Occasional Runny Nose

[jacivilla]

Hi everyone!

I noticed the other day when I was outside that one of our chickens (all a little over a year) was eating and when her head was bent over a huge string of what I assume is snot fell out of her nose. I asked my husband if he’s noticed it before and he said all 3 of them do it every once and a while and assumed it’s normal.

It doesn’t sound normal to me and everything I find online is related to consistent runny nose which they don’t have.

Does anyone know if this could be a respiratory infection or could be normal?

Thank you in advance!

 

[azygous]

This has a lot of good info on managing respiratory infections in chickens. https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/respiratory-disease-chickens/

Here's a money quote:

"As the seasons change, the most common respiratory diseases observed by flock owners are non-specific respiratory infections. The typical snicks, sneezes and coughs will be heard but birds will often continue to eat and drink. Chickens are far less likely to look puffed up and sick as they would with other infections. Diagnostics are often not necessary as infections tend to be self-limiting and resolve within 7-10 days. Treatment with tetracycline antibiotics may reduce duration of symptoms by half. Ensuring optimum environmental conditions is most important during this time."

 

[Eggcessive]

Observe your chickens for awhile, and see if the fluid is just coming out of their beaks as they are drinking. When they are on the roost at night you can grab them and look for any nasal drainage or dirt around the nostrils, eye drainage, bubbles, or crusty drainage around eyes, swelling around an eye or in the face, wheezing, sneezing, or crackles. Hopefully, it is nothing serious.