I want to share something with all of you, in hopes to cheer you up about your chickens, or to save a flock from being wrongly culled when it has a very cost effective, safe cure. I have been working with these birds for nearly 20 years and it does have a cure, and they never get sick again. The virus won't lay "dormant" and re-infect your flock if you take the time to take precautions and cure every little scab you spot. The pox may never even pop up again. While vaccination does indeed work and should be the first choice for commercial flocks, the cure for us backyard chicken owners can be easily accessible for $3 dollars but they (some people, articles) don't share this information.
The secret to cure fowl pox is:
Gently remove the scabs, and coat the wound on the skin with clear nail polish. Make sure to repeat every few days. It will naturally fall off and cure itself with fresh new skin and feathers. I'm attaching a few images of a severe case I had of fowl pox before and after 1 year. This guy's fowl pox gave him coryza too, and his weakened immune system made him prone to parasites and secondary infections. I cleaned up everything, coated his eye and ear with terramycin ointment from the agriculture supply shop 1-2 times a day, and administered orally one small pea size portion of panacur's fenbendazole dewormer. He has never came up with the pox again and never infected any of his flock mates.
For birds that only have pox:
Gently removing the scabs off and applying the polish is all it takes to turn it back to a healthy bird. The bacteria that lies beneath the scab is the real culprit, and the polish prevents oxygen from reaching it, which is why even if you don't rip the scabs off, they will dry up by themselves if you apply the polish daily. They will get cured in a span from a few days to a few weeks depending how severe. My little guy was already showing improvement by 1 weeks and grew new skin and feathers by one month. It's best to keep severe cases isolated to prevent pecking and stress.
The secret to cure fowl pox is:
Gently remove the scabs, and coat the wound on the skin with clear nail polish. Make sure to repeat every few days. It will naturally fall off and cure itself with fresh new skin and feathers. I'm attaching a few images of a severe case I had of fowl pox before and after 1 year. This guy's fowl pox gave him coryza too, and his weakened immune system made him prone to parasites and secondary infections. I cleaned up everything, coated his eye and ear with terramycin ointment from the agriculture supply shop 1-2 times a day, and administered orally one small pea size portion of panacur's fenbendazole dewormer. He has never came up with the pox again and never infected any of his flock mates.
For birds that only have pox:
Gently removing the scabs off and applying the polish is all it takes to turn it back to a healthy bird. The bacteria that lies beneath the scab is the real culprit, and the polish prevents oxygen from reaching it, which is why even if you don't rip the scabs off, they will dry up by themselves if you apply the polish daily. They will get cured in a span from a few days to a few weeks depending how severe. My little guy was already showing improvement by 1 weeks and grew new skin and feathers by one month. It's best to keep severe cases isolated to prevent pecking and stress.
