Sneezing hen

[Anonymous]

Help! I am very new to chicken keeping and I've noticed on of my hens is standing looking very lethargic. She seems to keep nodding off (eyes closing and head drooping) and is sneezing as well (some mucus but not much). I cleaned out the coop yesterday and put down wood shavings for the first time as well as dusting the coop with diatom powder and louse powder. Could it be an allergy or is it more serious? She seems to be eating and drinking OK and is not hunched up. This has been going on for the last 24 hours...

 

[Tim]

Hello Caroline,

She doesn't sound too well.

Can you pick her up and listen carefully to her breathing? Does her breathing rattle? (called tracheal rattle), does it sound almost bubbly?

Chickens are very prone to repiratory problems and whilst they can simply catch a cold, more often than not it is a bit more serious than that.

Sneezing birds usually have an upper repiratory problem and there can be discharge from the nose with this as you describe.

There can be a number of causes - poor ventillation (droppings give off ammonia), sawdust (larger wood shavings sold in pet shops usually has the 'dust' extracted to prevent these problems), viruses - such as infectious bronchitis, pneumovirus, fungus (aspergilliosis), mycoplasmosis, infectious laryngotracheitis, Avian Influenza (one of the many variants), Fowl pest / Newcastle disease, Coryza to name some. All of these conditions show very similar symtoms.

The fact she is nodding off suggests to me it isn't a sawdust problem.

It is possible with veterinary testing (which can involve live birds as well as dead) they can come up with the answer but this would be an expesive and most vets (in my opinion) would just prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic (such as Baytril or Tylosin) to treat the secondary bacteria infection that usually follows and is the cause of the symptoms we see.

Isolation is the first thing I would consider and good ventillation- If you have ACV (apple cider vinegar for chickens article here) add this to her water (2% dillution) this will help cut through the mucus, to help her breathe and is a good all round tonic. Personally I use crushed garlic in the water too - but this really needs a long time to build the immune system and doesn't work quickly.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for her and hope it isn't too serious.

Tim.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Tim
Thanks for that. Her breathing seems ok she kind of chirrups every so often but that's all and having watched her for most of yesterday I think the mucus is in her mouth rather than her nose. I have ordered some ACV but am not likely to get it much before Wednesday due to the bank holiday. Isolation is a bit of a problem as I already have part of the run fenced off for a bird that's being bullied :?
I plan to give the vet a shout tomorrow if she's no better (why do these things always happen just as the vet closes for the weekend?? :roll: ) and have cleared out the shavings from the coop as a precaution.
Will keep you posted!
Caroline

 

[Tim]

OK Caroline, sounds like you're doing what you can.

She may just have a cold and hopefully it will pass.

Let me know what the vet says if you take her... I'm slowly putting a poultry vets list together - vets that have experience with poultry as so many don't really know anything about chooks.

Good Luck.

Tim

 

[snifter]

My vet (well I've moved too far now for the dog but go back for anything chook related) has a vet who specialises in our feathered friends. Also parrots etc.

I'll PM you the name and location.

 

[Tim]

Great, thanks snifter -you could mention them on here too - it's always good to get recommendations from people as some vets really don't have a clue about poultry and still charge the consultation fee!

I will update the database with their details aswell.

 

[Anonymous]

Sad news I'm afraid. My vet proved less than helpful and as Barbara seemed to be perking up I stupidly left it. I was away for a couple of days an a friend was on chook duty, when I got back Barbara had taken a real turn for the worse. I decided to take her straight to the vet this morning but she sadly died in the night. I have spent the morning on the phone trying to find a hen friendly vet as one of the other birds is now sneezing and I think I may have found one. If so I'll let you know.

 

[Tim]

Hi Caroline,

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Yes, best to get to the vet - my bet is they will give you an antibiotic like Tylan or Baytril. It is so hard to work out what it is a hen has without post mortem or sending a live bird to be killed and then immediately PM'ed. That's fine if you have a commercial setup but not such a good idea for pets!

Good luck, let us know what they say and if you've found a poultry vet so I can add it to the database for others.

Tim.