They're 6 1/2 weeks and it's their 3rd day in the coop. I left for the day, and when I returned, they were out of water (they had a lot this morning, and it was not horribly hot today, so I hope they were ok, but I felt terrible
...) so I watered them, and they all drank. They had some feed left and when I added some more, they weren't acting hungry (didn't swarm it), so it seems they were fine.
So I watched them for about 15 minutes, and I noticed 2 things I'd never seen before: 1. there were quite a few sneezing chickens, and 2. they were shaking (like a dog out of the bath) and their feathers got really fluffy after shaking. It's about 70 degrees out now, it was about 80 today, so they shouldn't be cold. They started sneezing and fluffing after drinking, so maybe they just splashed water all around and were shaking it off themselves and sneezing from getting it up their noses (sounds weird now that I just read it).
What else would cause this sneezing and shaking/fluffing? They were fine other than that, very active and friendly to me, just like usual, and DH said they were dust bathing and playing all day. They are eating chick starter, and we threw a bunch of weeds and ground broccoli in to them this morning. We also gave them some chick grit, too. We use pellet bedding with Sweet PDZ sprinkled and raked in, bedding is about 4" deep and brand new, so it's not dusty. No sign of fleas/mites, but I haven't seen them in daylight since this morning. Any ideas? Thanks...
So I watched them for about 15 minutes, and I noticed 2 things I'd never seen before: 1. there were quite a few sneezing chickens, and 2. they were shaking (like a dog out of the bath) and their feathers got really fluffy after shaking. It's about 70 degrees out now, it was about 80 today, so they shouldn't be cold. They started sneezing and fluffing after drinking, so maybe they just splashed water all around and were shaking it off themselves and sneezing from getting it up their noses (sounds weird now that I just read it).
What else would cause this sneezing and shaking/fluffing? They were fine other than that, very active and friendly to me, just like usual, and DH said they were dust bathing and playing all day. They are eating chick starter, and we threw a bunch of weeds and ground broccoli in to them this morning. We also gave them some chick grit, too. We use pellet bedding with Sweet PDZ sprinkled and raked in, bedding is about 4" deep and brand new, so it's not dusty. No sign of fleas/mites, but I haven't seen them in daylight since this morning. Any ideas? Thanks...
