Should I cull or wait it out? (Fowl Pox) PLEASE HELP!

[rancher hicks]

Fowl Pox

Fowl pox is found in many areas of the country. It is caused by a DNA avian pox virus. There are six closely related viruses or strains--- fowl pox, pigeon px, canary pox, quail, psittacine, and ratite. It is spread by air, by contact with infested birds, or by mosquitoes. There are two forms of fowl pox: the dry or skin type and teh wet or throat type. The same organism causes both. The disease affects most birds---chickens and turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, psittacine birds, and ratites--of all ages. Pigeon pox can infect pigeons,k chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese. Canary pox infects canaries, chcikens, sparrow, and possibleyu other species. Fowl pox has been isolated from crows in some parts of the united states.

Birds with fowl pox have poor appetites and look sick. The wet pox causes difficult breathing, a nasal or eye discharge, and yellowish , soft cankeer on the mouth and tongue. With the dry pox, small grayish white humps on the legs, vent, foce, comb, and wattles develop. These eventually turn dark brown and become scabs.

On postmortem, cankeer may appear in the membranes of the mouth, throat, and trachea. There may be occasional lung involvement or cloudy air sacs.

THERE IS NO TREATMENT FOR THE DISEASE ITSELF, THOUGH AN ANTIBIOTIC MAY HELP REDUCE THE STRESS OF THE DISEASE. THE ONLY MEANS OF CONTROL IS TO ADMINSTER A VACCINE. THIS IS RECOMMENDED ONLY IN THOSE AREAS WHERE FOWL POX IS A PROBLEM.

Storey's guide to raising poultry.

Hope this helps

Rancher

 

[welovechickens]

Yes, I forgot to add that I did use a tiny bit of Betadine ointment on all the scabs....supposedly iodine helps. I couldn't tell that it shortened the duration any, but it helped keep those scabs moist. Best to have someone help you apply it, so you don't get any in their eyes with them jerking their heads around.

 

[welovechickens]

Also, just because a bird has dry pox doesn't mean it will get wet pox. It can happen, but I wouldn't cull unless it was obvious that the bird had lesions in the throat that were causing it to suffocate.

 

[DragonEggs]

I've got a new concern... The other severe case I mentioned, my serama rooster, he wont open one eye. Ive forced it open and it looks just fine and there is no swelling but he still keeps it closed. There are no sores around that eye... Is this a side effect of being sick?

Luckily, none of my birds have lost their appetite. I threw them some leftover chicken burrito with their oatmeal and they fought over the good chunks of meat as usual.

 

[lishah2000]

Last year when it was going through my flock, two of my roos got into a fight and the injuries made their case much worse. Both had pretty much one whole side of the face (one including the eye) completely black and swollen. They looked really bad. Both ended up with wet pox. They each got to a point I thought I was going to lose them, but they both recovered. It did take some time.

I left the one that's eye was covered and closed, alone. I figured he would lose the eye. After the scabs fell off it took a few days before his eye looked normal, but he can see fine out of it.