Sneezing, rattling chickens - spreading to whole flock!

[Bucket289]

I have a flock of 9 RIR and 3 Red Sex Link hens that my husband and I share with his parents. We originally had the RIRs, and about a month ago I came home and my father-in-law had brought home the sex link hens to replace some we had lost to preadtors. He had already put them in with the others, so we couldn't really quarantine them. They are debeaked, so when I first noticed them sneezing I thought it was because they have to put their nose down into the feed to eat. They seem healthy and just sneeze occasionally, and have stayed the same all this time. In the last week I have noticed that pretty much all of the hens are sneezing and some make a sort of rattling sound, but they all seem to be acting normal in every other way. What should I do? Is there something I should give them? I am concerned about withdrawl times because we have regular egg customers and it would be bad to not be able to get them their eggs. I know there are lots of other sneezing chicken posts, but I was not finding enough info. Thanks so much for your advise!

 

[SpringChickens]

I'm sorry to say this, but it doesn't look good.

Chickens don't get colds and respiratory illness is ALWAYS very serious. I hope someone with more expertise can step in and give you advice, but if it is a true respiratory disease it may kill a good proportion of your flock, and negatively effect egg production from those who remain. Unless you cull your whole flock, the disease will always be present in your flock and will infect any new birds you bring in.

A sad lesson on why you need to quarantine any birds before you introduce them to your flock.

 

[ihvpower]

I just brought one of my hens to the vet. She took a culture and so far, nothing has come up. I have had one bird die, out of 20. There was sneezing, rattling, and on some of the chickens, their faces and eyes swelled to such proportions, that it sealed the eyes shut. The original chicken is much better but now the entire flock has it. I am waiting on the last culture result any day now. I will tell you what the vet says..

PS. I put my flock on Baytril for 3 days. (to help with any secondary infection)

 

[dawg53]

Have you had any wrinkled eggs? I was thinking possibly infectious bronchitis (IB). Try this. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

IF you can get your hands on it, fog with oxine. It works beautifully. The fogger is expensive, but I suppose you could use a humidifier. I use a nebulizer on them, sounds bizarre, but works amazingly well.

 

[Bucket289]

Mine don't have any swelling or wrinkled eggs or anything, just the sneezing and at least one sounds rattly when she breathes. When I was looking at them individually today to see who is affected I found one with lice, so I went ahead and dusted them and thoroughly cleaned out their coop today. I also gave them an antibiotic in their water, which was suggested in another thread that had the same symptoms. Now I am not sure if I did the right thing since now we won't be able to provide our customers with their eggs for the next 2 weeks (hubby is very concerned about this.) I am crossing my fingers that the antibiotic will help! I hope your chickens start feeling better too!

 

[ihvpower]

Bucket,

The whole point of my reply (which I forgot to write!) was to tell you that all is not lost....there are MANY reasons that chickens sneeze and you don't always lose them or have to cull...

Keep up your hopes!! I will keep mine up for you and your girls


PS. Mine are getting better as a whole..but still sneezing. Can't wait to hear what the last part of the culture shows.

 

[ihvpower]

Dawg:

I lost the link to my own thread! You were the only one who really cared in that conversation so I will post the reults of the last culture here..

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
LOL. Yes,I remember. Please post the results here when you get a chance, it might help the OP as well.

 

[Granny Hoffman]

I too will be interested in the results of the test. I am having the same symptoms. Sneezing, coughing and some rattling. I have injected them Tylan 50 for 2 days and so far not any better. I am at my wits end trying to figure this out. I was beginning to think it was Fowl Pox, but no lesions in the mouth or throat. They are acting normal, eating and drinking normal, but the sneezing and coughing is kinda nerve racking when I am sitting out there and visiting with them. I will be watching this thread to see if any of the posts help you and maybe my girls and boy.