Wet fowl pox, 2 chickens with 1 eye swollen shut, need advice about treatment

[SashaRenee]

I have read thru many forums here on this topic and my question mainly is about the Tylon 50. I would prefer to give it orally... how much should I use and how many times per day? Or if there is some other suggestions I'd love to hear them. I have no experience with the wet form of fowl pox. I have 1 of my chickens in a "rehab" cage that has her eye swollen shut as of yesterday... then I woke up today and checked on her and the other hens only to discover another hen with the same issue! I applied Neosporin to the effected eye of the 1 caged up yesterday along with VetRx under her wings and head... Did I do the right thing? If so I will do the same for my other girl... I know it's def fowl pox cause I see pox on their combs and waddles along with pox right next to the eye itself... I know this is so painful for my girls and just breaks my heart. I know there no cure for pox but any suggestions on easy the secondary symptoms would be greatly appreciated. I've already called my local farm store which has Tylon 50 on hand if that's what you suggest would be best treatment. Thank you for your time reading this and I look forward to hearing from you....

 

[SashaRenee]

I just finished setting up my 2nd hen with an eye swollen shut into her own rehab cage... Also it may be helpful to know that I added tetracycline and minced garlic to their water as I did with all my girls. I fear that Henny Penny may end up with her 2nd eye shut (there's a huge pox by the open eye) I will make sure to keep it moist to try to stop it... I'm about to go ahead and apply Neosporin to Oreo's shut eye and VetRx under her wings and on her head since I haven't heard from anyone yet and I feel I need to do something. Wow wet pox is a beast compared to dry! I hope my girls pull thru!

 

[dawg53]

Wet pox shows itself as lesions in the mouth, trachea...not in the eyes. Look for lesions in the mouth. Here's a link regarding fowl pox and where to look for wet pox:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
Antibiotics are ineffective against fowl pox but you are correct in that they will treat secondary infections. Since your birds have dry pox, the warts or nodules can pop up near or close to the eyes. The warts/nodules cause irritation to the chickens eye and the chicken will scratch her eye causing injury and bacterial infection. You can use saline solution to flush debris out of the eye and apply a small dab of terramycin eye ointment in the eye several times a day until healed, neosporin ointment will work if you cant get the terramycin eye ointment. Tylan 50 is not a good choice for these types of infections. For serious eye infections I recommend Baytril or Amoxcillin given orally.
Fowl pox will go away on it's own in a month or so. If there are lesions in the mouth, chickens will eventually die from starvation because they cant swallow feed due to the lesions blocking the esophagus. Let me know if you see lesions in their mouth.

 

[SashaRenee]

Thanks so much for your reply... I will go out right now and check their mouth... I noticed when I was n their earlier Henny Penny pooped just water... I did get to thinking she must not be eating! So I thought it may be a good idea to give the tetracycline/garlic water to her thru a syringe orally which I was just about to do before I logged in to check for any replies on here... Oh boy I hear thunder I better hurry!!! Be back soon....

 

[SashaRenee]

Ok I just checked their mouth and I see nothing of concern... Henny Penny beat me up a little while doing so... lol... I also was able to give Oreo a full syringe of the tetracycline/garlic water and Henny Penny only drank half a syringe then got too fussy so I put her back in her cage... good news is I seen Henny eat her food while I was out there but I doubt she eating enough considering how watery her poop is... poor babies!

 

[SashaRenee]

this is Oreo's eye

 

[SashaRenee]

this is Henny Penny's eye...

 

[dawg53]

I'm glad they don't have wet pox. I looked closely at the photos you posted and I don't believe they have fowl pox. I suspect they possibly have a respiratory disease, probably Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG.) You can contact your local extension office and find out how to go about getting bloodwork taken from your sick chickens and tested for mycoplasma diseases. I also recommend that you take a fecal sample to a local vet and have it looked at under a microscope for worm oocysts.

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm glad they don't have wet pox. I looked closely at the photos you posted and I don't believe they have fowl pox. I suspect they possibly have a respiratory disease, probably Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG.) You can contact your local extension office and find out how to go about getting bloodwork taken from your sick chickens and tested for mycoplasma diseases. I also recommend that you take a fecal sample to a local vet and have it looked at under a microscope for worm oocysts.

X 2. Tylan 50 will treat a respiratory disease such as MG. Dosage is 1/2 ml for under 5 lb and 1 ml for over 5 lb chicken, 1/4 ml for a bantam give once a day as a shot in the breast muscle for 3 days, but if giving orally should be given 3-5 days. Injections are best with this medicine. There is a Tylan Soluble Powder available that can be used in the water for 3-5 days. Dosage is 1 tsp per gallon of water--add water to powder, not powder to water or it won't mix properly.

 

[SashaRenee]

Good news, I found a vet that treats chickens... Ill take both my girls in hopefully tomorrow if they can squeeze me in... I was sure it was from fowl pox cause of the black spots I see on them but on the other hand after reading your replies I got to thinking about the fact that I had purchased 8 baby silkies over 2 months ago that I'm raising n my bedroom... Well they were sick when I bought them and I didn't know til later. They had respiratory infections... 4 died... 1 is deformed with a crooked beak but doing great. I successfully nursed the remaining for to good health... My point being I very well could have unknowingly transferred their illness to my existing flock... I learned a hard lesson not to purchased birds from Craigslist I tell ya!!!! I will be sure to update y'all on the results from the vet... This is just a nightmare! I've never had this kind of experience before... Thank u guys for your response it's greatly appreciated!!!!