Avian Pox?

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HayHays97

HayHays97

In the Brooder
8 Years
Aug 5, 2011
52
0
41
Hey guys,
My hen has developed these white lumps on her comb I've attached a picture below. I read somewhere they could be Avian Pox? One that was all black and crusty came up a few days ago and I thought she had just been pecked by the other chickens, but now I've noticed there are more. If they are Avian Pox, is there any way to stop them or prevent them from coming back? None of my chickens have ever had them before so I don't really know a lot about them. Any help would be apprieciated.
Thanks :)


 
Oh, yes. She has the start of pox. She will look much worse in a few more days, so brace yourself. There is a vaccine available for fowl pox if you live in an area where it is often a problem. It needs to be redone each year, though.

Fowl pox is caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes. It has 2 forms-wet pox and dry pox. Your bird has dry form, which is a nuisance virus more than anything. It will look quite nasty for about 3 weeks and then heal on its own without intervention. The good news is that once birds are exposed to the pox they will acquire a partial immunity from it meaning that although they may get pox again the future, it will not be as bad as the first time. The biggest risk with dry pox is the risk of secondary infection in the nodules. To prevent that you can dab the nodules with straight iodine/betadine each day when they are at their worst. This will help to dry them out so they heal quicker and will prevent infection. Don't feel like you have to do anything to them, though. The chance of infection is very small, and the nodules will likely heal on their own.

Good luck.
 
CMV said:
Oh, yes. She has the start of pox. She will look much worse in a few more days, so brace yourself. There is a vaccine available for fowl pox if you live in an area where it is often a problem. It needs to be redone each year, though.

Fowl pox is caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes. It has 2 forms-wet pox and dry pox. Your bird has dry form, which is a nuisance virus more than anything. It will look quite nasty for about 3 weeks and then heal on its own without intervention. The good news is that once birds are exposed to the pox they will acquire a partial immunity from it meaning that although they may get pox again the future, it will not be as bad as the first time. The biggest risk with dry pox is the risk of secondary infection in the nodules. To prevent that you can dab the nodules with straight iodine/betadine each day when they are at their worst. This will help to dry them out so they heal quicker and will prevent infection. Don't feel like you have to do anything to them, though. The chance of infection is very small, and the nodules will likely heal on their own.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Does the Fowl pox stop the hen from laying
 
It may cause a slight, temporary slow down because it is a stressor, but that is dependent on how severely a hen is afflicted. When my girls had it (quite mildly) they didn't slow down at all.
 
Thank you for your help, I'll have to ask around vets to see if they have a vaccine :)
 
You can buy it yourself. Unfortunately it is sold in lots of 500-1000 so you'll waste a lot of it, but it is inexpensive for all that.
 
Chickens who have fowl pox are immune the rest of their life. My flock had it a couple of years ago and this has proven true for them, and we have plenty of mosquitoes. Unless they develop wet pox (in the mouth,) which is unusual, it is really not a problem. It runs its course in 3 weeks, then suddenly disappears.
 
Well none of my other chickens have shown signs of the pox yet, which is good, but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time
hmm.png

Thanks :)
 

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