I have 22 hens and one rooster who started sneezing, a wee bit of coughing, and sound congested...all a few days ago. There is no nasal discharge, they are not mouth breathing, eating regular rations of Layena as normal, drinking fine, acting normal, egg production normal. I also just moved 32 chicks (4 weeks old) to the coop brooder (heated, separated by framed brooder pen) 10 days ago and they just today have a bit of sneezing as well. They are all acting like normal chicks, running around, eating, drinking, peeping...but sneezing and sound a wee bit congested. Everyone has normal poop. I have a poop hammock that gets emptied daily for the big girls and check the droppings in the brooder 2-3 times each day.
When I say congested...there is no discharge from any bird. But when they cough or sneeze it is a wet sound, not a dry dusty sound.
The sneezing started just after the chicks moved out to the coop, but they were perfectly healthy, no sneezys while in the house brooder, bought from a reputable feed store who orders from Ideal, their birds in the store do not appear sick. Also, we had one wee banty chick that my daughter felt was too small to put with the regular standard chicks in the outdoor brooder. So that banty and one of the standard chicks (Buddy!) are still in the house brooder...no sneezing.
Lastly, this Fall and Winter has brought some of the worst weather I've seen here in 25 years. We've had almost 200% of normal precipitation, way more dark cloudy days than normal, tons of horrific windy days, etc. It has not been a pleasant winter in any sense.
My chickens are in a wooden garden shed, not drafty, not damp nor wet, average ventilation, dirt floor with shavings that is on high ground and I have never even felt any dampness through the thick layer of shavings, they have a small amount of supplemental light for a few hours, hens eat Layena, chicks on StartNGrow, not much in the way of treats...hens might get a rare leftover bit of salad or piece of bread, plenty of clean water from nipple drinkers, ...
Other than the chicks there are no new birds in the flock, no one has come to my coop to visit, other than bags of feed nothing has gone into the shed. I did spread some clean straw when the run (gravel and dirt/mud about 20 x 40 when they do not have full run of 1/4 acre pasture) became really muddy about one month ago. The wind has blown much of it out of the run. But a local chicken friend suggested that the birds might be reacting to some mold forming in the straw from the damp earth.
Anyone care to chime in?
When I say congested...there is no discharge from any bird. But when they cough or sneeze it is a wet sound, not a dry dusty sound.
The sneezing started just after the chicks moved out to the coop, but they were perfectly healthy, no sneezys while in the house brooder, bought from a reputable feed store who orders from Ideal, their birds in the store do not appear sick. Also, we had one wee banty chick that my daughter felt was too small to put with the regular standard chicks in the outdoor brooder. So that banty and one of the standard chicks (Buddy!) are still in the house brooder...no sneezing.
Lastly, this Fall and Winter has brought some of the worst weather I've seen here in 25 years. We've had almost 200% of normal precipitation, way more dark cloudy days than normal, tons of horrific windy days, etc. It has not been a pleasant winter in any sense.
My chickens are in a wooden garden shed, not drafty, not damp nor wet, average ventilation, dirt floor with shavings that is on high ground and I have never even felt any dampness through the thick layer of shavings, they have a small amount of supplemental light for a few hours, hens eat Layena, chicks on StartNGrow, not much in the way of treats...hens might get a rare leftover bit of salad or piece of bread, plenty of clean water from nipple drinkers, ...
Other than the chicks there are no new birds in the flock, no one has come to my coop to visit, other than bags of feed nothing has gone into the shed. I did spread some clean straw when the run (gravel and dirt/mud about 20 x 40 when they do not have full run of 1/4 acre pasture) became really muddy about one month ago. The wind has blown much of it out of the run. But a local chicken friend suggested that the birds might be reacting to some mold forming in the straw from the damp earth.
Anyone care to chime in?
