Avoiding Sinus Infections During Winter

[KsKingBee]

Wintertime is when the peafowl forums are full of posts pleading for help with birds with sinus infections. Treatments for sinus infections are relatively easy using Tylan 200 injected just under the skin at a rate of 1.5ml for three to five days but treating for the infection is only one part of the cure. This time of year people are locking up their birds in coops and barns to protect them from the cold and the birds for the most part like that too.
The main hazard of cooping the birds up is the dust that is stirred up inside the coop when the birds fly up and down from the roosts. Ventilation is key to keeping your birds from getting sinus infections and in good health. Remember that every illness and injury suffered during the winter will set back the birds' production during the breeding season until it is fully healed which can take months.
Be sure to add bedding to reduce dust and adequate ventilation to vent dust out of the area.

 

[nchls school]

Thank you for this information as I intend to save it, even though my peafowl are free range year around. It does not get real cold here and what we do experience is fleeting. My trio roost at the top of a huge pine in the backyard.

 

[Midnightman14]

I think part of the problem is people use pine shavings in their coops which is very dusty. If you're going to use anything use sand,

 

[KsKingBee]

I think part of the problem is people use pine shavings in their coops which is very dusty. If you're going to use anything use sand,

My coops are eight inches of sand, the problem is that even cleaning up the turd piles weekly there is a lot of disintegrated poo powder in the sand that blows up into the air when the birds flush or land. In an attempt to keep that powdered poo from being inhaled we try to keep it out of the air by adding a layer of straw to keep the air clean.

A secondary reason is if the birds get too cold they will sleep on the floor. Sleeping on the sand floor is really bad for frostbite. Concrete is just as bad as there is a lot of moisture that comes up from the cold ground contributing to the frostbite.

 

[Midnightman14]

My coops are eight inches of sand, the problem is that even cleaning up the turd piles weekly there is a lot of disintegrated poo powder in the sand that blows up into the air when the birds flush or land. In an attempt to keep that powdered poo from being inhaled we try to keep it out of the air by adding a layer of straw to keep the air clean.

A secondary reason is if the birds get too cold they will sleep on the floor. Sleeping on the sand floor is really bad for frostbite. Concrete is just as bad as there is a lot of moisture that comes up from the cold ground contributing to the frostbite.

I had a thought after reading this. In our barn where all our birds spend the winter it is pretty open with the size of the open space for the birds being about 30x30. We don't throw anything but a fresh layer of sand in fall. I think the openness and having several small holes for the peas to go in and out keeps the dust out. Plus up here it's so cold that the poop that causes the dust just freezes in 5-10 minutes and doesn't contribute to a dust cloud.

 

[KsKingBee]

I had a thought after reading this. In our barn where all our birds spend the winter it is pretty open with the size of the open space for the birds being about 30x30. We don't throw anything but a fresh layer of sand in fall. I think the openness and having several small holes for the peas to go in and out keeps the dust out. Plus up here it's so cold that the poop that causes the dust just freezes in 5-10 minutes and doesn't contribute to a dust cloud.

Ventilation and fresh air is certainly key. My worst for dust are two barns that are insulated and heated so there is not a lot of air exchange when it is really cold so we have to keep the dust down. On days above freezing, we open the pop doors and even when it only gets down to the high 20's at night we will leave the pop doors open. The heat is set at 45* but there is not much heat loss through the pop doors as we also have a curtain hanging to help block the cold from coming in. In this pic, you can see the slits in the curtain. If all I had were Blues I wouldn't have the pop doors down or the barn heated at all. Most of my coops are three-sided loafing sheds.