Wet Fowl Pox, or the Journey to Mordor and Back

[classicsredone]

Fowl Pox is gross. There is no way around it. It smells gross, it looks gross, and it is contagious. One of our lf Langshans had white gunk in her beak one week ago. It was just a bit on her tongue and at the front of her lower beak. It didn't look like wet fowl box when I researched. The next day, the foul-smelling gunk was like a pile of rotting fish in her beak, and it was obstructing her esophagus and trachea. She had bubbles coming up from her crop and was frothy. Unsure what was wrong at that point, and convinced that it wasn't just one thing affecting her, we started miconazole and copper sulfate. The miconazole stopped the bubbles enough within 8 hours that she was not noisy while breathing, but she was not able to breathe with her beak closed. It was time to try to clean up her mouth and throat as much as possible. I highly recommend that you do this outside if possible, wear clothes that you can immediately remove to sanitize and/or coveralls. (Especially if you have several birds sick.) Because they have no gag reflux and don't cough like we do to clear their throat and mouth, they will shake their head to try to clear any bubbling and the disgusting gunk.

Our local TSC and feedstores are out of a lot, and my husband was calling around to try to find the things usually kept on hand that we needed to replace. I decided to use a 1:1 solution of peroxide and water to prevent any pain while debriding. We swabbed her mouth well and let her relax for a minute. She flung that foamy nastiness everywhere, hence the recommendation to do it outside if possible. After she was calm again, we used moistened swabs to wipe off what we could. At first, it took slight pressure to debride. Wooden stirring sticks broken in half with the blunt end in her mouth were useful for gently removing big pieces where cotton swaps were just not enough. If she showed any sign of distress, she went back into a darkened cage to relax. Over two days, we were able to remove almost all of the absolutely disgusting gunk and the smell is not as nauseating. The biggest help was to give 10mg children's motrin (1 mL) an hour before debriding, and then using decolorized iodine to swab her mouth after debriding. We had to clean her mouth every few hours during the day at first, and at one week it is just morning and night. There is a small amount of gunk that gets caught under her tongue, one the roof of her mouth, and her tongue has the false membrane still attached.

We were unable to locate any of the available vaccines locally, but my sister happened to have two different vaccines on hand. We'll be vaccinating our flock tomorrow. She has an XXL dog crate and will be moved from the house to the garage for quarantine now that she is getting her spunk back. She managed to regain 8 ounces in two days, likely due to rehydration and the motrin helping with pain. We have not had the material cultured. Is there any reason to do so if we can vaccinate and she is improving? Should she be vaccinated to avoid strains that she won't have developed immunity to? The biggest concern is the diptheric membrane on the tongue. Is that something that sheds, or should it be debrided? I don't want to cause her any more trauma that she has experienced already.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you seen any signs of dry fowl pox on the skin? Wet pox inside the beak is not supposed to have a bad odor. However canker in the beak, throat, esophagus, and crop, has a rotten odor. It can be hard to tell canker, wet fowl pox, and thrush/candidainfections apart except for the rotten odor.

 

[classicsredone]

She has some on the outside where we, as humans, get cracks when our lips are very dry. I get antibody infusions, and when we were trying to figure it out my RN was here. Obviously, she's not a veterinarian. My sister has seen wet fowlpox in her flock. We were going down the list of symptoms and comparing pictures. It doesn't look like canker as much as fowl pox. The smell like a fishing dock without the sea air. Like fish. Not rotten, but not something I'd dig into.

The crop was empty, so it isn't an impacted crop. She was able to digest bits of grape that we could palpate after she swallowed, and then were able to verify that they cleared. The miconazole does appear to have stopped the bubbling. I do believe that there was a proliferation of yeast from her system being off. She actually got miconazole over 5 days, with a higher dose during the first three days. I'm positive that it is fowl pox. She is doing very well, with only the tongue membrane and some small bits of gunk to wipe out a couple of times a day. She is taking in at least a half cup of water and a half cup of wet feed a day. (Her regular fall food, Feather Fixer, with a bit of yogurt, ACV, and some herbs mixed with warm nutridrench solution.) She is also getting down 7-8 grapes a day. I'll be cutting back on the grapes and nutridrench as she continues to regain the weight. The combination of debriding with diluted peroxide, gentle manual removal, and swabbing with iodine has been what is really making the difference. Motrin and Vetrx seem to be helping with the pain. That all being said, what do you think?

 

[classicsredone]

Happy to report that little.miss Blueberry is doing very well. She has put on over a pound in the past 2-3 days, and has had some big poops. We spaced out the Motrin today from every 8 hours to every 12, following the poultrydvm.com instructions.

After giving her time for the Motrin to kick in, we got in and opened her beak to debride. We we so happy to find only small patches left, and the huge false membrane was gone. No wonder she is spunky retaining weight. The smell was completely gone. We treated the corners of her beak and the more batches in back and under her tongue. Crossing my fingers that this stays good, and she will do well in quarantine in the garage for a few weeks. This is the first debriding, after the second debriding, and tonight before treating her at all. Also, both sides of her face showing a bit of that side-eye and 'tude coming back.

 

[classicsredone]

Have you seen any signs of dry fowl pox on the skin? Wet pox inside the beak is not supposed to have a bad odor. However canker in the beak, throat, esophagus, and crop, has a rotten odor. It can be hard to tell canker, wet fowl pox, and thrush/candidainfections apart except for the rotten odor.

I think we have confirmation that is Fowl Pox. One of my bantam pullets has small lesions on her comb. She'll be quarantined and we'll vaccinate the flock this afternoon/evening when I have some help. I

 

[classicsredone]

Ugh. Two more with lesions. The three have minor lesions on the comb and we will give those some help nutritionally and treat the lesions with iodine since it has been so effective. Thankfully, nobody else is showing wet lesions. We mucked the coops and sterilized waterers and moved the boys and girls into separate quarantine areas. We can't keep our bantam pullet with two hormonal large fowl Langshans, and Blueberry needs to stay inside until she regains more weight. We're very lucky to have gone a decade with no illness to speak of. The girls will be in my workshop and keeping me company for a while.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you are seeing more dry pox in your flock. The good thing is that they should be immune to the strain in the future. It sounds like you are on the right track with treatment of the wet pox.