Help with Hen

[Altair]

I have a five-year old australorp hen, who also happens to be named Altair. Less than a week ago I noticed her comb/face got paler and she seemed a bit more "quiet" and not moving around so much. Yesterday she had a huge amount of poop stuck to her back end but none of it was hard to I rinsed it out and cut the feathers around her vent. She also seems more "hard" towards her back which might make me think she's egg bound.

Recapping:

*Pale face
*Waddling, walking slowly
*Had diarrhea
*More passive

I'm tempted to bring her all the way to the exotic vet. Help?

[Patrick]

You've described about half of all chicken diseases, or at least how they begin to look. Check her for mites and dust her if she's loaded. Otherwise, take her to the vet if you want to spend the money. The only other practical option is an appointment with Dr Hatchet.

[richbar]

I agree with Patrick that mites could be the problem. The first sign of unthriftiness is usually a developing paleness in the comb. Mites and lice can easily be controlled with Sevin dust applied to the vent area and under the wings. It needs to be repeated about once a week for a few weeks to break the cycle of the mite or lice eggs hatching. That would be my first guess as well based on the information you provided.

[Altair]

I did examine her 5 minutes ago and she did have lice around her vent but other areas checked turned up nothing. She has some but isn't infested and it doesn't explain the hardness to her abdomen. My guess is the lice are a secondary problem related to whatever's preventing her, while being lethargic, from dusting and actively preening.

I'm gonna do a cavity search the old fashioned way to see if I can detect a bound egg. Thanks for the opinions so far, keep 'em coming!

[richbar]

Most of the time I find mites at the vent and lice all over the body, Just to be sure, I would look closely at the vent to see if there is any crustiness under the feathers around the vent as sometimes it is not as obvious. How hard is the abdomen? I've been involved in poultry judging as a kid and currently am working with an FFA team. Sometimes, when birds have a lot of fat in their abdomen it will fell quite hard when you feel it. The hardness in that case seems to be over the entire abdomen.

[Altair]

I dusted her lightly with DE and examined her vent but felt no egg at all. Her abdomen, behind her legs, is harder than it used to be and harder than the barred rock I compared her with. She walks kind of pigeon-toed too, poor thing and seems to be a bit thinner though has a pretty decent appetite.

[robin416]

When was the last time she laid an egg?

[Altair]

That's kind of hard for me to say. All my hens are over five years old and they don't lay every day. I think she was laying normal for her age, maybe 2-3 a week.

[Altair]

After a professional examination it was deemed she had a large tumor or some other mass pushing her organs back. She died naturally on Saturday. RIP Altair.

I like conclusions to unknown things hence my revival of this post.