[bramford]

Hi Folks
One of our new girls (got them yesterday) is sneezing I have had a look at her and her eyes are clean and so is her nose, she seems fine in every other way, she has some feathers missing around her neck but that might be from the other girls she was with before, I have contacted the person I brought them from and awaiting a reply.
They are apart from my older girls, I dont fancy a big vet bill.
Any help would be great
thanks   

[ANHBUC]

One of my broodies had the sniffles and was wiping her beak more than normal on the grass.  I took her to the vets with chicks in tow and after examining her she prescribed baytril for 7 days (injection at vets and 6 days by syringe).  She was run down after sitting on her eggs for over 3 weeks.  She is much better now.  If you are taking your hen to the vets I would advise you to weigh her first if you have digital scales.  I did this and letting the vet know how many grams she weighed made it easier for her to get the right dose.  The vet can weigh her but I think the quicker she is in and out of the vets the less stress.  A week later she had gained 40 grams as she had lost weight with brooding.  I will weigh her again this week to make sure she is going in the right direction.   

[splash101]

What bedding are you using in the coop? If its wood shavings and not dust extracted, it maybe that.

[bramford]

currently using straw and it is fine with the others, I don't fancy a vet bill 

[ANHBUC]

Some vets will prescribe without seeing the hen but mine wouldn't as I have never taken any to the vets before.  I think if I had the same problem again she would accept my discription of the symptoms.  It cost £12 consultation, £3.19 injection, £5.70 for 10mls Baytril and £4.18 VAT (£25.07).  It was worth it for me as she has 5 chicks and is doing a really good job brooding and now rearing them.  If I had needed a further prescription for the rest of the flock it would have just cost me for the medicine. 

If your hen is full weight and otherwise healthy she may recover from her sniffles.  Lots of people give garlic and other herbal remedies to their hens so you may want to try that.  I needed to take mine to the vets due to her being underweight and run down.   

[jhub]

As she is new and potentially stressed from the changes she may have mycoplasma so keep an eye on her as she might need antibiotics.

[bramford]

the chap i got them off said try cidar vinegar anyone else tried that, if she doesnt change he said i can take her back

[shetan]

if the breeder says he'll have her back - take her back before you get too attached.

if she has become stressed and started sneezing she could be carrying mycroplasma. that means she could spread it to the rest of your flock. then the best case scenario is a large vets bill to treat all your birds and the worst case is having to cull them all.

if you decide to treat and they recover you will never be able to breed from the carriers as they will pass the virus on to any off spring produced.

check all your birds over. any discharge from the nose, any bubbling of fluids round the eyes, a sweet sickly smell or a cheesy one then they need to go back i'm afraid. cider vinegar or garlic in the water won't cure the problem.

hope that helps.