Hen Opens Mouth But No Sound

[getdusty]

We are visiting our daughter who has a few dozen free range chickens. This morning when I got up, I noticed one hen was opening her mouth as if to announce an egg layed, but no sound came out of her mouth. She repeated this process over and over. I called our daughter over and she saw the hen doing the same thing. Is this normal?? She's never seen this before.

 

[Fivebots]

Could she possibly have gapeworm? Is she stretching her neck out when she does it? Any “hissing” sounds as well?

 

[Shadrach]

Hello getdusty.
Welcome to BYC.
A video of this hens behavior would help people advise.

 

[Ebony Rose]

A couple things come to mind. Gapeworm, although rare is one possibility, the other thought that came to mind is adjusting her crop. She may have eaten something that's not quite fitting as well in her crop as she'd like and so she does this yawn and it slightly tugs on the crop to make everything fit better.