Chicks are Sneezing Help Plz

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MesMama

MesMama

Songster
6 Years
Apr 22, 2015
1,008
290
226
Iowa
Not sure if I have an issue here or not, but several of my chicks are sneezing, no mucous, everyone is eating, drinking and acting normally. I gave them some "mash", just their feed that I watered down because they are little food wasters lol! And noticed the sneezing after that, BUT I wasn't really paying that close attention to them really before I guess so they could have been doing it before? The mash is pretty wet/runny, so I didn't know if the moisture could get into their nostrils and that's why they were sneezing?

Any help us greatly appreciated! This is my first time with chicks so I am a little anxious :(
 
Chicks will bury their nose in food whether wet or dry. I suspect since you noticed it right after feeding they got food up their nose.
Just keep an eye on them if they are constantly sneezing, then you may want to check ventilation, bedding etc.
 
Wyorp Rock has given you some very good advice. I have one hen that sneezes like a trooper after she's eaten - she's the only hen that does this in my flock and that has a name, and yep, you've guessed - "Sneezer".
smile.png


CT
 
Wyorp Rock said:
Chicks will bury their nose in food whether wet or dry. I suspect since you noticed it right after feeding they got food up their nose.
Just keep an eye on them if they are constantly sneezing, then you may want to check ventilation, bedding etc.
Click to expand...


Thank you for responding :) I will check today and just sit down there again to listen for sneezing, it's really not very loud! Hard to hear unless you're paying close attention.
About checking th bedding, what could be the issue?
 
CTKen said:
Wyorp Rock has given you some very good advice. I have one hen that sneezes like a trooper after she's eaten - she's the only hen that does this in my flock and that has a name, and yep, you've guessed - "Sneezer". :)

CT
Click to expand...


Lol!
 
MesMama said:
Thank you for responding
smile.png
I will check today and just sit down there again to listen for sneezing, it's really not very loud! Hard to hear unless you're paying close attention.
About checking th bedding, what could be the issue?
Click to expand...

If you are using something like cedar that is high aromatics then it can cause sneezing, breathing problems, etc. Pine shavings are fine, but they are dusty, so proper ventilation is key.
Mine will sometimes sneeze when I rake the run, turn over bedding, etc., but they all want to be right in the middle of what I'm doing, so they naturally get dust up their nose (silly things, you'd think they move
smile.png
). I like CTKen have one girl that sneezes sometimes during/after she eats, I took a good look at her one day and she had mash all over her beak and face (she was eating with gusto) and she would then "sneeze" to clear the food from her nostrils.
 
Wyorp Rock said:
If you are using something like cedar that is high aromatics then it can cause sneezing, breathing problems, etc. Pine shavings are fine, but they are dusty, so proper ventilation is key.
Mine will sometimes sneeze when I rake the run, turn over bedding, etc., but they all want to be right in the middle of what I'm doing, so they naturally get dust up their nose (silly things, you'd think they move:) ). I like CTKen have one girl that sneezes sometimes during/after she eats, I took a good look at her one day and she had mash all over her beak and face (she was eating with gusto) and she would then "sneeze" to clear the food from her nostrils.
Click to expand...


Very helpful thank you! I do use pine shavings and yesterday they were scratching like crazy, I noticed holes in the bedding almost down to the concrete floor. They've never dug around like that before enough to make holes.

About ventilation-the brooder is a 3x5 box built into the coop, with hardware cloth front and also on the lid, here's a pic, feedback appreciated-
400

400
 
Last edited:
Nice looking brooder!
Looks like plenty of ventilation to me.
Those little buggers will start to dig day one, sounds like happy chicks
smile.png

Great layout, I like the way you have it so the adults can see the chicks and get used to them. You're doing great!

Here's an idea I saw that @azygous did - made a "chick hole" in her brooder section so when older, the chicks can go out with the big girls, but the big girls can't get into the brooding area. Looks like it will make integration much easier.
Pictures about mid-page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors
 
Wyorp Rock said:
Nice looking brooder!
Looks like plenty of ventilation to me.
Those little buggers will start to dig day one, sounds like happy chicks:)
Great layout, I like the way you have it so the adults can see the chicks and get used to them. You're doing great!

Here's an idea I saw that @azygous
did - made a "chick hole" in her brooder section so when older, the chicks can go out with the big girls, but the big girls can't get into the brooding area. Looks like it will make integration much easier.
Pictures about mid-page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors
Click to expand...


Thank you for your kind words :) Means a lot!

Oh and azygous' idea about the chick hole, we added it, u can't see it but it's on the left wall there, to the left of my roo :) I hope one is enough though! I have 19 chicks ;) May need to add another??
 
Oh and also I went down and sat with them to observe and only a few sneezed a couple times, so thinking all the digging they did yesterday was the issue ;)
 

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