Buff Orphington has (tourettes) sneezing problem

[av8rwife]

I've noticed that this pullet will have clear water coming out of her nose. I think she is about 3 1/2 months old according to her size (i bought her from another lady who said she was 18 weeks old BUT I don't think she is). She seems thinner than most of my other hens and she seems hungry all the time. We tease that she has tourettes because she'll be acting normal then all of a sudden she makes a sound like a half sneeze/half cluck. She's an "in your pocket" girl, follows us around like a puppy dog. We keep her at our house with a younger chicken and they get along fine. Haven't notice the other chick getting sick so I'm glad for that. I noticed that some of the feathers under her wings are matted (i'm thinking this could be from the substance coming of our her nose when she's preening herself). I want to get her healthy. Anyone have ideas that I can try?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

nasal drainage
thin/not gaining weight properly/small for size
coughing


I would rule out worms (thin hen with poor weight gain). Some vets will do a fecal test for a small fee. Some people (myself included) just go ahead and worm them if they suspect worms.

Also, the nasal drainage/coughing sounds like it could be some kind of respiratory illness. I really can't help you with that one.

However, I would like to point out that internal parasites can mimic a respiratory illness- happened to one lady on BYC. She sent a chicken for necropsy and was getting ready to cull the whole flock for a respiratory illness. The results came back internal parasites!!!

So if it were me, I'd start by worming. Then see if that drainage and cough go away.

 

[av8rwife]

Thank you for the reply. What time of medicine for worming? We have a TSC here in AR - they have a wormer that is in liquid form (can't remember the name) and you have to withhold the eggs for a certain amount of time. I don't want to have to do that. This hen isn't laying yet, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to worm my other birds (most of them are a year old) and I've never wormed them. How often are you supposed to worm them? Do you wait until you know they have worms?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thank you for the reply. What time of medicine for worming? We have a TSC here in AR - they have a wormer that is in liquid form (can't remember the name) and you have to withhold the eggs for a certain amount of time. I don't want to have to do that. This hen isn't laying yet, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to worm my other birds (most of them are a year old) and I've never wormed them. How often are you supposed to worm them? Do you wait until you know they have worms?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/605027/deworming-chickens-with-wazine
Here is a nice thread that I hope helps. I personally am going to be putting mine on a worming schedule since I have had a problem with worms in the past.