Hen with supposed wet fowl pox, tips on keeping her alive?

[PeepersMama]

Dry pox is going through my flock right now, but I think one of my hens has wet pox. I know it isn’t treatable, but I’m wondering if anyone has experience with helping a chicken survive wet pox.

She’s really struggling to breath, so I’m isolating her today so she doesn’t have to move around to get food and water. She has shown interest in food, but coughed a lot after eating a couple bites. I’m gonna buy some VetRX to put in her water.


Any ideas?

 

[PeepersMama]

This is her - as long as she’s sitting still she does ok, but if she walks around at all her comb turns purple cuz she can’t get enough oxygen

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your general location? Are you seeing any yellow patches inside her beak, and is there any odor to them? Wet or diphtheritic form of fowl pox is deadly to many chickens. Once they get over fowl pox, they usually won’t get it again. Try to make sure that she is getting plenty of fluids to drink, and offer some wet chicken feed and scrambled egg. Vitamins in the water may be helpful.

 

[PeepersMama]

What is your general location? Are you seeing any yellow patches inside her beak, and is there any odor to them? Wet or diphtheritic form of fowl pox is deadly to many chickens. Once they get over fowl pox, they usually won’t get it again. Try to make sure that she is getting plenty of fluids to drink, and offer some wet chicken feed and scrambled egg. Vitamins in the water may be helpful.

I’m in the Southwest. I can’t see anything in her throat just when she opens her mouth, but I’m hesitant to hold her and pry her mouth open since she’s already struggling to breathe. There’s no odor or anything.

I’ll do that, thank you

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you hear and crackles or wheezes, any bubbles or foam in one eye, or is she sneezing or coughing? Have you ever had a chicken with a respiratory infection in the past? Antibiotics won’t treat a virus such as fowl pox, but may treat a secondary bacterial respiratory infection. Tylosin is one of those. Wet fowl pox usually causes yellow plaques inside the beak or throat, and may extend to the trachea/airway.

 

[FrostRanger]

No advice on how to help her as I've personally had no luck with nursing hens with wet fowl pox back to health, but if fowl pox is a problem in your area there is a vaccine and it's pretty cheap and easy to administer yourself. This won't help your birds currently muddling through it, but it will keep any future birds you get from catching it. I hope your sick girl pulls through though!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have a picture of any with dry fowl pox? How is your hen doing now?

 

[PeepersMama]

Do you hear and crackles or wheezes, any bubbles or foam in one eye, or is she sneezing or coughing? Have you ever had a chicken with a respiratory infection in the past? Antibiotics won’t treat a virus such as fowl pox, but may treat a secondary bacterial respiratory infection. Tylosin is one of those. Wet fowl pox usually causes yellow plaques inside the beak or throat, and may extend to the trachea/airway.

There’s an occasional crackle, but she’s mostly just wheezing. Her eyes and nose are clear.

I have had issues with respiratory issues in the past. Most recently a few of my birds got diagnosed with mycoplasma gallisepticum, and the vet prescribed an antibiotic that cleared it up. I’m gonna give them a call this afternoon.

Thats good to know, thank you!

 

[PeepersMama]

Do you have a picture of any with dry fowl pox? How is your hen doing now?

She’s doing a little better today. I kept her inside all afternoon yesterday and through the night, and she seemed more energetic this morning. I had to hand feed her a few teeny tiny bites of egg yesterday, but today she pecked at it by herself and ate a good bit more.
Right now she isn’t coughing/sneezing as often, but she’s still really struggling to get air in.



Of all of them, this one has dry pox the worst. The rest of them are either almost recovered or just got the first scab yesterday.



Thank you so much for your help!

 

[PeepersMama]

No advice on how to help her as I've personally had no luck with nursing hens with wet fowl pox back to health, but if fowl pox is a problem in your area there is a vaccine and it's pretty cheap and easy to administer yourself. This won't help your birds currently muddling through it, but it will keep any future birds you get from catching it. I hope your sick girl pulls through though!

I’ll look into that, this is the second year my flock has had it. Thanks!