3 weeks old baby brahmas sneezing wet

[Fattylorp]

So I 16 baby brahma chicks and some of them are sneezing, although I am aware sneezing can sometimes be normal because of them relieving their nostrils from something that bothers the airway, however my chicks constantly be sneezing with a wet sound. The majority of the chicks are very active, especially when I pour in their feeds which then they excitedly come to eat, and some are not; standing by the heat lamp but eventually joins the others, and of course they're sneezing. I inspected their eyes, nostrils, beak and even smell their head for possible CRD smell like Coryza, however their eyes are clear, nostrils are dry (no discharge despite the sneezing wet), their beaks are clean and their smell is normal chick smell.

There this one chick that shares the same characteristics with the rest, sneezing wet. This one chick is constantly sneezing more than the rest and it developed making a breathing sounds of gurgling and also chirping with gurgling sounds. She is less active than the rest but is also eager to eat. Her eyes, nostrils, beak and smell, all shares the same result as the rest which is just fine. I do not think that this specific chick is lethargic the reason is that she runs away when I try to pick her up and even refuse when I tried opening her beak for possible discharge and fowl smell. Her activity is often isolating herself from the others. Should I isolate her?

This has something to do with high ammonia level in their cage. I use mulch before and then switching into plain flat cardboard since I have ran out of mulch to use. The day after that I used the cardboard as their bedding, things had started to change with them which is sneezing dry and sneezing wet. And today, some recovered, but the chick that I mentioned still remained the same. I am scared that this is might be a CRD or maybe just a high ammonia irritation that went very bad. So far I have given them medicine to their water which is Vetracin Gold. I have free ranged them in the garage for fresh air plus they have an heat lamp for their recovery.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

Do you have other adult chickens there? If so, are any of them sick?

Being a mere three weeks old and sick, they either caught something from other chickens or its environmental. They shouldn't be having CRDs at their age, but it is what it is now.

Is your garage free from gas spills, gas cans, oil leaks? Usually garage floors aren't the greatest shape for baby chicks to be running around on.

Can you fix their brooder so it stays dry and semi-clean by using wood chips, horse bedding pellets, or something other than cardboard?

I'd get them all on poultry vitamins every other day alternating with clean water. Once their environment is clean, they should start recovering.

 

[Fattylorp]

Hi,

Do you have other adult chickens there? If so, are any of them sick?

Being a mere three weeks old and sick, they either caught something from other chickens or its environmental. They shouldn't be having CRDs at their age, but it is what it is now.

Is your garage free from gas spills, gas cans, oil leaks? Usually garage floors aren't the greatest shape for baby chicks to be running around on.

Can you fix their brooder so it stays dry and semi-clean by using wood chips, horse bedding pellets, or something other than cardboard?

I'd get them all on poultry vitamins every other day alternating with clean water. Once their environment is clean, they should start recovering.

Hello, I apprecite your reply.

Yes, I do have adult chickens but they are very far away from the chicks, plus those adult chickens has no past diseases all of them are doing great.

Has to be environmental. Because I do not have any history of chickens having CRD. Plus, the garage is pretty clean, no car prodcuts that would pollute the air, it is pretty much like a storage. So it has to do something with my brooder and the poor choice of using plain cardboard.

Yes, I will use the mulch again once I got some, but for now the chicks is sleeping by the concrete floor in the garage with open space for them to explore and roam around. They still have their heat lamp on.

But I did isolate some of them because they showed a worse symptoms which is gurgling while breathing, but they're all active nontheless. Nobody is leathargic and no discharge from their nostrils.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hello, I apprecite your reply.

Yes, I do have adult chickens but they are very far away from the chicks, plus those adult chickens has no past diseases all of them are doing great.

Has to be environmental. Because I do not have any history of chickens having CRD. Plus, the garage is pretty clean, no car prodcuts that would pollute the air, it is pretty much like a storage. So it has to do something with my brooder and the poor choice of using plain cardboard.

Yes, I will use the mulch again once I got some, but for now the chicks is sleeping by the concrete floor in the garage with open space for them to explore and roam around. They still have their heat lamp on.

But I did isolate some of them because they showed a worse symptoms which is gurgling while breathing, but they're all active nontheless. Nobody is leathargic and no discharge from their nostrils.

When you say "mulch" do you mean the wood chips used for putting around trees, in flower beds, etc., or a mulch of dried leaves, pine needles, dirt, etc., that kind of mulch?

Horse bedding pellets are about $8 for 40# and what we use in coops and brooders. In the brooders, we just stir them with a stick daily. They dry up the poop, so no smells. In the coops, the chickens scratch it around so we don't have to. Just offering an idea.

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did the chicks come from? Hatchery, did you hatch some of your hens eggs, or did they come from another person/breeder? Do you see any foamy eyes on any of them?

 

[Fattylorp]

When you say "mulch" do you mean the wood chips used for putting around trees, in flower beds, etc., or a mulch of dried leaves, pine needles, dirt, etc., that kind of mulch?

Horse bedding pellets are about $8 for 40# and what we use in coops and brooders. In the brooders, we just stir them with a stick daily. They dry up the poop, so no smells. In the coops, the chickens scratch it around so we don't have to. Just offering an idea.

The mulch was ruce hulls, it did a great job absorbing the smell and it lasted very long.

 

[Fattylorp]

Where did the chicks come from? Hatchery, did you hatch some of your hens eggs, or did they come from another person/breeder? Do you see any foamy eyes on any of them?

Well some of them I bought online as a fertilized eggs and some are just from my hen's, I hatched them from the local hatchery. Pretty much once I got them from the hatchery they were all fine and active.

As for her eyes, I checked this morning her eyes are bright and clear. Her activities however improved because she was actively eating and drinking, rather than just sitting under by the heat lamp. The rest of the chicks' sneezing behavior lessen this morning but for this chick it's a no, she still makes the gurgling sounds, sneezing wet and still not having other symptoms.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I second the pellets. I've been using them in my brooder. I've got 14 chicks in the brooder right now, and there is no bad smell. Much less dust than other bedding too, and the chicks are very happy and healthy.

 

[Debbie292d]

The mulch was ruce hulls, it did a great job absorbing the smell and it lasted very long.

Rice hulls are good. I'd advise getting an extra bag so you always have a spare.

 

[Eggcessive]

MG can be transmitted through hatching eggs, where one or both parents are carriers. It is always a risk bring in chicks from another breeder or hatching eggs. Testing is the only way to know if they have a disease. There are as many as 8 different respiratory diseases, but infectious bronchitis virus, mycoplasma (MG,) and coryza are common ones. Environmental things such as mold, poor air circulation, and fumes from soiled and wet bedding are common problems with chicks.