Chickens can get sick just as any other animal can. Some of the illnesses that affect other animals also affect chickens, but not all do.
Home remedies can be used to treat certain illnesses, but unfortunately, home remedies cannot treat all illnesses. If you want to know whether toothpaste can treat fowlpox then read on.
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Toothpaste for fowlpox:
Fowlpox is an infectious disease that can affect a variety of different birds, chickens included.
A chicken that has fowlpox will develop lesions on the unfeathered parts of its body, these lesions will progress and develop into scabs and these scabs will eventually fall off on their own.
Toothpaste and fowlpox:
Depending on who you ask, it is said that if you want to treat your chicken’s fowlpox, you can spread some Colgate toothpaste on the bird’s scabs.
Doing this is said to dry the scabs out and allow them to fall off quicker. The toothpaste is also said to clear the spots up and cure the bird.
As convenient as this would be, it isn’t all true. There is no evidence that suggests that Colgate toothpaste, or any other toothpaste for that matter, will cure your bird of its fowlpox.
But, as a consolation, the toothpaste will help to dry out your bird’s scabs and this will help them fall off quicker. This may help the bird, but it will not cure the bird.
FAQ:
How do I treat fowlpox?
There is no cure for fowlpox, you can give your bird supportive care, but you cannot do anything to cure the bird. Your chicken will recover on its own in about 2-4 weeks but a reoccurrence may happen if the bird becomes stressed.
Your chicken’s scabs can be treated using iodine, iodine will help the bird’s scabs dry out. Iodine will also speed up wound healing on your bird, apply the iodine using a cotton ball or a q-tip.
You can alternatively apply betadine on the scabs. Betadine treats wounds and prevents infection.
Iodine can also be used to slow down, or prevent, a pox outbreak from developing in your flock, that is, if the birds drink the iodine. Give your birds a diluted iodine solution, as their only source of water, to keep an outbreak from developing.
Cleaning the chicken’s coop and run is also highly recommended. If the scabs that fall off of your bird are not removed then they can make the flock sick, these scabs are carriers of fowl pox.
If left and not disposed of, the scabs can be eaten by other birds, or, if not eaten will turn into a powder and be inhaled by the other flock members, this will make them sick. Clean the area to keep this from happening.
You can offer antibiotics to your bird if it develops a secondary infection. Tetracycline antibiotics can be given to your sick bird.
Note: Only give your bird antibiotics prescribed by your vet. Giving your chicken antibiotics that are not appropriate for it can be very dangerous.
In addition, try to keep the rounds of antibiotics that your bird gets over its lifetime to a minimum, too much antibiotic use can result in antibiotic resistance.
Can I eat eggs from chickens with fowl pox?
While fowl pox may be quite alarming this virus is not transferred from the hen to the egg so it is perfectly ok for you to eat eggs from chickens with fowl pox.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Iodine For Fowlpox, Chicken Has A Purple Comb And Is Lethargic, Chicken Comb Turning Grey, Chicken Comb Turning Blue, Turmeric For Fowlpox,