What is this? What should we do?

[Austin Girls]

This morning we noticed both our 2 girls have scab-like looking spots on their combs and wattles. They are 2 year old orpington buffs. Their coop is outdoors with open ventilation - dirt and concrete.
Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your help!

 

[coach723]

Looks like it's probably fowl pox. It's a virus, usually transmitted by mosquitos. There are two forms, wet and dry. Dry pox usually runs it's course with no real problems. Wet pox is more serious, that has lesions/plaques that form in the mouth and throat. There is no treatment since it's viral. Just make sure that they are eating and drinking well. Keeping feeders and waterers clean can help prevent the spread. If there are any really nasty ones then some people will dab a bit of iodine on them, but in general it's best to leave them alone, the scabs can spread the virus. If there are any near the eyes then occasionally a secondary infection can happen in the eye in which case you can use terramycin eye ointment or plain neopsporin in the affected eye twice a day. The spots usually start out like pale slightly blistery spots and they will darken and dry up as it progresses and the scabs will drop off. Birds that recover have some immunity and should not get it again. Here's more info:
http://www.poultryhub.org/health/disease/types-of-disease/fowl-pox/
https://hoeggerfarmyard.com/how-to-easily-diagnose-and-treat-fowl-pox/

 

[Austin Girls]

Thank you so much for your prompt and helpful info. We actually already had found the hoeggerfarmyard site just from randomly browsing elsewhere. So good! I am thankful that it is not too serious. It seems to be the dry kind. And we think it's kind of fun that our chickens have "chicken" pox! Ha ha! Thank you again, chicky friends!