Can chickens have allergies?

frazzles · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:11 am

I have a Barnevellder pullet who is continuously sneezing,apart from that she is healthy,eats,drinks normally and has normal droppings. I have noticed that when she goes into the pen,she sneezes for a while then stops,but when I put her on the grass she starts to sneeze ,and as mentioned it is continuous! She has been treated with Tylan in case she had a respiratory problem,but that made no difference. If she has an allergy,what should I do? Can anyone help,please?

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Frazzles,

Have a close look at her nostril and inside her beak at the V- shaped slit on the roof of her mouth. Are they all clear or is there mucus or debris in there? Even though you've treated her with Tylan it could be a different infection.

If it's all clear try keeping her on a paved or concreted path for 48 hrs & see what happens.

Allergies are possible, but most commonly birds sneeze because they either have a localised irritaion in their nasal passages eg some grass or other material- or they have an underlying infection.

frazzles · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:07 pm

Thank you! I had a look and could see a few clear bubbles there, but that was all, so I'll put her in a dog crate on the concrete and see how she is after 48 hours,and let you know. One thing I did notice when I picked her up is that she seems to be a bit thin, but being only 12 weeks old maybe that is normal?

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Compare her condition to others of her age.

The bubbles may be significant- let's see how she goes first on the concrete!

frazzles · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:32 pm

She does seem a bit thinner around the breastbone.She is now in a wooden carry cage raised on 2 bricks off the concrete - it's really cold here tonight,and I thought that sitting on the concrete may chill her.
See how she goes, I notice that the sneezing has stopped again though!

frazzles · **Posted:** Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:54 pm

She has been on concrete for 48 hours now, but she is still making that noise. It's not really a sneeze I have just realised,more like a hiccup,and when I opened her beak to see the V you told me about,I also noticed that she has a wheezy chest, so what I thought was in her nose is actually in her chest, there were also no bubbles in the inside of her beak there this time as there were the last time I looked. Any ideas as to what could be wrong with her? Thanks.

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

I can’t and wouldn’t give advise on your bird as I am not a trained specialist Avian Vet but I do hope you get to the bottom of the problem soon. Parvo should be able to help tho

Birds [in fact all birds] can have allergies = I have a turkey that has been medically proven to be allergic to Rye Grass [please don’t ask how long or how expensive it was to rule out everything else!] – and we run cattle on a place covered in the stuff! Go figure! But we are systematically getting rid of the stuff by mowing off the seed heads as they appear – that way we don’t have to use poisons which will kill everything.

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Frazzles,

It sounds like a respiratory infection of you are still hearing the noise. Ideally it needs to be seen by an avian vet, but I know that's not always an option.
If tylan didn't help you may need to try a different antibiotic- trouble is that most of the other choices are prescription-only.
It may be worth trying a tetracycline such as oxymav or equivalent that may be at a stock agent. Probably not as effective as the prescription drugs but it might help.
Some long-term infected birds never get rid of the infection totally but may survive if not too stressed. If your bird is thin then perhaps it may be a slowly progressing problem. If it's a fungal infection like aspergillosis then the outlook is not good.

Good luck

Parvo

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

parvo wrote:

If it's a fungal infection like aspergillosis then the outlook is not good.
Parvo

Now = this one I can talk about = the President of one of my Clubs had this issue in one of his birds a number of years ago = IF your bird has this = go to the Doctor and inform them you have been exposed to Aspergillosis – they may not know it so tell them it is an avian fungal infection – you will need to be checked and treated as you can be ‘infected’

Symptoms the President had = a small dry cough a slight temperature [and apparently in some - swollen glands]

# repeating what our President told me about his symptoms = he was actually initially treated by the Vet he took the bird to! He made a full recovery :-D

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Soozorps,

Are you sure you're not talking about Psittacosis?
This is a disease people can get from sick birds.
Aspergillosis on the other hand is in the environment. Infection is only caused if you are exposed to a heap of mould spores ( eg in a mouldy,dusty confined space) or are immunosuppressed- not from sick birds.

You're right about having to ask your GP to specifically test for it- they usually look for more common causes of coughs/colds/flu-like symptoms. It's only after these symptoms don't go away, and you tell them you've had sick birds, that they usually listen to you.

Cheers

Parvo

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