Pox in the flock in winter? Help me solve this puzzle.

[Emmett]

I have a newly established flock of adult hens, bought them from October on and most are 1-2 years old. About a month ago I found a broody hen off her eggs in another nest box with both eyes swollen shut and was a little bloody. She's a banty and was broody in the favorite nesting box so my initial thought was her flock friends had been picking on her, my second thought was maybe fowl pox. Either way she was separated from the flock and made a full recovery after about 2 weeks in isolation. Yesterday I found another hen in a similar condition, unable to see out of both eyes, some sort of abrasion/wound to the side of her head (which I will be investigating further here shortly). She's isolated, eating and drinking fine but is obviously injured. We have had a lot of wild cats around the coop yard lately but I would be surprised if a feral cat would attack a full sized hen. My knowledge of pox is it's carried by mosquitos, I'm in Idaho it's in the low 20's and snowing so that doesn't seem like a possibility. With this being the second case I don't think it's another hen attacking them but I'm not sure what else could be causing this. The rest of the flock seems fine. I'm going to upload photos shortly.

 

[Emmett]

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Poor baby! Let me reach out for help.....
@Eggcessive @casportpony @azygous @staceyj @aart

 

[Eggcessive]

Is that a scab on the left ear? How is this hen acting—lethargic, active, or is she sitting on eggs? Do you see any bubbles or foam, or pus from her eyes? The eyelid in the left eye is swollen. I would try to find out who is doing the pecking and separate them. For now, I would put some Terramycin eye ointment or plain neosporin in the eyes twice a day, after cleaning the drainage from the eyes with saline or water.

 

[Emmett]

I just got both her eyes cleaned up and treated with Terramycin. The left one had some yellow (pus) keeping it closed but no bubbles or foam. She can now see out of both eyes. She's not broody (the first time this happened it was with a broody hen). She is being kept in our garage and it's dark most of the time but when the lights are on she is active inside the crate and wants to eat and drink. The thing on her "ear lobe" for lack of a better term on the right side is a scab I got it cleaned up a bit but it was really upsetting for her.

Do you really think it's a possibility another hen is doing that much damage? If so, I'm going to find her and she's going to be dinner! I do have 2 roosters in with the hens, I have never seen either be aggressive....

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, they could be pecking her eyes because she is ill, but eyes are a common place for pecking. Since her ear is scabbed, she could have a respiratory disease that has caused some of the symptoms. The ear probably should be treated by softening the scab with a little hydrogen peroxide or saline. You may need to dig out a little of the gunk in there. Once it is cleaned out with peroxide and QTips, you can put some plain neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment in the ear canal. Ear mites, bacterial, and fungal infections can cause ear infections.

 

[Emmett]

Yes, they could be pecking her eyes because she is ill, but eyes are a common place for pecking. Since her ear is scabbed, she could have a respiratory disease that has caused some of the symptoms. The ear probably should be treated by softening the scab with a little hydrogen peroxide or saline. You may need to dig out a little of the gunk in there. Once it is cleaned out with peroxide and QTips, you can put some plain neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment in the ear canal. Ear mites, bacterial, and fungal infections can cause ear infections.

Thank you.