New hen sneezing-New to chickens, need advice.

[bewhatuc]

First of all what a great forum. Glad to have found passonite chicken owners.

Here is my story. I live in a new england town and a month and a half ago a RIR showed up in my yard. I didn't know much what to do with her she kept coming up to my screen porch door so I let her in...she perched on a church pew I have and we named her Phyllis after my red headed mother...and well we love her. I been feeding her layer pellets and she free ranges in my yard all day.

Ok the problem is this she is always sneezing. she has no discharge coming from her nostrils and she seems quite normal. But thats part of the problem I don't know what normal is for a chicken...Her poop is brown with white on top. Sometimes its watery but mostly not.

My mother thinks she has the avian flu..so of course I'm freaking out.

She was laying very nice eggs for about two weeks but that has stopped for about a week now but she is not eating the pellets as much...she seems to like to free range in the yard.

Is Phyllis doomed? Or am I over reacting?

**edited title for clarity**

 

[lurky]

Hi, Welcome to BYC. I dont have experience with illness yet (thank god) but someone will know more and reply. I wanted to welcome a fellow New Englander. I think no discharge is good......I hope it works out and its just pollen

Its been making me sneeze.

 

[bangor777]

We haven't had any avian flu in the US, and I think she'd be a mighty sick chick if that were the case anyway! Sneezing, especially without discharge, is completely normal in chickens. As far as not eating and not laying that is a different thing. Could she be laying somewhere else and you just haven't found where? Maybe she is getting enough food free ranging with all the bugs etc... out there and is just eating less food from the feeder. I hope someone else chimes in.

Good luck, she sounds like a sweetheart!!!!!! Love the name!!!!

 

[tiffanyh]

Phyllis most likely does not have avian flu, not impossible, but there are lots of upper respitory diseases that chickens get.....just watch her and make sure she looks healthy. I wouldnt get any other chickens until she clears up though.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Avian Influenza hasn't gotten to New England yet or I'd have the villagers at my door...

Sometimes they can get something caught in their noses and they'll sneeze to get it out...You haven't lived until a somewhat soggy layer pellet has been sneezed out and smacked you in the face...

Chickens have two types of poops:
The solid with the white cap
Liquid nasty gross smelling

You mostly have to worry if the poops are bright green, which means food isn't being digested or if it's yellow and foamy, which may indicate worms...
Purple=the wild blackberries in the yard
Orange=Chef Boyardee
Dk Green=your kid gave your birds ALL of the black licorice

As for the falloff of eggs, there's a few reasons for that:
She's moulting=losing feathers to make way for the new ones.
She's gearing up to going broody=wants to hatch out her eggs.
She's laying them and something's eating them. Crows, snakes, skunks and possums are the usual culprits there.

In my opinion, Phyllis is acting like a normal chicken...so don't start having her pushing up daisies quite yet.

My birds eat less in the summer when there's tent caterpillars, dingleberries, whirligigs and flowers from the maple trees, hosta leaves and all sorts of other things to eat in the yard.


And