white spots - feathers all over- rooster not crowing

[lrning2farm]

I noticed last night that there are spots on some of my chickens. The two broody chickens (that were trying to share the same nest) were affected the most.

The rooster is not crowing, there are feathers all around the coop (a lot more than usual) and I am not sure if it is fowlpox, mites, ????
Any suggestions on what you believe it is, and what I should do about it would be greatly appreciated.

More info:

The chicken pictured is a 8 month old hen. (I am not sure what breed - if you know - I would love to know - our guess was australorp)
There are about 45 chickens in the coop and run - coop is 12 x 15 - and run is 6 x 100 feet - fenced in.
We have a mama hen and 7 chicks
2 chickens were broody - trying to share a nest - they cracked eggs and the ants were attacking them all - could fire ants be causing this?


Thank you,
Wendy

 

[TwoCrows]

First off,

I am not sure what you are talking about, these white spots, as maybe the lighting is not so good in these pics. If you are talking about the yellowish looking warts on the combs look like they could be from "Fowl Pox", a virus that comes from mosquitoes. Maybe it is just the lighting that makes it appear that way. The first bird does look like an Australorp. I am not sure about the second one.

Fowl Pox will run it's course in about a month, however if they get respiratory infections along with it, you may need to give them antibiotics to clear up breathing problems. Here is a link that you can read about Fowl Pox.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=9280-common-comb-problems

As far as ants is concerned, if they are fire ants, you will need to find the ant hill and get proper chemicals to kill fire ants. Your standard ant spray will NOT kill them. I had a similar problem and they were stinging my chickens. Had to kill the queen in the hill.

Good luck with your chickens and welcome to BYC!

 

[lrning2farm]

Thank you.
I have not been able to find an answer to whether the 'warts' would disappear, or will they be on forever?
Can we eat the eggs that are being layed- or is best to discard them all?
Thank you again!

 

[TwoCrows]

I am not sure about eating the eggs of a chicken with Fowl Pox. I have heard of folks doing it though. As far as the scabs, they should slough off over time after they have healed from the pox.