I think my Orpington is sneezing

[ella2025]

Here is a photo of my buff Orpington chicken. She is 12 weeks old. Lately I've heard and seen her sneezing. At first it was maybe once every 2-5 minutes, but then today I saw her sneezing like 5 times in one minute.

Physically she looks ok, very healthy feathers, comb, etc, and her diet is very healthy. No hunching, lethargic looking, and her poop seems fine except that its a little watery because of heat stress.

These past 3 days have been extremely hot and humid, with the sun beating down on them all day. In their coop it is nice and shady, but since I only have 2 windows ventilation wise, it gets very very very hot in there. They stay in the run, where it's a little cooler but still very hot, throughout the day, and most of the time they just chill in the shady part of the run. I've been giving them ice water several times a day to cool them off, and this smoothie type thing that I made with ice, kale and strawberries.


All my chickens really like the smoothie, but I feel like right after Buff Orpington ate it, her sneezing seemed to get worse. The sneezes before I've heard are like very sudden, loud-ish short clicks, like "PUCK!" But now just today, when her sneezing became more severe after the smoothie, it sounded more like a spray bottle spraying water when you press on it.

I've seen videos of chickens sneezing and this doesn't sound like those. She doesn't make a cute "Choo!" Sound. Her nose is completely dry, not runny. Eyes are fine, also not runny when she sneezes. Just dry sneezes that sound wet or weird.

I aparently can't put videos on this thread, so I don't know exactly how to describe it to you guys but anyway, what do you guys think?

 

[ella2025]

I do have a video, and I just cannot upload it for some reason. Is it possible to put a video on this site?

 

[Bawkbok]

It looks like you have a dirt run? She could be sneezing from dust or dry dirt. What medium do you use in the coop? Pine shavings, etc. Is the coop dusty / dirty?

If her eyes are clear and no discharge from her nose, no coughing or raspy breathing, I would just monitor for now. Eating, drinking and pooping normally?

You may want to consider putting a fan on them in the run at least and maybe one in the coop as well. If they are not used to the heat, it might be helpful to provide additional air movement and shade of course is very important. Tarps, canopies for the run, a table, stool or similar object for the run, whatever you have that they can lay under.

Watermelon is a good source of hydration for extreme heat. We pretty much have watermelon in the run from mid-day until coop time every day now.

 

[ella2025]

We give them tons of watermelon every day! They love it. I feel like it does help with the heat. Massachusetts weather is so weird. One day it's 100 degrees and sunny and the next day it's 60 degrees and pouring. it's very annoying.

Their run was just finished less than a week ago, and there used to be a good amount of grass in there. Now they've destroyed all the grass so it looks like just dirt .

In the coop i use pine shavings. To be honest i feel like the pine shavings are quite dusty but until we get a big truckload of coarse sand next week that's all we have. There's also straw in the coop and it is also a little dusty. However they only spend time outside during the day since the coop gets too hot.

About the fan thing I really do want to put a fan in the coop, but the coop and run are about 100-200 ft away from the house and there's no way to get electricity so far away. I'll try to figure something out. Also is this kind of fan good? like the type we use for humans in the house? Would putting a fan stir up all the dust on the ground, too?

 

[nuthatched]

I've been giving them ice water several times a day to cool them off, and this smoothie type thing that I made with ice, kale and strawberries.

We give them tons of watermelon every day!

Reduce the watermelon to twice a week, at most, the fiber and water will give them diarrhea and dehydration.
Also don't give them icey/frozen things very often, it doesn't cool them down.
Just don't overdo it.
You can upload a video to YouTube or a similar site and link back.

 

[ella2025]

Reduce the watermelon to twice a week, at most, the fiber and water will give them diarrhea and dehydration.
Also don't give them icey/frozen things very often, it doesn't cool them down.
Just don't overdo it.
You can upload a video to YouTube or a similar site and link back.

Yep we give them the peels after we eat, when there's a little bit of red on it. They will peck at it for 1-2 days until there's no more red left and leave it. I collect it so that it doesn't get moldy or anything. As for the ice, i mainly put it in there for them to step on to cool down, but they do like to drink it too. I made sure to only do this on extremely hot days like yesterday and monday where they were panting really hard.

Also, she seemed to have stopped sneezing. Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

All my chickens really like the smoothie, but I feel like right after Buff Orpington ate it, her sneezing seemed to get worse. The sneezes before I've heard are like very sudden, loud-ish short clicks, like "PUCK!" But now just today, when her sneezing became more severe after the smoothie, it sounded more like a spray bottle spraying water when you press on it.

We give them tons of watermelon every day! They love it. I feel like it does help with the heat. Massachusetts weather is so weird. One day it's 100 degrees and sunny and the next day it's 60 degrees and pouring. it's very annoying.

Their run was just finished less than a week ago, and there used to be a good amount of grass in there. Now they've destroyed all the grass so it looks like just dirt .

In the coop i use pine shavings. To be honest i feel like the pine shavings are quite dusty but until we get a big truckload of coarse sand next week that's all we have. There's also straw in the coop and it is also a little dusty. However they only spend time outside during the day since the coop gets too hot.

About the fan thing I really do want to put a fan in the coop, but the coop and run are about 100-200 ft away from the house and there's no way to get electricity so far away. I'll try to figure something out. Also is this kind of fan good? like the type we use for humans in the house? Would putting a fan stir up all the dust on the ground, too?

You can find battery operated or solar fans at places like Amazon, put at least one in your coop window blowing out, pulling the hot air out.

For your run, if there's only one shady area, put up or hang shades cloth(s) to help filter the direct sunlight.
If you have photos of your coop/run you wish to share, we may be able to offer more suggestions.

Your BO is sneezing after consuming the smoothy - or you point to that in your post. You notice the sneezing mainly during this time.
It sounds like she's getting the smoothy in her nostrils or she's consuming it quickly which can cause some sneezing or choking/cough type of sound.

How are you giving the smoothy - are they all running about trying to get as much as they can? She's likely gobbling as much as she can as quickly as she can.
It may be better to take out a few small pieces of watermelon with the rind still on it and let them pick at it. Spread the pieces out a bit so they aren't jockeying for position and don't feel like they have to do battle for a treat.

 

[ella2025]

You can find battery operated or solar fans at places like Amazon, put at least one in your coop window blowing out, pulling the hot air out.

For your run, if there's only one shady area, put up or hang shades cloth(s) to help filter the direct sunlight.
If you have photos of your coop/run you wish to share, we may be able to offer more suggestions.

Your BO is sneezing after consuming the smoothy - or you point to that in your post. You notice the sneezing mainly during this time.
It sounds like she's getting the smoothy in her nostrils or she's consuming it quickly which can cause some sneezing or choking/cough type of sound.

How are you giving the smoothy - are they all running about trying to get as much as they can? She's likely gobbling as much as she can as quickly as she can.
It may be better to take out a few small pieces of watermelon with the rind still on it and let them pick at it. Spread the pieces out a bit so they aren't jockeying for position and don't feel like they have to do battle for a treat.

Thanks for your input! @Wyorp Rock

I'll check those out!

My run is 8 foot tall and 10 x 10 ft, very stable and well built. We are planning to expand it to a 10x20 sometime this or next week as we already built the 2 extra frames we need to do so. Also there is currently no cover to it, just open to the sky, because we have yet to come up with a good idea for a top. I may need you guys to help me a little. We COULD put 2 frames, like the walls of the coops, but bigger (2 10x10s) that will be the best option IF we can get it up there. The problem with getting it up is that the frames, even the 8x10 ones we use for the walls of the run, are SUPER MEGA HEAVY!!! It would take like 4 people if we want to lift it all the way up the 8 foot run, and we only have 1 ladder to do so. Another option is to put a strong netting. I don't know which netting to use and i feel like a raccoon will just rip it apart even if it's very stable. But would raccoons even do that since they're usually coming out and attacking at night and the birds are in the coop, not the run? I hope hawks during the day won't take the trouble to swoop down, land on the run, rip the netting off, and then dive in? Any votes on which is better? stable strong netting suggestions? Ok i'm getting off topic. Let's move on lol.

In this area where I live it's super duper windy, even on extremely hot burning days, so a tarp that we put is very likely to be blown away unless we fasten it with screws maybe. I'll try to figure out something inside the run to put.

I'm actually not completely sure if the smoothie is the thing that caused the sneezing, since i've heard her do it before. Since i'm not constantly at the chicken coop, there's no way i can know if she was doing the excessive sneezing before that.

The smoothie is something i've never given them before. And as for any new foods they kind of gingerly peck at it but realize they like it and eat more. They definitely didn't run everywhere and fight for it. I gave it in a 9 by 9 aluminum foil tray. There's at most 5 chickens eating it, not wolfing it down, but slowly pecking at it. As for BO, i think she only took a few sips.

They also don't battle for the watermelon. When i lay them down on the ground they'll slowly peck at it a little until the red part is gone and eat a little bit of the white part, then just leave it.
The only treat i find that they always come over and battle for and finish within 5 seconds is black soldier fly larvae. I give them small handfuls 1-2 times a day to train them to come when called. I've been doing it since they were maybe 4-5 weeks old, kinda late, but it's working fantastically.