Cull and start over? Are there any chicken illnesses you think can or should be treated instead of culling? Or are you more tolerant of treating established flocks and your only issue with these chicks is that they were feral, and ergo not worth treating?

I usually kill feral birds that trespass in my yard, but they're adults. These little dudes were cute and cold and I let myself get attached. I don't mind spending money to play vet, experiment with treatments and see what works in case I have to treat similar illnesses in the future. I find a benefit from this exercise and I don't mind spending some money. I don't have a large flock or a commercial operation at risk. Plus my area is crawling with feral birds that bring mites and pox and other diseases, and cockroaches that apparently have these worm larvae in them, so learning how to deal with these issues and figuring out what works and what doesn't will help me in the long run.

If one of the chicks ends up dying I'll kill the other, double-bag and throw them away. But I'm gonna do what I can (within reason) to keep them alive, unless it becomes very clear that something worse than pox and worms is at play.

If something bad happens in 10+ weeks I'll take the L and comment here to that effect, but I'm pretty confident that everything will be fine.

Think one word: Biosecurity.

 

[jameverywhere]

For eyeworm, here's a better treatment than the Oxyrid, but if the Oxyrid is all you can get, then try it. Recommendation would also be to make sure you treat for mites as well.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/eyeworms-in-coturnix-quail.1508859/#post-25331589

Thank you! I ended up buying both Oxyrid and Enzum, which I believe is the same active ingredient as Valbazen? I used Oxyrid in the eyes of both chicks. It worked really quick! The worms immediately were paralyzed/dead. I pulled four out of one eye and a chunk of ten or so from another. (The bigger chick might have had one worm it blinked out; I couldn't tell.) I then followed up with Enzum orally in both, and since I have extra I think I'll give some Enzum to my big birds soon too because I've never actually wormed them before... I've only fed them garlic.

 

[jameverywhere]

As an update, both chicks died in quarantine. I thought they were on the mend for a while, but then they took a turn for the worse. I did my best. Either the pox or some coccidiosis took them out.

I don't regret trying to help, and I've learned a lot from this experience playing vet. If there's a next time, or if my own flock gets any of these parasites or diseases, I'll know what to look for, and how to treat it. I also now have a preventative wormer to use on my hens, which I probably should have had from the beginning.

Thanks to anyone who helped.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

As an update, both chicks died in quarantine. I thought they were on the mend for a while, but then they took a turn for the worse. I did my best. Either the pox or some coccidiosis took them out.

I don't regret trying to help, and I've learned a lot from this experience playing vet. If there's a next time, or if my own flock gets any of these parasites or diseases, I'll know what to look for, and how to treat it. I also now have a preventative wormer to use on my hens, which I probably should have had from the beginning.

Thanks to anyone who helped.

 

[raingarden]

If our feral chicks ever get wet from the rain they will come down with fowl pox and/or eye worms. The mortality is pretty high. I suspect they all get exposed but the ones that stay in good condition never break with lesions or worms