Please tell me I\'m being paranoid......

[Jean]

The last few days here in the PNW have been pretty cold and damp.  I noticed some of my young chickens had wet muffs yesterday and a also noticed a couple of sneezes.

Today their faces are dry, but I heard one sneeze while I stood and listened to everyone for a while.  

Someone please tell me it\'s just the changing weather.

I haven\'t had any respitory symptoms here for about two years.  I had MS and the chickens were sneezing frequently and had the rattles.  All those chickens are gone now except one and she is free ranging and rest are not.

Jean

[Mike Gilbert]

It\'s really tough to keep the mycplasma organisms out of a flock entirely.   Some folks resolve to live with low grade infections and breed for genetic resistance.   As long as the birds receive good care, they should be able to deal with it.   The problem comes when multiple infections are at work, such as two kinds of mycoplasma plus a strain of newcastle or laryngo or typhoid, etc.     In my opinion the main thing is to avoid prolonged periods of stress, which can be brought on by overcrowding, weather extremes, parasites, etc.   Stress can cause the natural immune systems to  break down, causing outbreaks of potentially fatal disease combinations.
Keep them dry and out of the wind and avoid overcrowding.