I am sure this has been on here many times before, but alas, it is new to me and I am unable to find anything on it. My hens have developed black spots... scabby like things on their combs. They are all acting like they feel fine, it is just the spots that are unusual. Any idea what they are or how to get rid of them?
yep either pecking or external fowl pox. Fowl pox are from mosquito bites from infected mosquitoes. The spots will be knobby wart like bumps that are usually black on top. This can spread to other birds from them 1 picking the scabs, or 2 more mosquitoes. There is only a vaccine for a preventative as this is a virus. Once the get it, it takes 2-4 weeks to run it's course. Otherwise healthy non stressed birds usually pull threw just fine and are then immune to it. But weak birds, stressed birds, or birds in bad weather conditions can die from it. External poxs usually arent that bad, there is an internal version too though and it can swell the airway shut on them. The only major concern for me during infection is it weakens them and makes them more vulnerable to other more problematic diseases. If it looks like a speckling of blackish warts, thats what you have though, otherwise, just pecking injuries. A pic would help if you have one. The vaccine is available from www.jeffers.com just in case you are interested. It comes in a small vial (which will do like 1000 birds) It has a double tipped needle, dip it in the vial, and stab it in the wing membrane, that's it. In 2 days there will be a small knot at the injection site, if you see this, the vaccine was a success
