Open mouth breathing for 2 weeks

[ChelseaW322]

Hi all!

My hen, Rebecca has been breathing with her mouth open for at least 2 weeks now. Her breathing doesn't seem to be labored, but every now and then she'll cough and she has lost her voice almost entirely. She's eating, drinking, and acting normal. So I haven't been extremely concerned, but the open mouth breathing and occasional cough are now accompanied with ruffled feathers (no roo). I got her as a pullet along with two others. She was the biggest of the three, but now she is the smallest. Her comb is still bright, but not as bright as it was a few weeks ago. Her egg production is still great. She rarely misses a day. Although her yolks are slightly paler than those of my other girls, her eggs are the biggest. She is an EE - the others are a Barred Rock and an Ameraucana.

I appreciate and advice you may have!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. She could have some sort of respiratory disease. There are several viral and bacterial or mycoplasmal diseases, but she could also have aspergillosis, a fungal disease. Does she drink a lot of water? It can cause gasping and loss of voice. It is a chronic disease that can spread throughout the body, and unfortunately does not have any treatment other than to remove any mold present. You could could try to get her tested for what she may have, or you could try an antibiotic in case she has a bacterial or MG infection. Many times we can't know what a chicken has wrong until it has died, and a necropsy can be performed by a state vet or poultry center. It is odd that she is still laying eggs regularly. Hoepfully, it is just some virus such as infectious bronchitis, which she can recover from. Secondary infections and air sacculitis are complications of many respiratory diseases.