animalgrl
Songster
- Jun 7, 2015
- 174
- 34
- 109
I've heard my girls sneezing a bit lately - maybe for the last week to 10 days. I'll hear a sneeze or two sometimes when I let them out of the coop in the morning. They are already on the roost when I get home from work, so except for the weekends, right now, there isn't much time for me to observe them so I can't really say how frequently they are sneezing. I did check all four and don't see any other symptom - no discharge from eyes or nostrils, they all seem to be active and eating/drinking well. Until this morning. My Cuckoo Marans hen (approximately 11-12 months old) came out of the coop but when we went out to give them some scratch before work, she was just lying on her side in the dirt. Her eyes were open, but she was just laying there (she was looking around). She was interested in the scratch and took a couple of pecks, but only ate one or two little bits of that. I almost lost this girl to coccidiosis in early June (and possibly some sort of secondary infection - she was really sick) so I'm kind of paranoid when she isn't acting normally. Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I treat with an antibiotic for the sneezing? Since there are no other symptoms, how would I know which antibiotic to treat with? I plan to feel her crop tonight when I get home. Also, she has not laid an egg for at least three months, although that in itself doesn't concern me. She has not turned out to be a very good layer. She didn't start to lay until late August (was egg bound with her first egg but managed to pass it eventually), then laid only for about 2 or 3 weeks before she stopped laying again (I think she may have been molting as there were feathers everywhere and I think she just finished her molt about 3 weeks ago - that's when I stopped seeing her feathers everywhere). Any suggestions are appreciated. I'm worried that with the upcoming holidays, if I can't resolve this quickly, it will be hard to find a vet if I need one.