r/BackYardChickens • u/HappyEquine84 • 12h ago
Sneezing in chickens? Heath Question
Okay so every list I see of symptoms in chickens when their health is failing has sneezing in it. Does that mean ANY sneezing is bad? Do they sneeze occasionally when healthy too, and it's just excessive sneezing that's bad? If so, what's excessive? I hear sneezes occasionally from our small flock, but it seems very occasional and not usually the same bird. Everything else seems great, they're hungry, alert, curious and still laying eggs. All are from the same batch of chicks and are less than 1, I think they were born in late spring. I try and spend at least 20 minutes every morning just chilling with them to see how they are, and in that time period I might hear one or two sneezes from different chickens. I don't always hear one, although there does seem to be a bit more recently, I assumed because of the cold weather.
Pic of said flock, cause they're cute 🙂
3
u/KlassySassMomma 10h ago
My girls sneeze once in a while too. One time my head lady sneezed twice in a row and sounded like a goose honk; I got so paranoid and worried I ended up sitting out there all afternoon watching them… Never heard it again 🙄 That’s the day I learned that occasional sneezing is completely normal in the little dinos and that it’s usually because they’ve gotten some dust or dirt in their nose that they’re trying to clear out. If they’re perfectly normal otherwise, I wouldn’t be too concerned 😊