Help with dark spots on waddle.

At dusk I I close up the feeders. Last night I noticed one of my hens limping. I checked out her leg and foot. There may have been a small wound on her foot, but not big or open. This morning I looked for her when I opened the feeders and gave them the fermented grains and fresh water. She wasn't limping, but I noticed she has dark spots on her comb and waddle.  I noticed a few others, all Sapphire gems had some as well.  This is not normal.  It's new.  I had to go to work, but the quick search I did really worried me.  I will post pictures after work today.  Everyone is acting normal. No swelling, coughing, eating fine, normal eggs production, just what look like moldy spots.

The recent heat wave can be very hard on chickens. Make sure they have constant fresh water and access to minerals and shade. Even then you may lose some during a heat wave.

Thank you William. I don't think it's heat the week before last it was 105 everyday for a week, and they did fine. This week it's been much cooler (thank goodness).  
I have been I'll, COVID finally got me. I normally charge the water every day in the summer, and it was only charged every 2 to 3 days. Not great, but still enough I wouldn't think it would make them sick.

Darn the same thing happened to me this winter! It was very persistent and I hope you recover quickly. If I were a bit closer, I would offer to help...

Not a lot of experience but your heat wave looks like normal weather here. I was asking a coworker about his a few weeks ago as we prepared to send my nieces birds outside.  I sure part of his results are breed selection but he says he's never lost a chicken to heat as long as they had water.

I still bring juicy or even frozen treats out in the middle of the day.  Peas are actually very good nutritionally for them and they scoop them up fast.  Also good are any damaged tomatoes from the garden. I don't know how they rank nutritionally but the birds love them

I am almost back to normal now .  My plan is to give the coop a good cleaning.  Put down some DE. Put new bedding in the coop.  Take some pictures so maybe someone can help diagnose the issue. And just keep an eye on my girls.  I have a few different breeds of chickens, and so far I saw spots on 3 of Sapphire gems.  
I have always had super healthy chickens.  Before a couple of years ago I had 0 health problems.  The last couple of years I had 2 hens die of a mysterious problem  not the same symptoms months apart one was 5 years old, one die of being egg bound also 5.  Now this.  It's very frustrating.  They are getting better quality food, more variety, I'm keeping the coop, waterer, and feeder cleaner . The chickens used to be able to get out. That was an advantage for them because they could free-range,  and a disadvantage because predators would pick them off now and then.  It's really the only thing I can think they are lacking. Maybe in the evening a few times a week I could let them out. My melons aren't fenced, so that's why I stopped letting them out.  I guess I could just try to keep them out.  At least once I get this problem taken care of. I hope it's something I can fix.  Thanks

There has been a lot of animals contracting covid, but not sure if chickens are susceptible.

The CDC says no this is not a problem in chickens or pigs.

Is it possible that they could be scabs from some squabbles between the hens? It probably wouldn't hurt to give your chickens some herbs, if they'll eat them. I know mine fresh love oregano and thyme. They also very much like herbal teas, which is helpful since I don't always have fresh herbs. Plus it seems to be more hydrating, kind of like a sports drink for chickens. Whatever you have on hand that's chicken safe would probably be good to help support their immune systems, in case there is something going on. If they'll eat garlic, perhaps some of that too?

I know you said it wasn't big or open, but I'd keep an eye on the foot wound, just to be sure you don't end up with bumblefoot. If you can, maybe clean and wrap it with cohesive bandage so it can heal without getting poop in it.

Hope you find some non-scary answers to the mystery of the spots on the wattles.  

It's way worse than I thought.  I did see some swelling around one of the hens eyes. I saw one have white stuff in the corner of her eye. Could be the same on I'm not sure. I feel so bad.  Did it happen fast, or have I failed to pay attention? Poor chickens deserve so much better!  There are some not affected "yet". My new chickens are 5 months old and all seem beautifully healthy. Problem is they are super skittish, so there's no way to isolate them.
I scrubbed the coop, and waterer. I spread DE like a maniac. Put down new bedding. Gave them some herbs, which they don't like, and didn't eat. I bought a herb powder that goes in the water that's supposed to help health.  Took all the feeders and all but one waterer out because it was getting dark and I want to clean them.  
By the time I took the pictures it was totally dark.  But you can see what I'm talking about.  It matches a lot of terrible things, but so far fowl pox seems most likely.

That's primarily a mosquito born disease that they will survive and then be immune to. So look for standing water where mosquitos lay their eggs and get rid of it.

A powerful fan in the coop could also prevent more infection while they recover because the mosquitos can't handle much wind.

Fowl pox vaccine-


https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=63C9BFF7-0AE9-41A5-BCE7-773D195EE78C

And treatment for the sores-

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=A6E144E2-1D79-4F8E-BDBE-A865E302AB43&q=Bannix%20chixx

Jen, sorry to hear it's worse than you thought. Please don't beat yourself up! I'm sure you're doing the best you can for your chickens. Birds are very good at hiding when something is wrong and some of these things do develop fast. I believe fowl pox lesions start off yellowish, then turn dark. So they might have been hard to see.

Fowl pox does seem likely here. The good news is, it sounds like it's probably the dry form, which as has been said, will resolve on it's own and is not as dangerous as the wet form. Supportive care to prevent secondary infections and support their immune systems are probably the best course. I'd suggest finding a way to keep the wounds clean and deal with that swollen eye. I've had really good luck with Vetericyn spray for cleaning chicken wounds. It doesn't sting and is safe to use around the eyes. They have one specifically for eyes too. I've used it on myself and can attest that it is not uncomfortable and works great. It's nice because it doesn't have to be washed off and is handy for more skittish or uncooperative creatures. Just spray a few times a day and most things have healed just fine. Another possible option would be to make a plantain tea (Plantago major or lanceolata, not the banana-y things) and spray that on the wounds. I don't know if that would be okay for the eye though. If it were me, I'd go with the vetericyn for the eyes.

Feeding them some scrambled eggs would probably help get some vitamins and energy into them so they can fight this off. Make sure they're drinking enough water. Perhaps try some tasty herbal tea if they won't eat fresh herbs? Mine love lemon balm, rose and tulsi, for example. Some more helpful suggestions here:https://hoeggerfarmyard.com/how-to-easily-diagnose-and-treat-fowl-pox/

Apparently, as the scabs fall off, they remain a potential source of infection. So perhaps if you could isolate the affected birds and clean after the scabs are gone, that would limit the spread? Hopefully they recover quickly and there's no further issues! Maybe make yourself a cup of herbal tea too. I know how stressful dealing with illness in the flock can be. It's easy to forget to take care of ourselves when something like this is going on.

William I do have a fan in the coop. It's been cooler this week so I had it off ( always worried about the electric bill). But I will go plug it in. Good idea thanks.

Heather you are very kind thank you.  You are right it is stressful, but could be so much worse. I like your tea idea, I will do that since they don't seem to like fresh herbs.  I don't happen to have oregano at the moment, so I bought a supplement for the water yesterday that has oregano and a bunch of vitamins in it to support chicken health.  I removed all the feeders last night because I ran out of time. Maybe the chickens will eat the herbs because it's all they have.  I'm going to scramble some eggs and take it out to them, and get the rest of the stuff clean, dry, and refilled and back in the coop.

I know I can't be perfect, and having COVID really wiped me out though I wasn't that sick, I just felt crummy and had no energy or stamina. ( I foolishly thought I have to be home, I'll get some of my projects done. Nope it was all I could do to keep my chickens and garden alive). But I feel when I have animals caged,  no matter how big, it's my responsibility to make sure they have a good life. Not just keep them healthy, but happy too.   For the last 6 week between a work trip, COVID, a heat wave, dealing with going back to work, and the holiday, I have failed.  I can't dwell on it. I have to do better, and hope my chickens don't pay to high of a piece.
I appreciate your kindness and sharing your knowledge. Thank you.

I won't bore you with daily reports, but I'm so amazed I wanted to share.  After this post and watching lots of videos, reading what I could find I've got a plan of sorts. Like I said earlier I washed and sanitized the coop. I dusted the coop, nesting bar, a tiny bit in the nesting box ( don't want to complicate things by giving them respiratory issues. And as much of the chicken yard as I could ( ran out of DE) with diatomaceous earth.  

Next I fed them a bunch of herbs. Yarrow, comfrey,basil, rosemary, and lavender.  My chickens don't normally eat herb's except comfrey which they love.  But I removed all other food, so everything except the rosemary and lavender was eaten.  The first day I scramble a bunch of eggs with lots of garlic. They won't eat garlic, but they ate the eggs. I won't be able to do this every day, but will try to do it when I can.  In the feed I sprinkle dried basil and oregano.  I don't have oregano right now, and they won't eat fresh basil unless there's nothing else, so I figured I would sneak dried in there feed.

I have been putting a oregano and vitamin supplement in the water. They don't seem to like it, so I still do it, but a smaller amount then recommend and added  Black elderberry.  This seems to be better.  A lady on YouTube said she used elderberry and the pox were gone in a matter of days instead of weeks.  I don't have elderberry and it's expensive to buy, so I can't do what she did, but I figured adding some to the water, and fermented grains hopefully will help.

Yesterday the hen that brought my attention to all this was really looking bad. Even though everything I read said they don't normally die from fowl pox, I was afraid she might.  Limping bad standing holding her foot up. Pox all over, one spot on her back where there are feathers missing was very red. (I think the feathers missing is a pecking order things the spot has been there for a while, but not red ) Totally wasn't herself. She still ran from me, but I cought her and put Neosporin on all her spots, and the bottom of her foot ( I thought there was a cut, but in the day light I don't see a problem???)  Today she is still limping, but not as bad, and when she stands she is using both feet. The featherless spot is normal skin color.  The spots on her waddles and comb are 75% better it's amazing.  The rest of the chickens were acting more normal, like running up to me pecking my feet, jumping on the bin I keep feed in. They didn't do any of that yesterday.

I know we will probably have good days and bad days, and this is far from over, but I'm encouraged that something I'm doing is at least helping them feel a bit better.  At least I hope.

I'm trying to keep things clean, the fan is on 24/7 for now, I will continue feed and water as I am, and hopefully this will pass soon.

Thank you all for helping me and my chickens.

Everyone including me survived 106 today.  Even with the heat chickens are acting normal, laying normal. All spots seen a little better. So far no new spot. I know it spreads slowly, so we aren't out of the woods yet. They seem to feel better so that's something.

Hello Jen, i hope that your girls are continuing to improve, it is so distressing when they fall ill.

You mentioned that they won't eat garlic - i feed mine bulbils, the topsets that grow on hardneck garlic when you don't cut off the scapes. If you don't have any, ask around all your friends that grow garlic, they are bound to have some.

The bulbils keep for ages and often have bright red skins, very appealing to chickens.  

I sprinkle a handful in their food and scatter them on the ground and the girls think that they're a special treat.

I also rub homemade comfrey salve on their combs if they have any spots or scratches - figure it won't hurt and certainly ought to help the healing process.

Thank you so much Megan.  I don't have any garlic this year, I made the mistake of planning it in front peas. They all died.  I read garlic doesn't like to share space, I guess it's true. They love scrambled eggs and I loaded them up with garlic.  They don't like herbs either, but I have been putting dried oregano and basil in there food, and it gets gobbled up.
I don't have comfrey salve.  This is the first year I have managed to get comfrey to grow.  I'm excited to make a salve.  I need to dig my dehydrator out of the garage.  Maybe I could put some leaves in a paper bag in the shade outside, I imagine it would dry pretty fast that way, at least until I find the dehydrator.  
So far they seem to be doing fine.  Thank you.

Everyone is doing well.  A lot of spots are gone, or much smaller and lighter in color.  Something I noticed is there feathers look healthy and shiny.  The rooster is about 5 months old (supposed to be a hen) he looks show quality. Man is he beautiful.  Even after every one is totally well I think I will try to continue to give them what they are getting now.  Probably not as much, especially the elderberry because I don't have them, and it's expensive.  

I bought a small bottle of elderberry and it cost 15.00 I was just about out and found some elderberry and echinacea powder for 7.00 at Ross, talk about devine intervention.  

Chickens are doing so much better.  Not 100% yet, but close.  Something I'm giving them is making them look so pretty.  There feathers shine.
I'm happy and to be honest a little frustrated.  Happy they are getting better and bouncing back quickly. Frustrated because I feed them organic laying food, ferment grain for them, give them lots of good stuff from my organic garden. Changing there water very often, everyday in the summer.  All of that, and they must have been missing something from there diet, because they look so healthy and beautiful now. If it's the black elderberry, no way I can afford that all the time.  I can probably keep doing the oregano/vitamin powder in a reduced amount.
I'm looking into growing blackberries, and more oregano.  I have to go back and search again because I was looking at elderberry, and I want European elderberry.
Most important is they are doing so much better.

I don't know if I lucked out, or it was something I did or fed them, but the fowl pox only lasted about 2 1/2 3 weeks. Not all my chickens got it.  No casualties, and I learned maybe they need something in there diet because when I was treating them they looked so beautiful and shiny.  Now they look healthy, but not like they did.

So glad to hear your chickens are okay and that everyone is healthy and happy now, Jen! Good work! Any clues which thing you were giving was the missing piece? Perhaps you could experiment with only giving them one of the things you added at a time and see if you could figure it out that way?