Wet and Dry Fowl Pox - Graphic Pictures of Pus and Scabs

[Mac14]

Here, she had just come out from laying an egg. Her name is Memsy.











The dried stuff above her eye isn't as shiny as it looks.

 

[mejumpmore1]

Looks like dry fowl pox to me. Most of the pics on here have been of wet or wet and dry combo infections. I've had the majority of my flock get dry fowl pox and it looks just like that. Just watch it carefully and keep her separated from the rest to avoid further infection.

 

[casportpony]

Good point, I only took pictures of the ones that needed medical treatment. I'll see if I can find any with minor cases and take some pictures of them.

-Kathy

 

[MelissaTXRn]

Mine had a few scabs on their wattles and combs, but that's as far as it went. Very minor. In fact, I would have thought it was an injury, but it was on all of them.

 

[Mac14]

Update on Memsy: She is doing really good. The black dots are almost completely gone, and she is eating, drinking, dust-bathing, getting pecked on, and pecking other's as usual. I thankfully didn't have to do anything, but I am now putting small amounts of vitamins and electrolytes in their water. Thank you guys for such an informative thread, and I am now more aware to such a time consuming disease. I know that your birds will stay healthy and happy under your guys' careful eye.

 

[Cluckitcottage]

Hello to everyone,
I am new to backyard chickens and would like to thank you all for putting up such an informative thread. I keep chickens solely as pets, and love them to bits. I live in the UK and based in the West Midlands. About 6 weeks ago I noticed that a couple of my chickens had some swelling to their faces. I think I might have mycoplasma in my flock as this has happened before but not quite as bad as this time. The worse affected was my ex battery girl, so I took her to the vets and all the chickens were put on Tylan. Rosa, my exbat's face quickly settled down but my little pekin hen (Saffy) was steadily getting worse. The one side of her face was very swollen with lumps including sweeping to her comb. I took her back to the vets and told him that I'd found a little scab above her ear - he thought she may have been attacked by one of he others but also thought she my also have ringworm. He put her on medication for this and told it could take weeks to cure. Her face continued to get worse over the next few days with scabs starting to form on her face and her legs. I took her back again and was told she could have Fowl Pox, fortunately she was already separated from the others and living in the house. Knowing absolutely nothing about fowl pox, stupidly, when over the weekend one of my beautiful bantam orps started having breathing problems, I just thought it was a chest infection. I couldn't get in with my vet who knows a lot about chickens so out of desperation took her to another practice. The vet I saw, didn't have much experience with chickens, she didn't look in her mouth and even had to confirm with me, as to where they inject the antibiotic. That night Coco went downhill and sadly passed away, I was devastated as she was only 1 year old and so beautiful. I had to take Saffy back to my favourite vet the next day and also took Coco with me. My vet very kindly said, he would have a look at her to see what we lost her to. He told me the next day, that she had choked to death on a lump of pus, I was so upset, perhaps if I'd known about wet pox and I'd got in with this vet, I could have saved her. The first thing this vet does, when I take a chicken in, is open their mouth and has a good look.

Saffy is still with us but over the weekend seems to have gone off her food and sleeping all the time. Even when we get her out to try her with food and syringe it into her, she has a job to open her one eye ( the pox, has affected the other and is now permanently closed) she just keeps falling back to sleep. Her mouth over the weekend has seemed very sticky and pale.
This morning, she seems to be even worse..............I think she has given up the fight, I really don't know what to do with her. I have managed to get a couple of mils of water and antibiotic down her but feel so cruel messing about with her if this is the end. Please do you have any suggestions?

I have tried to upload some pictures but don't seem to be able to off an iPad.

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry for you loss... The only way i was able to keep many of mine alive was by tube feeding and removing the pus. Check out the threads and videos in this link:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

-Kathy

 

[Cluckitcottage]

Thank you Kathy for your response and link. Sadly Saffy gave up fighting today and passed away peacefully in my arms. I'm not sure if it had turned to wet pox or whether something else had developed. I have 11 other chickens and I'm just hoping that none of my others get it. Fowl Pox seems to be quite rare in the UK but there are reports of it in the West Midlands, which is where I live. I just wish I knew where they caught it from. Do I have to vaccinate my others as I've seen conflicting reports.

Julie

 

[Eggcessive]

Kathy, what antibiotic would you recommend now after all of your treatment, to anyone else with wet pox? Baytril? Or do you think the antibiotics did anything?

 

[casportpony]

Kathy, what antibiotic would you recommend now after all of your treatment, to anyone else with wet pox? Baytril? Or do you think the antibiotics did anything?

That's a good question... I'm pretty sure I gave two of the ones I treated with Baytril full blown yeast infections which then had to be treated with fluconazole and three had secondary infections that ended up killing them. Those I tried Baytril, Tylan and metronidazole on, but nothing worked. In hindsight I should have sent samples off to the lab for analysis. That said, I think if it happens again I will just remove the plaque, apply iodine and tube feed if they aren't eating. If they look like they're getting a secondary infection I think I send a sample to the lab for testing. I do have all of the stuff to do that here, just need to figure out how to do it, lol.

-Kathy