Chick making strange noise

[Kimberlass]

Hello! New to chickens here! This morning when I was checking on my three chicks, I noticed one is now making a coughing/sneezing sound. She seems okay otherwise but the noise is really concerning me.

She’s a little less than a week old. She’s in pine bedding, and has been drinking and eating normally (just chick starter.) She has had a couple pasty butt run ins but seems to be okay in that regard right now. She is a Black australorp (the black and yellow one.)

Is there anything I can do to help her?

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did your chicks come from? Sneezing can sometimes be from something irritating the nostrils, such as dust in the feed or bedding. Look for wet spots in the bedding that can grow mold. Other causes can be a respiratory infection, such as infectious bronchitis or MG, but I would suspect environmental problems at this age unless they were exposed to other older chickens who may have been carriers.

 

[Kimberlass]

Where did your chicks come from? Sneezing can sometimes be from something irritating the nostrils, such as dust in the feed or bedding. Look for wet spots in the bedding that can grow mold. Other causes can be a respiratory infection, such as infectious bronchitis or MG, but I would suspect environmental problems at this age unless they were exposed to other older chickens who may have been carriers.

They are from a local hatchery that is very well reputed, so my guess is it’s my doing. I’ve been changing the bedding once a day and the paper towels that the food/water is on two times a day.

I’m worried I chilled her when cleaning her vent? She is being super active right now (a little too active, she loves digging and pecking the floor of the brooder) and I haven’t heard a sneeze in about 20 minutes, but they were pretty frequent this morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hopefully, she will be fine. I don’t like to get them wet if they are outside in cold weather. I haven't had baby chicks for a few years, but I usually keep mine in the house for a couple of weeks, and that is warmer when dealing with a messy vent.

 

[Kimberlass]

Hopefully, she will be fine. I don’t like to get them wet if they are outside in cold weather. I haven't had baby chicks for a few years, but I usually keep mine in the house for a couple of weeks, and that is warmer when dealing with a messy vent.

They’re in a pretty warm room in the house and have their brooder plate to keep extra toasty. She seems to do it after eating, I wonder if she just gets food dust on her little beak?

 

[Eggcessive]

I see my chickens occasionally sneeze when they are eating, so that may be it.

 

[LittleNikki]

I have a baby black australorp doing the same thing currently in the video. Did OP figure out what was wrong? Did it clear up on its own?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would take a look at dust or wet spots in the brooder, but also the feed which can cause sneezing if it gets into their nostrils. Keep the nostrils clean. I also recommend starting a new thread of your own so that more people will see it and respond with help for your chick, and you may do that here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/create-thread