Today when I was outside with the chickens, I noticed one flock sneezing. I'm not sure if this is the first day they've done it. I'm usually out with each group for five minutes a day, taking care of food and water, but today was run-cleaning day so I was with them for almost an hour.
This one flock has four adult bantams and one young standard-sized cockerel. The cockerel is sneezing every few minutes, and one bantam hen sneezed twice. I didn't see any others sneeze. I wasn't able to catch them to listen to their breathing, but they all look perfectly fine. No runny eyes, feathers sleek, no visible nose drainage.
The only odd symptom is that some birds, especially the cockerel, have yellow, runny poop. They've had this for about two weeks, and I suspect that it might be from the chick starter food they're eating. I have a little left from when the cockerel was very young, and he doesn't need it anymore, but I've been giving it to everyone along with their layer feed just to get rid of it. I assume it's the extra protein making their poops odd, but I thought I should mention it in case they're related.
My other flock, a flock of two, is completely fine. No yellow poop (they're not getting chick feed), and no sneezing that I've seen.
Can the sneezing be weather-related? It's been in the 30s (Fahrenheit) during the day and in the teens at night, with everything freezing. Then suddenly today it was much warmer, in the 60s.
I added some ACV and electrolyte/vitamin powder to both flocks' drinking water today to give them a boost.
Is the sneezing anything to worry about? Is there anything else I should be doing to help them?
Thanks in advance!
This one flock has four adult bantams and one young standard-sized cockerel. The cockerel is sneezing every few minutes, and one bantam hen sneezed twice. I didn't see any others sneeze. I wasn't able to catch them to listen to their breathing, but they all look perfectly fine. No runny eyes, feathers sleek, no visible nose drainage.
The only odd symptom is that some birds, especially the cockerel, have yellow, runny poop. They've had this for about two weeks, and I suspect that it might be from the chick starter food they're eating. I have a little left from when the cockerel was very young, and he doesn't need it anymore, but I've been giving it to everyone along with their layer feed just to get rid of it. I assume it's the extra protein making their poops odd, but I thought I should mention it in case they're related.
My other flock, a flock of two, is completely fine. No yellow poop (they're not getting chick feed), and no sneezing that I've seen.
Can the sneezing be weather-related? It's been in the 30s (Fahrenheit) during the day and in the teens at night, with everything freezing. Then suddenly today it was much warmer, in the 60s.
I added some ACV and electrolyte/vitamin powder to both flocks' drinking water today to give them a boost.
Is the sneezing anything to worry about? Is there anything else I should be doing to help them?
Thanks in advance!
