AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

so if it is fowlpox do i just wait till it goes away?

Pretty much. You can place antibiotic ointment if the scabs become infected but once the birds are infected with the virus the disease just has to run its course. In bad outbreaks you would need to decrease mosquito numbers(spreads the infection between birds) and you can vaccinate against it.
But in most cases just make sure the birds are well fed and not subjected to any extra stresses.

Fowl pox is a disease of poultry, such as chickens and turkeys, although there are many different varieties of pox that infect various species, including human varieties such as smallpox. It is a viral disease and can cause lesions of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory tract. Fowl pox is found worldwide and is potentially fatal to the birds, although the mortality rate varies depending on the version of the disease that is present, with it being very high in some cases.

The disease-causing microorganism is a virus of the family Poxviridae and genus Avipoxvirus. This is a highly robust group of several distinct DNA viruses that can even survive in scabs for years. The virus can be caught in several ways. The typical mode of transmission is by direct skin-to-skin contact between the birds. But other sources include the airborne passage of scabs and also via insect vectors, such as mosquitoes, for example. Transmission of the disease may be aided by the immune system of the birds being compromised through stress or other diseases.

One symptom of the disease is the presence of nodular lesions on the skin. These can appear in various non-feathery places on chickens although mainly on the head and neck in turkeys and more generally in the feathery areas of the birds. Other symptoms of fowl pox include the widespread lesions that appear in the mouth and in the upper respiratory tract such as the pharynx, the larynx, the oesophagus, and the trachea. These lesions can potentially interfere with both feeding and respiration. Presence of the disease can cause a decrease in egg production in a flock.

The mortality rate of the birds in an infected flock varies. If only the skin lesions are present then the mortality rate is pretty low. But when the diptheric form of the disease is present as well, this significantly increases the mortality rate to potentially high levels.

A significant preventative measure is the vaccine that is available for fowl pox in chickens and turkeys. This uses an attenuated form of the fowl pox virus to help the birds to build up an immunity to the active versions of the virus. As with any other infection appropriate measures should also be taken to clean infected areas with Oxine or Dettol that may still be harbouring the disease, isolate any birds that are infected, and to dispose of the remains of dead birds quickly and effectively.

by Darian Peters

Thanks for the information everyone but I am sure I don't have any mosquitoes and flies down my chicken house, I have never seen any around it and when I am outside I am sure I never got bitten or something, so... I read a few things and I think I am going to let it like that because they are not suffering, it is not interfering with their life and at first I was just wandering what it was.

If it is only the lesions as the only symptom then you maybe be best to just isolate the affected

I was told to use dettol on the soars to help them heal quicker and less scaring

That is correct mini foxie

I havent done anything except from giving a good clean to the chicken house and squishing a few flies in there and now they have much less black spots, they are almost gone.

That is good news you have been lucky some need more hands on treatment