Is This Frostbite Or Fowl Pox?? Please Help! I'm Very New To This! Lol

[chimbica88]

NEED HELP! IS THIS FROSTBITE OR FOWLPOX???? PICTURES!

hello everyone! i am so excited i found this forum! so here it goes! i have 4 roosters, and all of them started having these black spots on their combs and wattles, so after reading over 1000 posts on frostbite and fowlpox, i'm not any closer to finding an answer. My roos live inside for this harsh winter , every night is below freezing and way too much snow outside, so their coop in insulated and have 3 heat lamps, it extends to other coops and those have windows for sun and has fans for ventilation, so they are happy otherwise, their roosting poles allow them to cover their feet, so not sure if its frostbite or fowlpox. Yesterday i built a little infirmary in my basement for them so i can keep it warm and make sure no one picks at them while they heal, i wasn't able to post PICTURES of them here on BYC, BUT PLEASE visit my site and go under 'PHOTO GALLERY' TO SEE THEM!!
IF ANYONE could please take a look for me, need some help, very new to the chicken world! but loving every minute of it, i dont want to loose any one of them because i didn't give them proper medications. THANKS!!!!


WWW.CHIMBICA.WEEBLY.COM

 

[chimbica88]

anyone??? i dont want this stuff to spread??

thanks!

 

[AKsmama]

Hi! You may want to give a bit more information first. Your location (Brazil, yes?), how many birds you have in those coops, what they're insulated with and how much ventilation you have would be good for starters. Has there been a fowl pox epidemic in your area recently? Do your birds come in contact with feral chickens that may carry fowl pox?

I am venturing a guess here that the spots are frostbite, simply because you say you have heat lamps in the coops. Adding heat to chickens can be a tricky thing, and it is rare that additional heat is needed. Often it can be detrimental. I am sure someone here can better answer your questions. Good luck!

 

[chimbica88]

hello! thanks so much for your reply! no i live in upstate NY (HUDSON VALLEY) I run a all natural, vergetarian farm, no contact with any other chickens except the hens (7 others..now seperated from the roos) there are two fan sucking air out of the coop and 5 windows, two opened daily, i have 11 chickens, their coop is bigger than my apt in manhattan..i am the only person with chicken in a 10 mile radius... i installed heat lamps in mid december after our 1st snow storm, we got 3 feet and its -15 degrees for a week....we also insulated the sleeping part of the coop, on heat lamp is for the water to not freeze, and the other is about 5 feet above their roosting poles to keep them warm..they tend to huddle all together at night... thankS!!!!

 

[honeydoll]

I can almost guarantee those black spots are scabs from your roos fighting each other. It looks just like scabs to me, they bleed a little ans when the blood dries the scabs look black just like that. The is exactly what my roos look like after fighting each other. 4 roos together generally = fighting. Hope that helps.

Carolyn

 

[silkieroo]

I agree with Caroline... Those just look like scabs to me. How many hens do you have?

 

[chickie<3]

Hi Chimbica88...I cant find ur pics...I am going thru the smae thing u r...I just posted pic on my message...a few above ur entry...let me know where ur pics r and take a look at mine...I have 5 hens and live in NY too.

 

[ailurophile23]

I am by no means an expert (this is my first year with chickens) but your roos' combs look very much like my roo's comb when he had frostbite. I have good ventillation in a good sized coop but this winter has been extremely cold and very windy. My chickens are free to go outside of the coop and they tend to even on the worst days. My roo's comb seems to clear up with warmer weather and time and then if we have a cold snap, small spots may reappear. The main thing we had to deal with was keeping the hens from picking at his comb - we actually ended up with an infection due to that and had to isolate and put the roo on penicillin for 4 days - he recovered fine thankfully. Best of luck!

 

[miniwarrior]

My chickens have had fowl pox and it did not look like that. I agree with the others who posted that they look more like scabs than anything. I haven't seen frost bite on a chicken but it sounds like you keep them warm enough....

 

[sourland]

Not fowl pox- pecking from other roosters or the hens. Even in upstate NY the mosquitoes aren't out spreading fowl pox this time of year.

Love the story about Duke. Sometimes the best dogs pick us.