Chook - cough and open beak breathing

Oh dear, this mother hen stuff is more worrying than having human babies.

One of my wyandottes (at point of lay but not doing it yet), is today opening her beak wide then closing it I suppose about 3 or 4 times a minute. And she occasionally makes a kind of short asthma-like cough when she does (a bit like clearing her throat). A couple of feathers are ruffled but not greatly and while she isn't walking around a lot, she will get up and walk about a bit.

Any ideas? I've read the ailments section of the Alanna Moore book and can't see there what it could be.

 

What about appetite Tulipwood? is she eatlng? Give her a feed of garlic in some mash while we explore hey! and maybe some vitamin C if you have it.

 

No don't think she's eating - just noticed her doing it a few hours ago, and she hasn't stopped doing it since. I took some rye bread out to them (they love bread), tore it up and tossed it basically at her feet. The other chooks all raced for it but she ignored it. Was walking around, but dozes off to sleep. I've been scouring the internet and don't like the look of gapeworm, or its cure. I hope it's not that.

 

Indeed you are a miracle worker PP. Every breath was through an open beak, with occasional coughs. I brought her out of the dome and gave her a garlic clove mashed up in some water - she wouldn't look at any food. Honestly within 10 minutes she was bright, alert, looking around, consumed quite a lot of wheat grain, went exploring our front lawn (she'd never been on it before), and breathing normally. Just occasionally I caught her doing the open-mouthed breathing, but becoming less and less, and she still, very occasionally has a bit of a cough. She's now bright, alert and eating well. Thank you.

 

I got excited too soon. She's still doing it, but not as much as she was. The cough sounds moist. Shall I give her more garlic - can you overdose a chook on garlic? It's full moon at the end of the week - is there anything to be gained or lost waiting until I do the apple cider vinegar/garlic thing in their water?
Still haven't given her vitamin C - I'm guessing I'd just buy some Vit C powder from the chemist and give her about 50mg in a little water???

She is eating, and otherwise looks healthy - I can't pick her from the other 3 wyandottes until she coughs, or beak-breathes.
She is spending some time in the laying box which she never did before. It's time (over time!) she and her girlfriends started laying, so maybe that has nothing to do with her cough and everything to do with her biological clock.