Are all sneezes bad? Or is this PTSD on my part?

[Castlewood]

Hello community!
I'm looking for some wisdom on chicken sneezes. I won't go into the full backstory, but about a year ago a respiratory infection went through my flock and left me with heavy casualties. Ever since, the faintest sneeze earns a chicken time in solitary to determine if she's caught something or if it was just some dust caught in the beak. Which leads to my question - do chickens sneeze for reasons other than sickness? It seems like a ridiculous question to ask. My gut says "of course they do!" but I've never really asked. So - I'm asking!

Thanks! -C

 

[tribalacres]

My family thinks I'm crazy cause I do this too. I'm curious to see what other say. We culled eleven, tough ever but knew I had too due to the severity of the nature and the possible risk of infecting 19 new birds of all sorts in the brooder room. So I'm the same way. You're not alone in that regards. We do the two week quarantine for new birds, not chicks, and I study them like crazy and every noise I'm like what was that? .

 

[kcan2]

Oh no! Sounds like you had a rough time before, your PTSD is very understandable! I'm sure others with more experience will chime in, but I did want to say that I did have a month-long very sneezy hen this past January/Feb. My other chicken never caught it, and I did not separate them. I added some apple cider vinegar to their water, then about twice a week I would give them fresh water with some Nutridrench added. Not sure if either of these did the trick or it cleared up on it's own, but nothing ever came of it and she is sneeze-free now!

 

[Uff Da]

My chickens sneeze with about the same frequency as healthy humans do, and usually for the same reason--dust. I was really paranoid about the sneezing for awhile, but they never had any other symptoms and it was usually while they were scratching around. I observed them for months and came to the conclusion they were just plain old healthy sneezes.

 

[Castlewood]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone. The quarantine coop is known as the "Henitentiary" and I feel like almost everyone ends up there at some point. The first sneezes that came into my flock last year were devastating. So when I hear a sneeze, it's an immediate timeout. I have 9 new pullets getting ready to join my original 3 girls. They've been separated for a month and I'm determined to put everything that I've learned into making this a good transition. I've got 6 additional chicks under the brooder that will be next up to move in. If I have 18 hens this December, I'll call 2020 a good year despite everything else.

Thank you for your responses!!

 

[kcan2]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone. The quarantine coop is known as the "Henitentiary" and I feel like almost everyone ends up there at some point. The first sneezes that came into my flock last year were devastating. So when I hear a sneeze, it's an immediate timeout. I have 9 new pullets getting ready to join my original 3 girls. They've been separated for a month and I'm determined to put everything that I've learned into making this a good transition. I've got 6 additional chicks under the brooder that will be next up to move in. If I have 18 hens this December, I'll call 2020 a good year despite everything else.

Thank you for your responses!!

Fingers X'ed that no one else will be serving hard time in the Henitentiary!