New silkies sneezing.

[Drewsarg]

We just recently (last sunday) purchased two silkie hens to add to our flock 4 to 5 months old. I have them separated from the others in what was supposed to be a temporary house, that turned into a more extravagant house then it was supposed to be. lol. My problem is that the two new silkies are what i think is sneezing, but not sure if that's what you would call it. (it is not very loud) My dad picked them up for us as he was going by the place that was selling them. I tried to take a video of what they sound like and will try to post it here, if i can figure out how. They do not have runny noses and their eyes are normal. Other then being a little nervous of their new environment they seem to be okay. They are eating and drinking. Were not sure if we should just wait and see or if we should be proactive and try something. We haven't had to deal with much problems with our flock as of yet. Thanks for some advice. sneeze is at 3 sec. i can't get the video on here. i tried uploading to my face book but it said it could not embed media url.
Drew

 

[Drewsarg]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155554089165218

 

[speckledhen]

Well, hard to say. Sneezing may be just a reaction to change of bedding/environment. But, I'm very pleased that you have them quarantined away from your flock! Keep them separate for at least 6 weeks, observe any symptoms and DO NOT give antibiotics to them. You WANT symptoms to show if there is something wrong, not mask them. Give them polyvisol liquid vitamins in their water or a couple drops in the beaks daily (without iron), give them extra protein with minced garlic for immune booster while they live there.

If they continue sneezing and develop discharge from eyes or nares, do not put them in the flock after quarantine. Better to lose a couple of birds than your whole flock. This is what quarantine is for, to keep disease out of your flock.

What you can do is worm them and dust them for mites/lice with permethrin poultry dust, but no meds. If they have MG or other respiratory illness that is contagious, they will remain carriers even when symptoms are gone. In other words, most chicken diseases that are respiratory in nature other than maybe an isolated type of bacterial sinusitis or pneumonia, are permanent. Sneezing alone can be caused by a number of things, even new caulk or plywood off-gassing in their area.

 

[Drewsarg]

i picked up some vitamin additive for their water and will monitor them for a while i guess. So far i haven't noticed a change from just what you see in the video. I will also look into the worm stuff too. thanks for the advice!

 

[Drewsarg]

so it has been another few weeks, and there have been no changes whatsoever in their condition. they are still sneezing, eating and drinking fine. We have noticed their poo is watery, so i'm thinking they may have worms, I didn't notice it before, but i don't see worms in their poo. I'm not too sure what to do with these chickens. If they do have worms do i need to test at the vet for the proper treatment? or is there a generic worm tratment to get? Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

They could have infectious bronchitis, if all you have been seeing is sneezing, and no eye drainage. It usually lasts about a month and is a virus. Do they sneeze pretty often? Valbazen is a good wormer, and dosage is 1/4 ml for silkies, then repeat it in 10 days. It gets most types of chicken worms.

 

[Drewsarg]

hi there, it has been another couple weeks and still sneezing often. they are starting to lay eggs. i had one good one on saturday and a soft shell egg on sunday. I am starting to get a little worried about what to do with them . colder temps are on the horizon and i doubt they will survive in their small coop. poops are normal, eating and drinking is normal and they are getting bigger. I changed their bedding today from shavings to sand like i use in my main coop. just trying to see if that helps. Any other suggestions? Or should i just start thinking about getting rid of them. I really don't want to, but i dont want to get my others sick as well. Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there any way to enlarge the coop they are in and maybe insulate it for winter? Or place their coop in the garage or in a basement. Did you ever seen any other symptoms than sneezing? Other symptoms of bubbles in eyes, thick nasal drainage, or swollen eyes would be symptoms of a different disease, such as MG. Infectious bronchitis only makes them carriers for 5 month to a year after symptoms stop. Vaccines are available for other birds until these birds are no longer carriers. Here is some reading:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/78/infectious-bronchitis-ib/
http://www.poultryhub.org/health/disease/types-of-disease/infectious-bronchitis/

 

[Drewsarg]

No i don't have another spot to put them. I have not had any other symptoms at all. eyes and nares have always been good. it is going down to minus 20 celcius tonight from plus 5. I will see about insulating a bit to lessen the cold.