Hens Sneezing, Not Laying

[mydakota]

I posted about this a couple of days ago, but it should have been on this board and not the behaviors one, so I am going to try again. I have noticed a sharp dropoff in egg production this past week. The last 3 days have only produced ONE egg. I have 7 hens (5 established layers and 2 who have not layed their first egg yet). Prior to that, I had been getting between 3 and 5 eggs a day most days. A couple of weeks ago, one of my Austrolorps went broody. At this time, I noticed a strange new vocalization I had not heard before. I now believe that she was/is sneezing. At first though, I thought it was related to her going broody. Two days ago, I removed her to a separate pen with no nesting material to break her up. The same day I moved her, I noticed 2 of my other hens "sneezing". I also got only one egg the day I moved her and have gotten nothing since. Today, a 4th hen started sneezing. I have obviously decided that I have some kind of illness moving through my flock. I started treating their water today with an antibacterial medicine. They have no other symptoms other than the sneezing and the lack of egg production. However, while walking around my property the last few days, I have discovered a couple of dead wild birds on the ground. They do not appear to be broken up in any way. I don't think my cat killed them. I find this alarming. They just appear to have dropped dead. My hens seem energetic, have good appetites, and do not have runny eyes/noses. They just sneeze. And do NOT lay eggs. I am new to chickens. Just got them in May. Their diet consists of layer pellets, hen scratch, oyster shell, and some table scraps. They are allowed to free range on a limited basis in the late afternoons. Fresh water is always available as well.

Tomorrow I plan to turn them out and thoroughly clean and disinfect the henhouse and the shade house in the run. Do you have any ideas for me? Can they get better? Will they lay again? What should I be providing for them to help them through?

 

[mydakota]

Nobody here either?

 

[Highlander]

Sneezing could be the symptom of one of many respiratory illnesses, but with the sharp decline in egg production my guess would be Infectious Bronchitis. They should recover but they will always be carriers of the disease.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/78/infectious-bronchitis-ib

 

[mydakota]

Thank you. I appreciate the reply.

 

[Steve and Penny]

We've got 1 sneezing chook who's stopped laying, our other seems fine, still laying and no sneezing, there are no dead birds laying around that we've found, any other ideas or does it still sound like bronchitis to you?