week old cream legbar chicks eye "warts"

[SoldierSailor]

4 out of 5 of our 2 week old cream legbar chicks (hatched by a broody silky) have these bulges on their eyes

The "warts" are quickly growing and we don't know what to do or what it is?

Any ideas what they are?? Are they contagious?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They look to be fowl pox, it will usually run it's course in a few weeks, it's transmitted by mosquitoes, there's a lot of it this year, there's no treatment, make sure they can eat and drink fine, if they start looking under the weather put some antibiotics in their water, won't help the pox any but can help if something else gets them, otherwise not much you can do. It's hit and miss as far as spreading, nothing you can do for that either.

 

[SoldierSailor]

thank you for the quick reply, I was worried i was going to have to put them down.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

No, please don't do that, they should be fine, it can take up to six weeks from the start until they are all gone, it looks like you are a couple of weeks into it already.

 

[SoldierSailor]

We lost the chick in the photo 2 days ago.

We have 4 other chicks all but one infected.

One of the other chicks has a tongue distended enough it cannot close its beak completely.

there is soooo much contradictory info on the forums.

Do not vaccinate birds that are infected. Let it run its course seems to be the agreed treatment.
antibiotics are ineffective since its a virus.



WILL THE CHICK INFECT THE ADULTS??

WILL THE HUGE "PIMPLES" HEAL??
The eye of the chicks are almost completely covered over.

DO WE CLEAN AND DISINFECT THE PIMPLE AND SORES?


Its been 10 days and they are not looking like its healing at all.

The adults in the flock (11 -5 month olds) are not infected or showing any signs of warts

I've disinfected the water and food containers and clean the run and coop daily.

It's been cold here and we've been using a heat lamp in the coop at night.

HELP I NEED SOME QUICK ADVICE BEFORE I CULL THE CHICKS

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like it's in the mouth as well, that would be wet pox, that I haven't dealt with but know that's a lot worse, I would do a search on this site, there a plenty of old threads that talk about it.

Vaccines can help those that aren't infected avoid getting it. I personally didn't vaccinate because I believe in building a healthy immune system and culling those who can't. I would put your young chicks on antibiotics just to help their immune system along, I wouldn't mess with the sores too much, I believe the scabs can be infectious, so try to minimize handling especially if you also have other poultry to care for.

It does take a while to completely run through and heal, and some of my turkeys eyes swelled shut and I didn't think they had eyes anymore. You could cull, but I would only if they were suffering, otherwise it is already in your environment and getting rid of the chicks I don't think would help you. Good luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

Where are you raising the chicks--inside or outside? It looks like pox, but ant bites can also look very much similar. Do you have mosquitoes out right now, or have you noticed ants, or any pecking of the eyes? Fowl pox, if that is what it is, is a virus that usually takes 2-3 weeks to go away. Eye infections can be common, so something like Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin ointment would be good to use twice a day in the eyes. Sorry for the loss of your chick, and I would make sure the chicks are eating a drinking. If you see any yellow material inside the mouth, that would probably be wet pox, which is much more serious.

 

[SoldierSailor]

one died, 3 had lesions in their mouths to the point they could not eat so i put them down

my remaining chick took a bit longer to show symptoms but she has one eye that is pretty bad.

We've been treating it by washing it out and neosporin to keep it from getting infected.

She is eating fine, drinks with no trouble but cannot see out the eye that is all swollen.

We segregated her from the adults but worry that she will not be accepted back when she is better.

any advice

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It seems that fowl pox must be more harsh on young chicks. I wouldn't be surprised if the chick doesn't lose sight in her eye if she recovers. I would try to dig out any pus or solid material in the eye, flush with saline, and apply some Terramycin or Vetericyn eye gel to the eyes twice daily. If she recovers, it will be sad that she will be an only chick in her age group. Have a look at these pictures and captions about pox:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/195/fowl-pox/

 

[SoldierSailor]

as you can see in the picture she has a pretty gnarly almost tumor grown over her eye. Reading up on fowl pox it says the lesions will heal.

It just seems like it will heal up but be this huge scar, blister looking tumor thing. Will it shrink?