Hen lethargic possible impacted crop

[Wyorp Rock]

she's gone. 4th bird we have lost in the last year for no reason

I'm sorry to hear this.

Can you take or send the body to a vet lab or agriculture of ministry for testing/necropsy?
I'm not sure what you call the services in AU, hopefully @Lillith37 might know.

Here in the U.S. each state has lab services, most all countries have some type of lab testing available to those who keep poultry and livestock. Generally the body needs to be kept cool (refrigerated, not frozen) and is either shipped or taken for testing. A pathologist will perform testing/necropsy and give you the results. With this information, you will know more about what's causing the losses and if there's treatment options or if any changes can be made.

 

[Lillith37]

Can you take or send the body to a vet lab or agriculture of ministry for testing/necropsy?
I'm not sure what you call the services in AU, hopefully @Lillith37 might know.

I’m not certain about other states/territories but in Victoria there is no state or centralised service for necropsies of domestic poultry. It may be different for commercial farmers, and there are universities who take wildlife specimens. If a backyard chicken keeper wants a necropsy it is done by a private veterinary practice and you have to pay for the service. Further, regular veterinary practices may not do necropsies on chickens — one may need to find an avian/exotic specialist.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’m not certain about other states/territories but in Victoria there is no state or centralised service for necropsies of domestic poultry. It may be different for commercial farmers, and there are universities who take wildlife specimens. If a backyard chicken keeper wants a necropsy it is done by a private veterinary practice and you have to pay for the service. Further, regular veterinary practices may not do necropsies on chickens — one may need to find an avian/exotic specialist.

Good to know.
Here, most state labs will take the bird from individual keepers but some require going through a vet, each state is different.

A lot of keepers like me, just perform our own informal necropsy to see if we find anything "obvious" that may give us a clue to do some research. That's an option as well. Some folks are not able to do their own and that's perfectly understandable, it can be hard on the emotions, especially when they are more pet than livestock.