Is this fowl pox?

[jameverywhere]

I found two abandoned feral chicks in my yard yesterday with growths all over their face. They were shivering like mad so I set up a brooder and got them inside. They each have one swollen eye and one open eye, and they're very very sleepy, way sleepier than most chicks. I mashed some boiled egg for them, but only the bigger one will eat (so much her crop is huuuuuge rn haha). The smaller one barely wakes and just sleeps. I'm gonna get some yogurt and see if I can get her to eat by dipping her beak.

If it's fowl pox I can keep them quarantined until they're bigger and then keep them outside with my other hens, but if it's something worse or more dangerous I'd like to know.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Where are you located in the world?

It does look like Fowl Pox. Is there pus in the swollen eye and any lesions inside the beak?
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-...ting insects, most notably, mosquitoes. More

 

[jameverywhere]

Where are you located in the world?

It does look like Fowl Pox. Is there pus in the swollen eye and any lesions inside the beak?
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/#:~:text= FOWL POX CAUSES & TRANSMISSION 1,by biting insects, most notably, mosquitoes. More

Yeah, the swollen eyes are discharging yellow fluid sometimes. I can't see inside the beak tho'; the lil dudes won't let me open their mouths and I don't wanna hurt em.

 

[dawg53]

Do NOT integrate them into your flock, now or never. Cull them and bury them deep away from your existing flock. They have more going on than just fowl pox. Practice biosecurity.

 

[jameverywhere]

Do NOT integrate them into your flock, now or never. Cull them and bury them deep away from your existing flock. They have more going on than just fowl pox. Practice biosecurity.

What makes you say that?

To be perfectly honest I'm attached now and I don't want to kill them if it's just fowl pox.

 

[dawg53]

Swollen eye denotes an infection of some type possibly due to an unknown respiratory disease or other disease, not to mention lethargic. Not knowing their history doesnt help. You've been warned, hopefully you'll take heed and cull.

 

[jameverywhere]

Where are you located in the world?

It does look like Fowl Pox. Is there pus in the swollen eye and any lesions inside the beak?
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/#:~:text= FOWL POX CAUSES & TRANSMISSION 1,by biting insects, most notably, mosquitoes. More

Oh sorry I didn't reply to your first question. I'm located in Hawaii.

There are no lesions inside the beak on the bigger one. I wiped their eyes with a wet paper towel and now they both can open both eyes and the goop is gone. The eyes are just watery/irritated from the scabs on the eyelid.

The smaller one is eating yogurt with a big appetite.

I was going to wait and see if they fully healed after four to six weeks to confirm it's pox. I found what I think is their sibling in my yard today, completely healthy. She was stuck because her mom flew over a wall. I put her on the other side of the wall.

Do you think it's something other than pox and I should kill them too? I feel like all the signs are pointing to pox, including the healthy sibling.

 

[FunClucks]

Could have fowl pox, could have other stuff too on top of that. Look up symptoms for MG, mycoplasma galiseptum (spelling?), also avian flu and there are a few others that can leave chickens alive eventually but mean decreased health over the life of the bird, decreased egg production, and decreased longevity, and higher mortality rate for any chicks that you bring into the flock. Best to keep any known disease out to start with, or you could have a problem that will last throughout the lifetime of your flock. Besides the animals' suffering (which is not a small thing for your healthy chickens), years of constant vet care due to poor health can wear down even the most dedicated keeper and severely impact the joy of keeping chickens.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh sorry I didn't reply to your first question. I'm located in Hawaii.

There are no lesions inside the beak on the bigger one. I wiped their eyes with a wet paper towel and now they both can open both eyes and the goop is gone. The eyes are just watery/irritated from the scabs on the eyelid.

The smaller one is eating yogurt with a big appetite.

I was going to wait and see if they fully healed after four to six weeks to confirm it's pox. I found what I think is their sibling in my yard today, completely healthy. She was stuck because her mom flew over a wall. I put her on the other side of the wall.

Do you think it's something other than pox and I should kill them too? I feel like all the signs are pointing to pox, including the healthy sibling.

Hard to know if it's just Pox or not.
I know Pox is very common in HI, but MG and/or Infectious Coryza are a couple of common respiratory illnesses too.

 

[jameverywhere]

As an update to this I found Manson'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.