Chickens Sneezing Due To Diatomaceous Earth?

[Coinkdink]

Hi

I was cleaning out my coop a few weeks ago and noticed small black specks moving around in 1 of the corners. I took all the existing bedding out, washed the Coop and decided to add quite a A LOT of DE Power all over the inside just in case especially in the corners and in the fresh bedding. I also dusted my 2 Chickens all over with DE just as a precaution even though I couldn't find any Lice/Mites on them.

Thing is the inside of the Coop got quite dusty, I did realise but thought it would be ok as DE is not necessarily harmful. However a day ago I noticed my Chickens were sneezing whilst they were inside the coop and sometimes outside but especially when going to bed for the night. I also noticed their breathing was ''Growly'' and ''Course'' sounding perhaps even slightly laboured in a way. They have been acting perfectly normal though, still eating, drinking and walking around in the yard being active.

I've cleaned the Coop out again so there is no DE in it at the moment but their breathing is still heavy. Should I give them something? Or maybe just wait and see if the breathing returns to normal??

 

[paneubert]

It would not be honest of me to say that I KNOW it is the DE and not some other unrelated respiratory infection, but.......I think it was probably the DE. It does pose a large risk if inhaled since it is literally microscopically sharp diatom skeletons. Think of it like you dusted your chickens with asbestos. That is an extreme comparison, but actually not that far off....

 

[paneubert]

I would observe them for a few days to see if they go back to normal now that you removed the extra DE from the coop.

 

[Bronx farm girl]

I use the deep litter method and one a year I clean it out and put DE in and they are fine. it should be fine

 

[Coinkdink]

It would not be honest of me to say that I KNOW it is the DE and not some other unrelated respiratory infection, but.......I think it was probably the DE. It does pose a large risk if inhaled since it is literally microscopically sharp diatom skeletons. Think of it like you dusted your chickens with asbestos. That is an extreme comparison, but actually not that far off....

Yeah that sounds pretty bad...
They were perfectly normal and healthy until i decided to cover the inside of their Coop with DE so it must be that???

I'll wait a few days and see if there is any improvement.. I did clean outside of their nostrils too to see if that helped but maybe i should wash the inside of the noses if that's even ok to do???