cbsfusek
Chirping
- Jun 7, 2022
- 16
- 43
- 59
Hello friends,
Susan, an 8 month-old bantam RIR, is not handling our Oregon weather very well. It's been snowing for the past week or so (came out of seemingly nowhere/big temperature swings) and with that has come frequent sneezing. The other 5 chickens stayed in the coop, on their own accord, during the first two days of it. Once we had a reprieve and some of the snow melted, they came out and free-ranged as normal. I wonder if being in the coop all day caused it--I kept it clean, it's large, and while the ceiling is very high, the ventilation could be better...planning to fix that!
I've noticed only the occasional sneeze with others--pretty much since winter started--but Susan's is now quite consistent, and 2 days ago when it was very cold she began looking a bit puffed up and not as active. I've brought her inside for the evenings since then, and while inside she seems almost totally fine. Still some sneezing but markedly less, eating, drinking, active, wants out of the enclosure. Then she does well during the day outside, until the temp falls again...
No eye discharge, thick mucus, weird poops, or abnormal crop. Appetite is mostly normal, but when she does get very cold it lessens. She laid an egg while inside yesterday, but it was very thin shelled and broke on its way out (first time she's laid a thin shelled one, but she also JUST began laying).
Susan's consistent sneezing happened during the winter's first majorly wet week as well, but it was when their coop was smaller and much less ventilated, so I attributed it to that. That time it cleared up after 1 day inside. Questions:
1. Could this be CRD that just shows itself when it's cold? Or would you expect to see more symptoms if CRD?
2. I know CRD is not truly curable, but if it could be that, should I medicate to reduce symptoms or just wait for the cold to end and see if they resolve/provide supportive care?
3. I know birds generally don't do well with temp changes, so is bringing her inside at night adding extra stress? I'd think the pros outweigh the potential cons, since she does seem much less sneezy once inside...but do wonder about the back and forth. I don't think actually being inside stresses her all that much, as she is very tame, but a little worried about shocking her system.
4. VetRX hasn't been making a difference--any other suggestions?
Sorry this is somewhat duplicative of other posts, but I did read many old threads about sneezing and couldn't answer my questions. Thank you for any tips!
Susan, an 8 month-old bantam RIR, is not handling our Oregon weather very well. It's been snowing for the past week or so (came out of seemingly nowhere/big temperature swings) and with that has come frequent sneezing. The other 5 chickens stayed in the coop, on their own accord, during the first two days of it. Once we had a reprieve and some of the snow melted, they came out and free-ranged as normal. I wonder if being in the coop all day caused it--I kept it clean, it's large, and while the ceiling is very high, the ventilation could be better...planning to fix that!
I've noticed only the occasional sneeze with others--pretty much since winter started--but Susan's is now quite consistent, and 2 days ago when it was very cold she began looking a bit puffed up and not as active. I've brought her inside for the evenings since then, and while inside she seems almost totally fine. Still some sneezing but markedly less, eating, drinking, active, wants out of the enclosure. Then she does well during the day outside, until the temp falls again...
No eye discharge, thick mucus, weird poops, or abnormal crop. Appetite is mostly normal, but when she does get very cold it lessens. She laid an egg while inside yesterday, but it was very thin shelled and broke on its way out (first time she's laid a thin shelled one, but she also JUST began laying).
Susan's consistent sneezing happened during the winter's first majorly wet week as well, but it was when their coop was smaller and much less ventilated, so I attributed it to that. That time it cleared up after 1 day inside. Questions:
1. Could this be CRD that just shows itself when it's cold? Or would you expect to see more symptoms if CRD?
2. I know CRD is not truly curable, but if it could be that, should I medicate to reduce symptoms or just wait for the cold to end and see if they resolve/provide supportive care?
3. I know birds generally don't do well with temp changes, so is bringing her inside at night adding extra stress? I'd think the pros outweigh the potential cons, since she does seem much less sneezy once inside...but do wonder about the back and forth. I don't think actually being inside stresses her all that much, as she is very tame, but a little worried about shocking her system.
4. VetRX hasn't been making a difference--any other suggestions?
Sorry this is somewhat duplicative of other posts, but I did read many old threads about sneezing and couldn't answer my questions. Thank you for any tips!
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