Coughing chicken?

[Bejep714]

A few days ago I heard one of my almost one year old Rhode island red make a very funny noise. It was at night when we were putting them away so they were already bunched up together. Honestly sounded like a gross toot. The same thing happened last night. But this morning while they were out I saw her making the sound. It was through her mouth. She wasn't really gaging. Her head was not violently moving back and forth. Her head was still and he mouth was barley open, but she was making those sounds. It was a cross between a gross snotty sneeze and a cough. She is eating, moving, and drinking just fine. Has this happened to anyone before? We are going to free range them later today and I will inspect her further.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight.
She may be experiencing some stridor.

If possible, get a video of what she sounds like. Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

 

[Bejep714]

How do you check if her crop is empty? Also they free ranged and I could hear she was making a sound in every breath. I rubbed her neck a bit and it stopped.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Feel her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. It should feel flat or empty.

Interesting that rubbing her neck made the sound stop. I would look inside her beak to see if there's mucous or white/yellow pasty material inside the beak.

 

[Bejep714]

Okay. Her breathing became normal, but when she sneezes it still makes the strange sound. I'll go check tonight and then tomorrow

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check to see if she's got anything in her nostrils too that may be making her sneeze on occasion.

 

[Bejep714]

I couldn't really tell on her crop. It wasn't flat, but I wasn't sure if I was looking at the right spot. I did look it up. There is also a possibility that she downed tons of food before we got there since they have a food tray in the coop. I'll check the nose. I'll also try to vacuum up some dust in the coop. As of right now her raspy breathing has basically stopped. All now seems like she has a snotty sneeze or cough

 

[Bejep714]

Another red is snotty sneezing now. I can tell the first one is getting almost back to normal. I'm guessing its a small cold? Can chickens pass colds?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Another red is snotty sneezing now. I can tell the first one is getting almost back to normal. I'm guessing its a small cold? Can chickens pass colds?

They don't really get colds, they can pass around respiratory illnesses.
If one is already getting better on her own, then it may be a virus like Infectious Bronchitis, but that would be a guess.
Perhaps more ventilation in the coop is needed as well.

 

[Bejep714]

Is the virus dangerous?