Pox questions / advice please!

[scatchandmax]

A few months ago my 5 month old golden laced Wyandotte came down with what I suspected to be avian pox - white lesions on comb and wattles, diarrhea, and greatly decreased energy. I even took her to the vet out of desperation and they gave her a vitamin b shot and antibiotics for any ancillary infections. Well she stopped eating, looked catatonic for a few days and died. I didn't think she had the wet pox since breathing didn't seem to be an issue so I was surprised at her steep decline. Fast forward to last week, my 6 month old buff Orpington showed decreased energy, diarrhea, some sneezing and the same white lesions on her comb and wattles. I put her on corid for 5 days because that was the advice I got for the Wyandotte from the farm I had purchased them from (I guess he doubted it was pox?). And I figured couldn't hurt. After a few days poops returned to normal, energy was back, and she started daily laying again. She did start limping though (!!) and it doesn't appear to be bumblefoot so I can only assume it's a sprain or slight injury and this hasn't slowed her down at all so hopefully that's just random and will improve soon. Now her lesions have turned scabby and black. Does this mean she's through the worst of it and will recover? She is still sneezing and honking occasionally, but eating and acting normally. Was this definitely pox? I have two other hens left - a 6 month old black sexlink and a 4 month old Easter Egger. Is it too late to vaccinate them against avian pox? The Wyandotte got sick when we introduced the EE so I'm convinced she's the carrier and I don't want to just sit back and wait for the sexlink to get it! Thank you for any and all wisdom!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any pictures of the pox? You may have different problems going on, and if you lose another chicken, I recommend that you contact the state vet's office about getting a necropsy done. Avian or fowl pox starts out with light spots that turn into dark scabs, and it can be anywhere on the body, but the comb, wattles, and face are most common. The pictures below are fairly typical. Most chickens recover from dry pox, but when wet pox lesions are found in the throat and airway, the chicken may die. Weight loss and decreased appetite are common. Diarrhea and lethargy can be common in cocci, but also with other diseases. Sneezing can be a sign of respiratory disease such as infectious bronchitis and others, but also can be from dust,mold, or other irritants. The limping could be just a sprain, but things like Mareks disease or MS (mycoplasma synovitis) can cause that. Here is a link to your state vet in the US: http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[scatchandmax]

Thanks for the reply Eggcessive. Those pix look like what I'm dealing with, she just has less spots. Maybe 2-3 on each side of the comb and 1 on the wattles.

So my question is, is it too late to think about vaccinating the other two? Are they too old? And now that the BO's spots have turned scabby black is she over the worst of it?

 

[Eggcessive]

I have only seen a single pox scab in a couple of my chickens. They tend to get over it in about 3 weeks if there are no secondary infections, such as in the eye. Vaccinations work on chickens not exposed to the virus, and the ones that had it will be immune to that particular strain in the future. Here are some links about the vaccine:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm021
http://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/fowlpox.pdf