Causes of Fowl Pox Disease and How it Spreads
What is fowl pox?
Fowl pox is a viral infection that affects the skin of chickens, especially in areas where there are no feathers. This disease can occur in all birds regardless of their age, especially during the rainy days of the year.
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It usually enters the body of chickens through open wounds that exist on the body of the chicken. When this disease affects your chicken, it causes sores to appear on the comb, wattle, and beak of the chickens.
What are the causes of fowl pox disease and how does it spread?
1. Mosquitoes are the primary cause of fowl pox disease:
The main cause of fowl pox disease is primarily biting mosquitoes. Mosquitoes suck the blood of infected chickens from the wild or other farms and then transfer it to your flock.
They are able to transfer this disease to your chickens because after feeding on an infected bird, they are able to keep the virus in their salivary glands for up to 8 weeks.
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2. Introduction of an infected bird in the flock:
Another way your chickens can contract fowl pox disease is by adding a bird with the infection to the flock. As the birds mix with other chickens in the flock, they too can become infected.
3. Open injuries, mucus, pecking, feather dander, etc:
Fowl pox disease can spread through injuries, mucus, feather pecking, etc. When a healthy bird comes in contact with these things, it can become sick with the disease.
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4. Chickens can become infected by ingesting the fowl pox scabs:
After the fowl pox scabs fall off from an infected chicken, another chicken may mistakenly ingest the disease the spread continues. v That is why it is best to remove all infected birds immediately from the rest of the flock to save your chickens.
5. Human vectors:
Allowing anyone and everyone into your chicken house can bring this disease to your farm.
Without proper biosecurity, people can introduce the disease to your farm from their boots, cloth, or equipment used for an infected chicken.
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6. Stress in chickens can cause fowl pox:
When your chicken chickens are under stress, they are susceptible to any kind of chicken disease.
This is because their body becomes weak to fight back these pathogens.
Also, while some chickens acquire immunity after some time, others are likely to be affected by recurrences in times of stress.
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