10 day old Serama baby sneezing. Help?

[JudyMcKinn]

I have 6 Serama chicks I hatched the dayafter Christmas. All are feisty, eating and drinking good, and growing wing feathers like crazy. They are in a brooder in our large garage, which is heated by the wood furnace that pipes into the house. They have a light bulb over one end of the large brooder they are in. Temp is 100 under the bulb,but they can get as far from it as they want. They were on paper towels for the first week, then I opened up more of the brooder so they could run onto the large pine chips if they wanted, but they are still on the paper towels under and near the heat source,and their feeder and waterers is on the towels, so they don't have to get on the chips unless they want to.
Yesterday one of the 2 smaller ones sneezed when I was looking at them. This morning he did it again. Don't know if it is my worried imagination or not, but he may be breathing a little hard and maybe a little slower than the others this morning.
Is there something I should put in their water, or something? Suredon't want these babies to get sick.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Hiya Judy... got seramas? wow tiny... might be a bit dusty for them (mist the pine shavings when you put it down to ensure against dust) ... is the wood stove you are using smoke free? birds are very sensitive and it might be the smoke (even though you might not notice it) could be irritating ?

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Thanks, Diana, yes, it gets a bit smoky sometimes when we load the stove. Will open the garage door and let fresh air in from now on when we load. I can't tell if anything is wrong or not, really, but this is the only one who has a tail pinfeather coming in (one-and almost need a magnifying glass to see it, but he is probably my roo, if he is getting a tailfeather.) But he seems a little bit more listless than the others, tho they are all pretty alert and fast. But in fairness, I had to help one out of the egg, and this one may be the one, and maybe not as strong as the others.
If anyone has any other ideas besides smoke, I would still love to hear other suggestions, and will try to keep it aired out on the smoke thing.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Judy those seramas are so tiny and are less "cold hardy" than other breeds... I would take them out of the area (*wood stove) and put them elsewhere...

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Boy, Diana, I just don't really have anyplace else to put them (and stay married. LOL) They are in a large wooden brooder. I have an old picture here that I will TRY to post. It has big chicks in it in this old picture, but using it now, I keep a heavy towel thrown across the whole wire opening. No possible way for a draft to get to them, and also you can see the heat lamp location inside. (ignore the hanging bulb, that was for somethng else, and no longer there) Also, the towel will keep out a lot of what smoke escapes the stove sometimes, too, I would think. The brooder is probably20 ft from the stove, also. And doesn't seem to be bothering any of the others. I can't see any change or worsening in this one chick.
Here's the brooder.

I thought maybe there would be something to put in the water, or something, that might help or strengthen them?

 

[dlhunicorn]

at this age a stable temp and no draft is really essential... you can give it Polyvisol (two drops in beak) and hang a couple wet towels near the brooder (will up the humidity which will be helpful)...
offer free choice live culture yogurt... I give from day one daily to my chickies the first three months.

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Live culture yogurt??? Grocery store?? Don't guess it would be a good idea to dampen a corner or part of the towel hanging over the wire frame? Or should be further away from then than that?

 

[dlhunicorn]

Yes, grocery store... I imagine the Danone one should be fine (go with the "live culture" seal one)
I would hang the wet towels in between the wood stove and the brooder... you might think about covering up half that open-wire section on the brooder too (will help with the temp stability and draft)

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Got the yogurt and vitamins at the store a while ago. Put some of the yogurt in a lid, and no one would go close to it. Finally dipped the beak of the sneezy one in it. He stomped off wiping his beak on the paper towels beneath them. When I checked them 10 min later, he was still wiping his beak (which looked completely clean) and standing on one leg scratching his beak with the other foot. Not sure how well it is going to go over. LOL.
The wire is completely covered with a towel already--and has been from day 1 for them. I keep it covered with a towel to avoid any possibility of a draft when we go in and out of the garage, and that should keep out a lot of any smoke that there is around, also.