Heavy breathing when resting

PaintedDreams

In the Brooder
9 Years
May 9, 2010
38
1
32
Southern TN
My daughter brought home 2 chicks from school last week. I have no idea how old they are, but they were completely covered in down. They are now developing wing and tail feathers. I notice when they are laying under the heat lamp that they seem to be breathing kind of hard. They don't seem distressed and are still eating and drinking, but I have heard them both sneeze as well. I thought they might be too warm from the heat lamp so I moved it up and changed its focal point. but they moved to where I had it pointing. I figured they would move away from it if they are too hot, right? I can't really find any info on chicken sneezing. If there is something I should know, please help.
 
That doesn't sound unusual, chickens have a high respiratory rate so I think the fact that they are breathing fast makes it seem more obvious.
And mine sneeze, too. I was worried about it at first but after reading posts here it seems normal. They create so much dust, a ridiculous amount!, and that can make them sneeze. I don't think I heard mine do it once I move them to a wire cage in the garage. I've had my new batch of chicks for about 2 weeks and they are starting to sneeze sometimes now, too.
I'm pretty new to this, far far from an expert, so hopefully others will chime in soon.
If you put "sneezing" in the search you'll get quite a few links, probably the same with the breathing.
 
Ok thank you. I am a vet tech so I tend to worry about a lot of little things. We don't treat many chickens at work, so I am having to learn as I go.
 
If they are panting rather hard , they might be getting a little warm. As long as they can get up and move to another cooler spot, they should be fine.
 

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