Chicken Sneezing?

[HorsesRMe123]

I have a chicken named Stella who I have been noticing will sneeze. I’ve noticed it for the past week and a half or so. She’s 15 weeks old like the other chickens. It’s worrying me because all the things I see that deal with sneezing immediately seem to lead to a respiratory infection. I don’t want my baby to die! I’ve seen her sneeze a couple times. About every other day or so. She’s eating, running around, no discharge anywhere, drinking water, no swelling or anything, just sneezing. I have seen her though when she gobbles some scrambled egg down that she seems to stretch her neck out and open her mouth as if she almost swallowed it down the wrong tube. Also, she doesn’t seem as if she’s pecking as fast and aggressive as the others in the flock.

I really hope she’s ok. If it comes down to being the worst, what do I do? If you need anymore answers to things like more symptoms or whatever, please ask! I need as much help as I can get.

 

[Sweetheat]

Do you think she’d fit symptoms for gapeworm? It effects the respiratory tract and they often stretch their necks up to breathe better. I’m not an expert but happened to be reading about it today and it came to mind when I saw your post. And the fact that she doesn’t have nasal discharge etc. worth looking into at least. I know it can be treated with Flubenol but I’m not sure how to test for it. I might be way off base and it’s nothing at all. Hopefully you get answers soon. It’s hard to worry about our feathered friends.

 

[Willow2253]

Usually if a chicken is occasionally sneezing and has no other symptoms, it’s just because they’re clearing their nose of dirt/water/etc. Watch for other symptoms, but if there are none she’s probably fine. I have a couple of girls that are sneezier than the others, but they’ve never had any other issues.
Stretching out her neck can just be her adjusting the food in her crop, which they will sometimes do. If either of these things is only happening occasionally, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Some chickens are just more or less aggressive about food than others. Each chicken is different.
As long as she’s still eating enough, drinking, is active and has no other signs of possible illness, I think she’s fine.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Do you think she’d fit symptoms for gapeworm? It effects the respiratory tract and they often stretch their necks up to breathe better. I’m not an expert but happened to be reading about it today and it came to mind when I saw your post. And the fact that she doesn’t have nasal discharge etc. worth looking into at least. I know it can be treated with Flubenol but I’m not sure how to test for it. I might be way off base and it’s nothing at all. Hopefully you get answers soon. It’s hard to worry about our feathered friends.

I’ll look into that. Thank you!

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Usually if a chicken is occasionally sneezing and has no other symptoms, it’s just because they’re clearing their nose of dirt/water/etc. Watch for other symptoms, but if there are none she’s probably fine. I have a couple of girls that are sneezier than the others, but they’ve never had any other issues.
Stretching out her neck can just be her adjusting the food in her crop, which they will sometimes do. If either of these things is only happening occasionally, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Some chickens are just more or less aggressive about food than others. Each chicken is different.
As long as she’s still eating enough, drinking, is active and has no other signs of possible illness, I think she’s fine.

I hope it’s just sneezing and no other underlying issues. Thank you for helping me!