Is this fowl pox?

[Lorien]

I give up with the vaccine and stuff. I vaccinated my uninfected birds last year (which worked). But this year all my grow out birds and pullets got it. It doesn't seem to be as bad this year (so far, fingers crossed). It may be due to the switch to fermented feed. They act a bit under the weather, but are still eating and drinking fine, unlike last time. Am I going to have this problem every year I have new birds? Should I try and plan for it, adding some extra veggies or something to their ration at this time of year?

 

[welasharon]

I don't vaccinate either but I don't hatch alot. I have had some hardly show spots and others eyes swell shut and they quit eating....all next to each other. The boost in nutrition certainly can't hurt anything.

 

[Onyx9370]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I have 17 week old hens and roos. I believe they all have dry pox, as it is just small black dots on combs and waddles. Then today I noticed a few black dots on some pullet's combs, and one pullet has some black on her nostril. Everyone is acting normal and eating and drinking and foraging. The pullet with the black on her nostril, that nostril appears to be clogged up. Like the black is blocking it but I can't be sure. She isnt showing any abnormal signs at all. Is the best thing to do leave it alone unless it becomes life threatening or wet pox? If that happens what do i do? Also, I read on here that it can take weeks to heal completely. If they start laying, are their eggs safe? Thanks for all the information and for any advice. I'll post some pics ASAP.

 

[Lorien]

Not much can be done except vaccinate from now on when you get more birds. this is the second year we got it. The birds I thought were fine died, they had mouth sores. I am going to take back the not vaccinating comment. So sad.

 

[roohugger]

My one hen also started with a black spot in her comb about 4mm wide, at first I also though maybe pox or disease, but its the wrong time of the year here in South Africa, its winter now, no mosquitoes. Later that day I noticed that when my rooster mounted her he held her very tightly on her comb and was quite rough. I then realised that the black spot was actually a little blood blister, because he keeps pinching her on the same spot. Must keep an eye on it though!

 

[Vintage Chick]

I realized that I wrote on this thread a year ago when my chickens came down with dry pox. Actually, I think a couple of them had wet pox. We live in the Houston area and have lots of creeks and trees around us, so do we EVER have mosquitoes!!!!

Here's what I've done:

I put a fan in the the coop. This helps keeps the girls cool at night, as well doing quite a decent job of blowing the mosquitoes away.

If pox occurs around the nostrils, I drip VetRx up the nostrils. This also helps if they get pox internally in the throat.

I use a spray of diluted tea tree oil on them. Mosquitoes don't like the scent.

 

[roohugger]

I like the idea of tea tree oil, we have spring coming up soon, so time to get prepared. My hen houses are wooden, do you think I should spray them at the time with citronella oil? My houses are also little so maybe once they are locked away for the night I can just drape a mosquito net over the coop. We had so much rain and mozzies last year, I never lost a single bird but a few of them looked terrible and needed care. I now have gorgeous breeding stock, and last year could not sell any birds till mid summer. Dont want it to happen again

 

[Vintage Chick]

As the mosquito season is literally "on" us, I think it's fine to spray them quite often. I'm sure a mosquito net would help, but those critters are out during the day as well, so to keep it entirely managed, might be a bit difficult. One of my little girls (18 weeks old) just broke out yesterday. I know the pox looks bad, but just keep an eye on them for open wounds and give them treatment. I've also used a product called Horse & Stall in the coop - the bottle says it's fine for poultry as well (in the coop - not on the bird).

 

[roohugger]

While doing some research for plants for my nursery business, I stumbled across a herb called feverfew. It has stunning white flowers, grows like a weed and repels mosquitos. They hate it. Im going to plant it by my coops!

 

[Pams chicks]

Thanks for leaving this post available. I think 2 of 6 have this so far in my flock.