Hens with cold?!

[jak2002003]

Can chickens get a cold - similar to humans?

A few days ago one of my hens was making a strange coughing, crackly sneezing sound. Now 3 days later nearly all of my 20 chickens are doing the same, and more frequently. Its very loud.

Only one seems really ill. She is having trouble breathing and is gasping for air and making the noise every few minutes. She is standing on her own.

All the others seem normal, expect the the coughing. It sounds like they have a bad chest - like when we get a cold.

I checked them all closely and none have any runny nose or discharge. All the poop is normal and they are eating good - except the worst one. None are fluffed up. They don't have laboured breathing. Eyes are clear and they are still active.

They have stopped laying eggs though and the roosters are having trouble crowing!

I am really worried about them. They have had a lot of bad luck these last few weeks. They had scaly legs - then they got fowl pox, Now this!!!

I am sure I am not doing anything wrong. They free range all day, have draft proof coop with ventilation, they are kept dry and not dusty. They always have clean water and fresh food, with vegetables and mealworms several times a week. Grit, oyster shell and I regularly worm and de mite them as a preventative.

Please can anyone help?

 

[dawg53]

Chickens do not get colds. You are dealing with either something environmental, fungal, or a respiratory disease.

 

[Reurra]

Ive read that chickens dont get colds. However, it would be good to look over some of the things it could be. Check the symptoms carefully.

http://www.welphatchery.com/poultry_health.asp

Hers a link that you can go over. I would go and get some antibiotics and some vitamins right away. If thier chest sounds that bad, I would get them under treatment asap.

 

[speckledhen]

You must remember that if they have caught a virus, antibiotics WILL NOT fix that. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections only, though they do not prevent the birds from remaining carriers, which is why most knowledgeable chicken keepers choose to cull the affected birds.

It does sound like something contagious if they all have come down with the same symptoms, but what it is exactly, we cannot reliably diagnose on the web.

 

[jak2002003]

Thank you Reurra for your link.

After consulting the chart I have came to the conclusion that my chickens have infections bronchitis.

The other possibility is laryngotrachetis (I hope its not this one).

As both of these are caused by a virus I will not be using antibiotics.

I think my chickens are kept very well and stress free with optimal diet, so I am hoping they will be strong enough to get over this. When they went to roost tonight I checked them and they all have full crops apart form one (would have to be by fav hen). She is not interested in food or treats now.

Have to just let this one run its course. I hope that they will be OK. They are pets to me rather than farm animals.

After having problems with the fowl pox and worms etc, this is getting to be more of a chore than a pleasure keeping my birds. If they do start to die I will not get any more!

 

[thyme4jb]

If chickens do have symptoms of infectious bronchitis, and since this is an airborne disease, even if you move them to another pen, don't the other "healthy" birds need to keep a minimal distance?

 

[thyme4jb]

I just read in another article that chickens that get IB, even when they get well, remain carriers. Yikes! Can anyone else confirm this?

 

[dawg53]

Thank you Reurra for your link.

After consulting the chart I have came to the conclusion that my chickens have infections bronchitis.

The other possibility is laryngotrachetis (I hope its not this one).

As both of these are caused by a virus I will not be using antibiotics.

I think my chickens are kept very well and stress free with optimal diet, so I am hoping they will be strong enough to get over this. When they went to roost tonight I checked them and they all have full crops apart form one (would have to be by fav hen). She is not interested in food or treats now.

Have to just let this one run its course. I hope that they will be OK. They are pets to me rather than farm animals.

After having problems with the fowl pox and worms etc, this is getting to be more of a chore than a pleasure keeping my birds. If they do start to die I will not get any more!

I doubt seriously if you're dealing with Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT.) You'd see blood exudates slung all over the place.
Most likely it could be Infectious Bronchitis (IB,) Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG,) or Infectious Coryza.
With IB, the telltale sign is usually wrinkled eggs and watery whites when the egg is cracked open. With coryza, there's a foul odor about the head area. With MG there's usualy no foul odor, but mimics the symptoms of coryza.

 

[dawg53]

I just read in another article that chickens that get IB, even when they get well, remain carriers. Yikes! Can anyone else confirm this?

Here you go, scroll down to IB.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
Another link:
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/ib.htm

 

[jak2002003]

Thanks dawg53 for you information. They have no foul odor to be noticed. Also there is no sign of blood or any sort of body slime around the place, or on the chickens faces. All are sick now with whatever it is. I don't care if they remain carriers of the disease as I won't be adding any new chickens and at least they will be immune to it in the future.

All on the hens have stopped laying now. I got only 1 egg today (usually 6 to 8). The egg was normal, but I think it was from one of the least affected birds.

I think they must have got this disease form wild birds in the garden. We get many doves and sometimes even the village chickens fly over the fence.

Its so sad to see them. They seem really fed up, like if we get a bad cold. Most seem to be doing OK, and can still breath normally and are eating. But 2 are quite sick. One stopped eating and just sits in a corner. Another one stands in the middle of the run gasping for breath and letting out loud coughing sneezing sounds. All their breathing sounds crackly or rattly, but not all the time.

As I said before, my favourite hen is one of the most sick. She is the only one to have stopped eating. I would be heart broken if she died. Reading about this disease I hope they will recover in about 10 days. Poor things.