New flock member with scabs

[jsilva05]

I recently acquired two laying hens. One of them has scabs around her comb and her eyes have thick booger like substance coming out of them. Is this usual? Also my other 4 hens are 3 months. What's the best way to introduce them together?

 

[jsilva05]

I'm new to owning chickens. Sounds stupid but could this just be caused by a rooster?

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like it could be fowl pox which is a virus spread by mosquitoes. Without any complications it lasts about 3 weeks, but don't harm the scabs because it can spread. Some paint the scabs with iodine to help dry them out. If you see any scabs around eyes, clean them with saline and apply an antibiotic ointment such as Terramycin eye ointment, or Vetericyn eye gel.

 

[KYTinpusher]

It does look like fowl pox, but that may not be the only issue. I can not emphasize this enough - you should quarantine the 2 new hens away from the others for a minimum of a month, longer if any of the symptoms persist very long.

 

[Eggcessive]

It does look like fowl pox, but that may not be the only issue. I can not emphasize this enough - you should quarantine the 2 new hens away from the others for a minimum of a month, longer if any of the symptoms persist very long.

Yes, that is true--always quarantine any new birds if you have other poultry. Looking at your picture again, the eye does have scabs around it and is also swollen, so I would also look for symptoms of respiratory disease, such as nasal drainage, sneeze, gasping, or noisy breathing. Hopefully the swollen eye is just infection from the pox, but those infections can cause blindness sometimes. Here is a good link about common diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044