chicks have had a "cold" for 3 wks — help

[poonam]

Hi folks —

I have 2 chicks (almost 2.5 months old) who have been sneezing for about 3 weeks now and having some clear discharge coming out of their noses. They seem ok overall - they have a good appetite, and are happy to run around the garden doing their usual thing. They do puff up on occasion and take more naps than the older chickens, which may just be normal after all that running around.

The only symptoms i see are:
sneezing
nasal discharge (clear, though slightly smelly)
rare but has happened - bubbles collecting on the corner of their eye
reddish coloring showing up around their eyes, though i don't see any swelling

Not showing any signs of depression as of now. I have been quarantining them in a large box inside my home where it's warm, and they are pretty stressed about the situation, so I'm not sure if i'm making it worse.

Don't want to give them antibiotics without knowing for sure what exactly the diagnosis is. so I have been trying to give them a few drops of strong garlic water in their mouth everyday, putting vitamin rich herbs in their water, making sure they get exercise and get to forage in the garden for bugs/protein.

anyone have any ideas on how to attain an accurate-ish diagnosis, or what kind of action i should take right now?

poonam

 

[carolinagirl58]

Chickens do not get colds, they do get viruses though. Sometimes they recover from the virus but can still be carriers. It's a good think you have these chicks in quarantine. As you know viruses cannot be treated with antibiotics. I had the exact same thing happen to a new batch of chicks I had. I euthanized them to prevent them from infecting my other birds. You only have two birds....I would not think twice about just cleaning up everything good with bleach and start over. Sorry.