Serama "fowl pox" - Pics attached - HELP :(

Hi,
Oh dear. Not only did I lose my first Serama this morning (partially pipped then died), but my son noticed that a spot on Gibson's comb was bigger! Then, when I picked him up and got a closer look, I noticed that it appeared to have spread. You can easily see the crusted over one on the left side of his comb, but if you look closely, there are smaller ones on the waddle, the other side of the comp and even on the bottom of the eye.

Background:
Have had him for 1 month and 1 week (TODAY) along w/ 2 hens and a pullet.
No signs of this on ANY of the other 3 birds
The 1 spot showed up about 1 week ago.
I doubt they have had a fowl pox vaccination
They have not been around ANY other birds since I have owned them.
I've researched and from what I've read, there is no cure, but a vaccination that prevents it. This is what I believe to be the "dry form" (no pox inside mouth or ears). I can't find a true method of helping him. Am I now going to have to separate him into a place by himself for the rest of his life??
More Pics will follow

PS-when I say I lost my 1st Serama this morning, I mean this is the first Serama I've lost. It is the 6th to "start" to hatch through the incubator.


This message was edited Oct 12, 2008 7:11 PM

Gibson's front

Gibson's right side.


Anyone have this problem that can give me any advice?

Thanks guys.
~music

That last pic is kinda blurry, but this one is kinda flashed out, however, you can see the one on his eye and the one on this side of his comb, and the one on each waddle...

all I can suggest is to use iodine swabbing. It seems to dry it up and kill the virus. You will need to swab it daily.

I have some questions before i come to a conclusion.........

Do you have alot of mosquitos?

Has he been in a fight recently?

Are the other chickens hes with his flock mates or did they come from a different home?

Do the bumps look like yellow warts?

Answer as best you can then i will be able to determine if it's pox.

Thank you Harmony. I have placed the answers under your questions. I've also added a picture of Gibson's profile on September 19, 2008 (exactly 3 weeks ago). Oh, and 1 other thing...the hens have been broody for about 15 days, now.



Do you have alot of mosquitos?

Not "A LOT" like a person living on a lake, but we have mosquitos. I don't allow ANY standing water by them, and my home in order to keep the mosquito pop down. And, I can sit out there for hours w/out getting bit (but that's during the day). Loads of fire ants, though



Has he been in a fight recently?

He squabbles sometimes w/ the pullet, but he just fluffs up and the pullet roo runs the other way. This only happens outside and EVERYBODY (hens, anyway) let us know when it happens.



Are the other chickens hes with his flock mates or did they come from a different home?

They all came from the same breeder. Not only that, but they were all in the same coop (along with 1 other pullets)



Do the bumps look like yellow warts?

Ummm...sort of. The big one does, but it's very crusty over it. I tried to pick it off, but he acted like it hurt and it appeared that it was a scab that went further down in the skin...not just on top. The smaller ones are like little white puss balls with black in the middle.

My guess would be Pox and the only thing that will work for that is iodine i got mine at walmart in the pharmacy department.
I use 2 kinds and one i got at the grocery store Ingles ages ago it's a small bottle with a dropper like thing in it and it's tincture of iodine it's iodine with alcohol in it i use that on the warts and it has worked great at drying them up.
Then i have the one i got at walmart it's straight iodine 10% and i use that as a mouth swab for the wet pox. I use clean Q tips for that and i dispose of all Q tips which i use as soon as i'm done.

I can see one close to his eye please apply the iodine to that as soon as you can i had to put down a little hen. I had came down with a stomach bug and was sick for a couple days and my DH knows nothing about chickens and she apparently got a pox on her eye and it grew into her eye i had no choice.
I would begin treating his pox with either of the 2 above and cover them really well with it. I would also sudjest isolateing him from the others in an attempt at least to try and not spread it.
It took me two weeks and a trip to the emergency room to get my area bio secure and i'm hopeing it don't somehow jump the boundry.

You can see my roo on my thread POX PICS and maybe you could tell then if this is what he has.
But if you suspect it take action to stop it as soon as you can,
If you have anymore questions please ask.
This is a fairly easy thing to treat in the dry stage but the wet is heartbreaking i can tell it's painful when i clean their mouths i cut back to doing it once a day for that reason i couldn't bare putting them through that kind of pain twice a day.

Thank you. I remember seeing the pic of your roo under the pox pic. In fact, I remember thinking to myself: "poor thing..I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that." Another in fact, when we first notice that big one on Gibson, it reminded me of your picture, and I told my son about it. We both agreed that it was just a little flesh would. But it has doubled in size since that (last week, I think).

For other people reading here is Harmony's pox pics thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/911575/

Ugh...poor little guy. He such a sweetie to us and the ladies, too. I hate to take him away from his girls...but it is best for all of them. The pullet will be in heaven, ruling the nest.
*sigh*
I do have 1 more question: Should I get everyone inocculated (including Gibson) right away? If so, can I do it myself, or do I have to find a chicken vet? I know that the innoc. is a small amount of the pox, so worry about adding it to them, since I read it can be around for several days before it is noticed...

If not, can I get them the innoc (vaccine) when it has all cleared up? Is the iodine a cure, or just helps the sores go away?
I feel so bad, and bad for you that you lost a little chickie :(

Thanks again,
~music

This message was edited Oct 12, 2008 10:00 PM

You can't vaccinate once they have the pox because it will make them worse because as you said it contians a little of the pox virus.
The iodine just helps to dry and heal the pox and in my opinion helps stop the spread.
You could vaccinate the others that don't have it to protect them.

I don't know about where you get the vaccine but yes you can do it yourself my problem is i have so many birds i would go broke vaccinateing.
If you have a poultry vet you could possibly get them to do it but from what i read here there aren't many of those around.
You could look online i'm sure you could find it there.

If you don't have large numbers of mosquitos, vaccinating the birds is not likely to help much. Some other preventative things you can do are: Spray your pens/coops with some kind of longer lasting insect killer/repellant such as malathion. Every evening spray the kind of repellant you would put on your skin in and around the pens/coops. Oil the birds' faces and feet (parts where skin is exposed).

All Harmony's advice is good, and is very similar to what I did when I had pox in my flock last year. The lesions do seem painful, so be gentle. Listerine is another good treatment with antiviral properties. The sores contain the virus and it can live a very long time off the bird--try to clean up any scabs and safely dispose of them.

Suze and i hope your still here how long did it move thru your flock?

How did you keep it contained mine is spreading slowly and i have dumped all water and i have not been biten by mosqiuto in a while?

I have tried all sorts of disifectants and it still spreads any sugestions?

Since it's a virus do you think it has the potential to move on it's on [in the air]??

Did you depopulate your flock and start over?

Will it remain here and any new birds i bring in contract it?

Some of my birds are recovering how long should they stay in isolation?

I hope your still here to answer these i really want to know!

***Harmony***

How do the "pox" originate? Is a regional thing?

i have to disagree with part of that- u should NEVER spray anything around poultry unless it is a spray vaccine and properly used. there is to many things toxic and poisonous to poultry out there.

harmony if ur's is still spreading is there any chance at all u r moveing it by contaminated clothes, shoes, tires anything else possible u might not have thought off? in situations like that we have to biosuit and use strict biosecurity measures to quarentein the prob includeing covering shoes and all and to make sure few people r in and out and no cars in or out close to the poultry yards. yes viruses usually r airborne or if bad enough can become that way.

yes any new birds r at risk comeing in to catch it from what i saw can be dormant for mths to years and not know it.

Yes i have had that same idea spreading it by my clothing and had even thought it may actually be floating in the air.
That's just from a germ a phobic point of view i don't think it's impossible to contain i have several cages moved away from the general population that are feed and watered first before any others and my clothes are completely clean.
They up to this point have not shown any signs of and outbreak among them and i think that proves it can be contained to a certain extent.
Before i get a quote on me saying it crossed my bio security it did but it was in the general pop. and it stopped at that one chicken and i believe my husband did it when i was sick for 2 days.
Love the man but he knows nothing about chickens and he was sweet taking care of my chickens.

But with the last roo i don't know he hasn't been moved or touch in a good 6 months and his water comes from the spigot and not a jug so that one has me puzzled.
So yes i believe this can be moved by anything i have even thought of the rats that will run threw the pens sometimes that they could carry it or the wild birds that steal my doves seed??
But i'm fixin to put a stop to all this and yes i will have to tend to the ones that are still recovering but the ones that are well and receive the vaccine won't have to suffer.