unknown disease to me

[Justin de Melo]

Hi

I have attached a photo of one of my hens, she has black(blood) spots on her comb and around her eyes. 90% of the flock has it and seems to be contagious.

can you confirm what it is and how to treat it? I have not seen this before. they have been treated with doxycycline and oxytetracycline and there has been no improvement

thanks, Justin

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be fowl pox virus, but it looks more like pecking injuries in the pictures above. Fowl pox virus, spread by mosquitoes in hot weather, does not respond to any antibiotics, but lasts about a month in each chicken. Scabs, after dropping off, can continue to spread pox. Is the chicken above blinded or still have an intact eye? I would clean the eye with saline, and apply antibiotic drops or ointment several times a day. This link shows the pictures of how fowl pox can appear:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/

 

[Justin de Melo]

It could be fowl pox virus, but it looks more like pecking injuries in the pictures above. Fowl pox virus, spread by mosquitoes in hot weather, does not respond to any antibiotics, but lasts about a month in each chicken. Scabs, after dropping off, can continue to spread pox. Is the chicken above blinded or still have an intact eye? I would clean the eye with saline, and apply antibiotic drops or ointment several times a day. This link shows the pictures of how fowl pox can appear:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/

is there high mortality with fowl pox? I've lost approx 200 birds this week?

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your location in the world? Usually, most grown chickens survive fowl pox, unless they get yellow plaques or material inside their beaks and throat. That symptom is the diphtheretic or wet form of pox.

How much room do your chickens have to live in, what are you feeding, and do they get out to free range in a larger area? Are they having any respiratory symptoms?

 

[Eggcessive]

I just looked at some of your past threads, and saw where you had broiler/meat chickens before in fairly overcrowded conditions in South Africa. You also had some chickens with twisted necks, which can be neurological signs of such diseases as Newcastles, avian influenza, Mareks disease, vitamin E deficiency, and head trauma. Some had leg issues as well. Hopefully, you could get someone to examine a few bodies to help determine the causes. Antibiotics should be avoided in chickens for meat or eggs, especially if a cause of illness is not known. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Justin de Melo]

What is your location in the world? Usually, most grown chickens survive fowl pox, unless they get yellow plaques or material inside their beaks and throat. That symptom is the diphtheretic or wet form of pox.

How much room do your chickens have to live in, what are you feeding, and do they get out to free range in a larger area? Are they having any respiratory symptoms?

based in South Africa, they are Hyline silver layers and are 5 weeks old.
they stay in a 6x6m coup and there are 500 in each coup.
they are fed pullet grower
they are not free-range
no signs of respiratory problems.
inspected a few and they had no plaques inside their beaks

 

[Justin de Melo]

I just looked at some of your past threads, and saw where you had broiler/meat chickens before in fairly overcrowded conditions in South Africa. You also had some chickens with twisted necks, which can be neurological signs of such diseases as Newcastles, avian influenza, Mareks disease, vitamin E deficiency, and head trauma. Some had leg issues as well. Hopefully, you could get someone to examine a few bodies to help determine the causes. Antibiotics should be avoided in chickens for meat or eggs, especially if a cause of illness is not known. Very sorry for your loss.

yes, ended up sending one for blood tests. they found e.coli.

 

[Eggcessive]

That sounds very overcrowded. Pecking could be the problem, plus if they have a diseases, such as coccidiosis, it could spread to most. Do you have any way to test a dead bird for coccidiosis? Amprollium, sulfonamide antibiotics, and toltrazuril are drugs used to treat coccidiosis around the world.
Edited to say, E.coli can be devastating. It is already around coops in the droppings, and can be spread to other parts of the body.