Runny Nose?

[farmwife46]

Hi All,

I've noticed for a few weeks now that my chickens are sneezing (not sure which ones in particular).

The other day I picked one up & ended up with a glob on liquid on my hand, akin to snot or egg whites. It was clear, but somewhat thick. It seemed to come from under her feathers.

Should I be concerned they have a respiratory illness, or is it more likely that it was something else (saliva? oil from the preening gland? you know what from one of the roo's? )

Any ideas welcome. I'm scratching my head over here. I was feeding them at the time.

Edited to add: all appear happy & healthy aside from the sneezing. No injuries. They free range during the day, but our yard is fenced in. We have 5 roosters & 9 hens, 6 months old.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi All,

I've noticed for a few weeks now that my chickens are sneezing (not sure which ones in particular).

The other day I picked one up & ended up with a glob on liquid on my hand, akin to snot or egg whites. It was clear, but somewhat thick. It seemed to come from under her feathers.

Should I be concerned they have a respiratory illness, or is it more likely that it was something else (saliva? oil from the preening gland? you know what from one of the roo's? )

Any ideas welcome. I'm scratching my head over here. I was feeding them at the time.

Edited to add: all appear happy & healthy aside from the sneezing. No injuries. They free range during the day, but our yard is fenced in. We have 5 roosters & 9 hens, 6 months old.

Welcome To BYC!

Can you please post some photos of the pullets and cockerels?
What's their poop like?
What do you feed?

Do you notice the sneezing mostly when they have been eating/drinking and/or dust bathing?
How often is the sneezing?
Any mucous coming from the nostrils?
When you picked up the bird and there was a discharge - which end did it come from? (beak or vent)

Have you inspected their vents to make sure there's not a discharge that would be attributed to yeast infection (vent gleet)?

Oil from the preening gland would come from the back (top) near where the tail starts. It's possible if you applied pressure to a cockerel's vent when picking him up that you got sperm on you.

 

[farmwife46]

Welcome To BYC!

Can you please post some photos of the pullets and cockerels?
What's their poop like?
What do you feed?

Do you notice the sneezing mostly when they have been eating/drinking and/or dust bathing?
How often is the sneezing?
Any mucous coming from the nostrils?
When you picked up the bird and there was a discharge - which end did it come from? (beak or vent)

Have you inspected their vents to make sure there's not a discharge that would be attributed to yeast infection (vent gleet)?

Oil from the preening gland would come from the back (top) near where the tail starts. It's possible if you applied pressure to a cockerel's vent when picking him up that you got sperm on you.

Thank you for your quick response & the welcome!

I am at work, but will grab some photos when I arrive home.
Their poop is normal. They eat layer feed & fresh fruits & veggies.

I usually notice the sneezing when I am closing the door at night (edited to add: this would be right after they finish eating & drinking, as they do that right before bed usually). Their nostrils appear to be dry. The discharge was on her body, closer to her vent than her beak, but above & to the right of her vent, where her side wings meet her tail feathers, approximately. (Sorry for the incorrect terminology!) I suppose it could have been rubbed onto her from one of the others... they had been mating & were all clustered together. I will examine all of their vents closely tonight.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Probably rubbed off from the others or one of the cockerels - that age, technique is not that good.
With that many cockerels I would make sure to watch so they are not ganging up on the pullets. Give them a little more time and you may have some fighting as well.
Do you plan on keeping all the cockerels? If you do - have you plans for where to put/house them if you need to do that quickly?
I understand things are likely going fairly smoothly at the moment, but drama/fighting can escalate very quickly. With laying breed cockerels, the fights may not be quite too bad, but they can still hurt one another and/or bully one enough where he hides and doesn't eat/drink very well.
Just some things to think about.

 

[farmwife46]

Probably rubbed off from the others or one of the cockerels - that age, technique is not that good.
With that many cockerels I would make sure to watch so they are not ganging up on the pullets. Give them a little more time and you may have some fighting as well.
Do you plan on keeping all the cockerels? If you do - have you plans for where to put/house them if you need to do that quickly?
I understand things are likely going fairly smoothly at the moment, but drama/fighting can escalate very quickly. With laying breed cockerels, the fights may not be quite too bad, but they can still hurt one another and/or bully one enough where he hides and doesn't eat/drink very well.
Just some things to think about.

Thank you; that was my husband's guess as well (that it was sperm) & does make sense that they don't have great technique at that age. I guess from a health standpoint that's better than my fears.

We have a home for one of the extras & are working on the others. Its clear which one is the dominant one & we will keep him. With the pandemic the normal swap in our hometown is cancelled.

Thank you for your time!