Lesions on Face and Shut Eyes

[ChaddiX]

Dear BYC'ers,

Greetings from Los Angeles. I'm a new transplant with my small flock from the Bay Area. These lesions began showing up in my flock about 2 weeks ago. Some of the hens' eyes have also shut. I used warm water to wash their faces to open their eyes again, but to no avail.

I mixed 2/3 Corid Powder per Gal of water for the past 7 days with no relief of symptoms.

Any thoughts on what this is, treatment, and/or prevention? Thank you.

-CHAD

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

Disclosure: I am not an avian veterinarian and none of the information below is proffessional medical advice but consists on my own research, personal experience and opinions.


Looks like fowl pox... Ouch.

Their are two types of fowl pox: wet and dry. Wet fowl pox is much more dangerous than dry fowl pox (higher fatality rate) because it affects the respiratory system of the bird as well as the skin. Because of this, symptoms for wet fowl pox may include lesions in the mouth/throat and/or wheezing/coughing and nasal discharge.

Both wet and dry come from a virus and are only treatable to a certain degree (basically, the bird has to do the bulk of fighting off the pox on it's own). However, there are definitely measures that can be taken to keep birds that are going through the illness more comfortable and to help prevent future infections. Here are some helpful articles that go into greater depth on the subject of fowl pox:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/07/fowl-pox-prevention-treatment.html

http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/how-to-easily-diagnose-and-treat-fowl-pox/

Hope that this is helpful and I hope that your flock is better soon!

Best regards, Anna

P.S. For further reading on chickens, please visit my website: http://thewayofthechicken.com

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like fowl pox. Touching or disturbing the scabs of fowl pox, along with direct contact can spread the virus. Pox, a virus spread by mosquitoes, usually takes 2-3 weeks to go away as long as there are no secondary infections (such as eye infection or wet pox affecting the throat, trachea, or upper GI tract. Terramycin eye ointment in eyes of affected eyes can help treat infection. The ears looks quite affected. Since some of the secondary infections can be bacterial, some vets may prescribe an antibiotic, but those will not treat the pox virus. There is a vaccine for pox for those not yet showing symptoms.

 

[micstrachan]

So sorry. Your poor girls. I agree with fowl pox, based exclusively on photos I have seen and no personal experience.

 

[ChaddiX]

Thank you so much, everyone, for dialing-in. I'm read up and will head to the feed store when they open to check out what tetracycline antibiotics they have. Can't believe after 7 years this is my first time to encounter fowl pox in my flock.

 

[Isaac 0]

I agree,It looks like Pox.

Keep them stress free as possible.Clean Feeders and Waterers Regularly. Vitamins may help with treatment specially Vitamin A.


Antibiotics that are not given for a Secondary Infection may cause Immunosuppression.