Gulping air

[garett]

I have a hen who has been gulping air. This has been going on for months. At first i thought maybe I'd walked in on her straining to lay an egg but she does it constantly now. No other symptoms. No discharge, no odor, no swelling or discolored skin or feces, no diarrhea, inside of mouth is normal. She's eating and drinking regularly. Egg production is sporadic. They're kept indoors on shavings. All other birds are behaving normally. I want to have her tested through avian biotech but I'm not sure what to test for and I don't have the money atm to test for everything. My options are as follows:
Bacterial tests - Bordetella, Chlamydia, Pseudomonus

Fungal tests - Aspergillosis

I'm thinking I should start with Aspergillosis because I did have an issue with leaking water tubes around the same time i noticed the labored breathing. The tests are $25 each and I'll have the money for all 4 in about a month but id rather test for 1 or 2 now. Thoughts? Suggestions​?

 

[Binki]

Poo is okay? Is it panting or gasping for air? I have some bigger hens that pant sometimes, and most do around their egg time but panting is normal and gulping is not.

Is her body abnormally tight compared to the other hens?

For those infections you listed and the price of testing them, it may be better and about same amount of money to take her to the vet? They can *probably* test for those same things? (Not 100% certain but you could ask).

Then if the problem isn't those particular infections, maybe the vet can tell you what and if it is an infection they can provide the medicine and dosage, something you would need anyways if the tests you sent away came back positive ?

 

[DK newbie]

I'm thinking something like asthma could be an option too? You mention she's living indoors and on shavings. Nothing wrong with that, but I've heard some animals (hamsters in particular, probably because they bury in it) can get asthma like conditions from living in shavings because it contains a lot of dust. So if none of the tests show anything, that could be worth considering as well. You could also try placing her in a well ventilated area on a different bedding for a couple of days and see if that makes a difference.
Guess quail can get air sack mites as well? Just to make sure that's not it, you could treat her for it. You can probably treat it cheaper than you can test for it. SCATT or Ivermectin drops 0,1% should do the trick. And ivermectin at least will kill of just about every kind of parasite.