Seasonal sneezing?

[Wild Prime]

So we have a banty White Sea-bright hen (Mrs. CB) that sneezes every winter time. Its a slight little "ptooee" noise, with no white discharge or foam, and sometimes she breathes with her beak open, but not very often. She only sneezes in the winter; we've had her for 3 years now and her symptoms have not gotten worse. As soon as it gets cold out shes sneezing again. She seems to sneeze less when she's outside than when shes inside. I gave her antibiotics and also treated the whole flock, but no one else ever sneezes and she didnt stop sneezing. Is this a sickness or could it be from a dusty coop? We board up the windows in the winter and the only opening is the door to the run, and our coops doesnt have any vents or openings for air circulation. I clean the coop at least once a week and i try to air it out daily. Anything else I could do?

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

I'll be watching....

I have a 9 month old Sussex that has been sneezy for a couple months, with no other symptoms, and nobody else is sick either. We've done the antibiotic rounds as well, with no result.

 

[speckledhen]

Some birds are just sneezers. I have two of those. One, a Buff Brahma, is 5 years old. She has sneezed her whole life. Her head is actually a bit small for her body and I suspect her nasal passages may not be formed perfectly, but that's just a guess. She contracted a fungal infection this past summer along with my rooster. After misting with Oxine for a couple of days, periodically, they both recovered and for quite some time, Caroline's sneezing was noticeably diminished. Seems it cleaned out her passages quite well and was helpful to whatever the condition is that causes her sneezing in the first place. She is, however, almost back to her regular sneezing again. It's just Caroline. She's never had any other symptoms. My Silver Phoenix does it, too. She is very affected by dust. Again, no other symptoms. So, in the absence of any other symptoms, I don't worry too much about just sneezing.


A vet told a friend of mine that once a bird had pneumonia or a fungal infection ( both non-contagious, btw), and recovers, that bird is very affected by wild weather changes from then on, much like the lungs are sort of scarred or something. Sure enough, my rooster breathes rather like an asthmatic at times, but no other symptoms.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Ditto.

 

[Wild Prime]

Thanks for the info. Just been worried she could get worse and infect everyone else

 

[speckledhen]

If you start seeing other symptoms, that is when you can start to investigate further.

The hen I was talking about earlier, about a week after she recovered from the fungal infection (this thread talks about those https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=560301) was seen with foam in her eye, first time we'd ever seen that here. We snatched her up, brought her inside and called the state poultry lab. Dr. Bohanan said that she had developed sinusitis as a secondary bacterial infection following the fungal infection and to give her Tylan for 3 days, that it was not MG, just something peculiar to her situation. He was amazed that we even had a hen who was 5 years old around here, and in addition, who had never been ill. Interestingly enough, he said if she hadn't gotten MG by that age, she was resistant to it anyway, which was something I'd never heard before, so it made us feel good to know that our aging flock's immune systems were strong.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I am glad that you asked this question. I have a flock of BO hens and one roo. I too have noticed the
ladies sneezing. I see no other symptoms like a runny nose or even labored breathing, they just sneeze.

I have noticed it more now that the weather has become colder, I have not given them any antibiotics yet
I just make sure that they have fresh warm water (on days below freezing) with vitamins and plenty of food and so far they are fine.

So, I am hearing that if they are just sneezing with no other symptoms it is nothing to worry about, right?

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I'd be worried that an unventilated coop could lead to respiratory issues for the whole flock over the long term, not to mention the increased possibility of frostbite in the winter from the increased humidity.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Quote:
I'd be worried that an unventilated coop could lead to respiratory issues for the whole flock over the long term, not to mention the increased possibility of frostbite in the winter from the increased humidity.

This my sound really stupid, but can you explain how increased humidity in the coop could lead to frostbite?
I was just wondering. I kind of thought that it was good to have the air a little humid because it makes the air
around you feel warmer.

Thanks

 

[CMV]

Quote:
I'd be worried that an unventilated coop could lead to respiratory issues for the whole flock over the long term, not to mention the increased possibility of frostbite in the winter from the increased humidity.

This my sound really stupid, but can you explain how increased humidity in the coop could lead to frostbite?
I was just wondering. I kind of thought that it was good to have the air a little humid because it makes the air
around you feel warmer.

Thanks

Increased humidity tends to cause frost to form whereas in dry air that doesn't happen. The frost lands on bare skin and causes burns or "frostbite".

OP- You need to add some vents to your set-up. Long term air quality issues will be detrimental to your flock's health.