Serama Indoor Pet - Managing Smell?

[Chickassan]

Oh my goodness what a lovely couple! They're perfect for each other, you did very well for your little bean boy.

My friend said a sneeze isn't necessary a guarantee of anything, I will continue to monitor the situation. Both birds came from the same guy, they're not sharing the same food or water as the other birds so it's a form of quarantine. Not as ideal as a separate room but we'll see how it goes.

Here are the happy couple. Penny and George. I added a plastic bin with a small square hole opening. It is filled with pine shavings. They both seem to enjoy it thoroughly. Lots of pecking, scratching and sitting. They've only had it a few hours but I think they appreciate it sincerely.

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[EggSighted4Life]

Oh my goodness what a lovely couple! They're perfect for each other, you did very well for your little bean boy.

Yes!

I wonder... have we heard their names yet?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Hello!

I have 2 house chickens, a serama and a sebright. They do not produce an excessively bad odor. How much time is he in the cage and out of it? What is he eating?

My set up consists of a bird cage with no mesh/wire floor and puppy pads on the bottom. My birds spend very little time in it, usually they run around with diapers on but when I am not going to be home for a long time or overnight they go in there. Do you use diapers on him?

Switch to the puppy pads and clean the cage every single day. Scrap the mesh. It may have poo sticking to it and keeping smells.

You could also put in a cage tray and try pine shavings. You may have luck with those.

Easiest sure fire way to manage the smell. Deep litter method, so unless you are willing to do that in a spare bedroom do the poor chicken a favor and build a coop outside and get some more, they are flock creatures they need other chickens.

Gary

 

[chuckachucka]

My chickens all sneeze from time to time and sometimes a little clear liquid sprays out, but they are all otherwise healthy. As far as I can tell it is nothing to worry about. If the liquid isn't clear (I.e. Yellow/green/red tinged) then I would be worried, or if the bird sneezes repeatedly, and over the course of a day or more.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

My chickens all sneeze from time to time and sometimes a little clear liquid sprays out, but they are all otherwise healthy. As far as I can tell it is nothing to worry about. If the liquid isn't clear (I.e. Yellow/green/red tinged) then I would be worried, or if the bird sneezes repeatedly, and over the course of a day or more.

I kind of agree with you.. if we are talking about humans.

But many will have MC and never know it if they haven't had testing done for it. Maybe you DO!!

I've seen a sneeze with a few water like droplets, but never a snot bomb... it seems indicative of something. Here to learn, but 8 years and more than 100 birds... well, I guess there are probably a LOT of things I haven't seen yet...

I don't care, I would still support with vitamins and probiotics since moving can be stress and might be when something tries to take advantage. But that's me, and YES I'm a MAJOR over thinker and as such will go through ALL the possibilities in my mind... over and over again. Not at all trying to be fear monger... but I've seen WAY too many things to think "it" can't happen to me or you.

Just recently someone contacted me for chicks to ask if I had been tested because she had to depopulate her flock for MC/MG. Even though I expressed having not added birds to my flock in a year and not seeing any signs of illness or weakness among my birds... she said to give her a call if I do get tested. Now I don't know anything about it whether it's still at her land or if depopulation corrected the issue for the future. But I do understand the reality of birds having something and being carriers whether we know it or not.

I see people end up with ill birds all the time that "came from a healthy flock".

Oh... and you WOULDN'T know a chicken was suffering from something right from the start. As prey animals, they will hide anything they can for just as long as possible otherwise they become easy prey and even their own flock might peck them to death and even cannibalize them!

Again, not fear mongering! We all have thought that are shaped according to our experiences and I'm just sharing my concern of possibilities according to MY experiences.

Of course I hope it's nothing!

 

[KentuckyRooster]

My friend said a sneeze isn't necessary a guarantee of anything, I will continue to monitor the situation. Both birds came from the same guy, they're not sharing the same food or water as the other birds so it's a form of quarantine. Not as ideal as a separate room but we'll see how it goes.

Here are the happy couple. Penny and George. I added a plastic bin with a small square hole opening. It is filled with pine shavings. They both seem to enjoy it thoroughly. Lots of pecking, scratching and sitting. They've only had it a few hours but I think they appreciate it sincerely.

View attachment 1212896 View attachment 1212897 View attachment 1212898 View attachment 1212899

Oh she is so cute, what a precious little muffin.

 

[Szulptist]

He is sooooo cute! You're so lucky I would love an indoor chicken

Thanks! I'm sure someday you can have an indoor chicken of your own.

Forgot to mention, you may want to look into Horizontal Water Nipples. I love them and no more messy bedding nor dirty water.

Good point, I've heard of them but more research will have to be done. So far they've been pretty good about keeping things orderly. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way.

Your setup is lovely

Thanks!

On my word!!!! CUUUUUTE!

Thanks!

Yes, a sneeze is not a guarantee of anything...

However, chickens don't sneeze for just no reason. I have seen an occasional sneeze during dirt bathing. But I have NEVER seen a sneeze accompanied by snot. And I suspect that DOES mean something. Possibilities are Mycoplasma, New Castle's, Infectious bronchitis, or respiratory tract infection. There are others too. Of course at this point keeping an eye might be the only thing you CAN do. Unless a fecal (I think called gram stain) would identify any of those and make it so you could treat early.

They are lovely together!

Interesting that his eye color doesn't look the same. Your tub idea is great! It should contain the mess pretty good and they do seem to really enjoy it. It even creates some privacy and that is probably where she will lay.

That's the same kind of kennel I use for my night time broody breaker. But before I started using an open bottom pen during daytime, I had some girls who spend 10+ days in there. And I really felt bad. They are quite a bit heavier. I might consider looking into a larger diameter wire bottom to replace the hardware cloth with, like you have done.

Thanks for sharing pics and your adventure!

You're definitely 100% fear mongering. *Guy coughs* "You should get that checked, could be AIDS or Lung Cancer." I appreciate your concern but you've definitely made me very worried about both my birds. I'm familiar with what Newcastles does in pigeons (we call it PMV) and it's not curable, barely treatable and nearly always fatal. So if either of them does have PMV I'm basically screwed for both their lives as I do not have the PMV vaccine for chickens. The vast majority of my pigeons are vaccinated for PMV and I intend to get the rest of them inoculated by the end of the week. I've become quite fond of these birds and I'd rather not see them dead before the month is over. Both birds have cost me an arm and a leg, I don't intend to bring them to a veterinarian who likely knows less about them than I do and spend a few hundred dollars on something I can buy over the counter for a fraction of the price.

Oh my goodness what a lovely couple! They're perfect for each other, you did very well for your little bean boy.

Haha, Thank you

Yes!

I wonder... have we heard their names yet?

George and Penny (Penelope).

My chickens all sneeze from time to time and sometimes a little clear liquid sprays out, but they are all otherwise healthy. As far as I can tell it is nothing to worry about. If the liquid isn't clear (I.e. Yellow/green/red tinged) then I would be worried, or if the bird sneezes repeatedly, and over the course of a day or more.

That's what my friend said and I wasn't too worried until today when I caught her sneeze a few times and she had a clear snot bubble.

I kind of agree with you.. if we are talking about humans.

But many will have MC and never know it if they haven't had testing done for it. Maybe you DO!!

I've seen a sneeze with a few water like droplets, but never a snot bomb... it seems indicative of something. Here to learn, but 8 years and more than 100 birds... well, I guess there are probably a LOT of things I haven't seen yet...

I don't care, I would still support with vitamins and probiotics since moving can be stress and might be when something tries to take advantage. But that's me, and YES I'm a MAJOR over thinker and as such will go through ALL the possibilities in my mind... over and over again. Not at all trying to be fear monger... but I've seen WAY too many things to think "it" can't happen to me or you.

Just recently someone contacted me for chicks to ask if I had been tested because she had to depopulate her flock for MC/MG. Even though I expressed having not added birds to my flock in a year and not seeing any signs of illness or weakness among my birds... she said to give her a call if I do get tested. Now I don't know anything about it whether it's still at her land or if depopulation corrected the issue for the future. But I do understand the reality of birds having something and being carriers whether we know it or not.

I see people end up with ill birds all the time that "came from a healthy flock".

Oh... and you WOULDN'T know a chicken was suffering from something right from the start. As prey animals, they will hide anything they can for just as long as possible otherwise they become easy prey and even their own flock might peck them to death and even cannibalize them!

Again, not fear mongering! We all have thought that are shaped according to our experiences and I'm just sharing my concern of possibilities according to MY experiences.

Of course I hope it's nothing!

Thanks, and I am not familiar with MC/MG. I will be making a thread directly after this post in the emergency section. I understand you mean well but as I've said in a previous reply on this post, you're jumping to the worst possible conclusions. I have extremely severe OCD and hypochondria and I am not a chicken expert so I have no real means of knowing how concerned I should actually be. I would imagine as you or someone else said, transporting a bird (he was flown in from Puerto Rico a few days ago) and switching homes can give the edge on an ailment to get a foothold on a birds immune system. I've treated sick pigeons for years but I don't know if the same medications can be used. That is something I'll be asking in the other section.

Oh she is so cute, what a precious little muffin.

Thank you!

Here is the thread I posted in the emergency section:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/possibly-sick-serama-clear-snot-bubbles.1212576/

Eric

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I appreciate your concern but you've definitely made me very worried about both my birds.

I'm sorry, I definitely wouldn't try to make you worry for NO reason. And I can assure you many of us folk here do suffer from OCD very badly. I am fortunate not to have hypochondria. But if for some reason it brings things on your radar early and you get things taken care of, then maybe it was worth it. Really though, sorry to make you worry... and I hope you know that I would rather a friend know the truth than be kept in the dark in ignorance. Though I will admit knowing too much can be a serious issue when it comes to your(my) brain spinning. However it also helps to know when there is nothing to worry about!

Wow, I didn't know George came from so far! I know Puerto Rico is a US territory, but even inside the continental US, you need a health certificate in order to move your birds across state lines (legally). Usually animals being "imported" would also need the certificate of health or even sometimes go through quarantine at customs. I wonder if any of that took place for him?

My TRUE intent is to support you and help you get off to the best start possible. I hope despite the fear and worry that I did cause, that you realize there is absolutely no ill will or intent on my part.

Also I agree very much about about vets often not knowing anything more than we do regarding birds. Even if they did many of us couldn't take every animal in, if we can afford to take in any. Many of us work to be our own vets, which has been mostly effective for me. The one thing I do is take fecal samples if needed for around $15 before treating for something like worms. I actually bought my own microscope and supplies, but haven't gotten the umph to move forward yet. That's one of those things that the OCD does is slow me way down on things I'm not yet familiar with.

You seem like you have a really good head on your shoulders though. You've got this! And your first (maybe second after protein) lesson in chickens is just how important a TRUE quarantine of new birds CAN be.

As far as HOW concerned you should be... I'm not sure, I wouldn't currently be be worried about death or loosing my whole flock. What I would worry about is just making sure to identify as best as possible what IS causing the snot since that isn't normal, and supporting the birds own immunity, since over use of antibiotics creates super strains of bacteria that are resistant to the use of antibiotics, which doesn't help anybody.

Since I am the one causing you concern and have already given my input to what the possibilities may be, I will observe your other thread so I can learn... but NO fear mongering!

And also, the ONLY conclusion I really jumped to is.. snot is NOT normal and IS indicative of something. Sorry for any other stuff that through you into the deep end. I have no experience with much illness and only meant them to be listed as things for you to be able to look into and then rule out, hopefully.

Come on Penny show us your strong immune system working!

I will definitely get that fear mongering checked out... I thought it was a tumor, but now I have to worry about AIDS or lung cancer!

You have been really gracious in your replies. A fine BYC'er you have already become!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

This type of OCD?

 

[Chickassan]

Personally i think your birds are fine, chickens sneeze and sometimes it's quite nasty much like people sneezes. I've been sneezed on many, many times and trust me the wet ones outnumber the dry ones vastly.