Cystadenocarcinomas in Laying Hens - Graphic pictures

[Kiki]

Oh my goodness! That's the weirdest thing. I've never seen the egg yolks clear like that. I can't believe that one chicken had egg yolks in it's skin! Looks like that would hurt real bad! Poor chickens!

Those are not egg yolks.

 

[Claires Poultry]

Those are not egg yolks.

Oh, they aren't? What are they then?

 

[casportpony]

Oh, they aren't? What are they then?

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cystadenocarcinoma.htm

 

[Claires Poultry]

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cystadenocarcinoma.htm

So they are cysts then, right?

 

[casportpony]

So they are cysts then, right?

That's how I understand it.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

They look like pebbles, are they hard or soft when pressed?

 

[Granitestater]

Sadly, my fav 6 yr old hen, Precious died of this yesterday. I orig thought water belly or internal laying. She stopped laying in spring but always had a healthy appetite. She remained top hen even when she could no longer run. She hobbled to greet me each day but spent more & more time resting under her fav tree as the summer progressed. Now in fall, her abdomen was extremely enlarged, the penguin stance was the norm, and I began to see her use her wings to steady herself as she waddled.

Spoiler: autopsy pics

View attachment 1547823 View attachment 1547824

Precious was part of our family and enjoyed her spot as top & elder hen. She was never a high production hen but her attention-seeking personality made us love her nonetheless. Her eggs were large with those dark golden yolks. At 1 yr old she ripped a nail (It grew back) and she had a case of bumble foot about 3 years ago. Otherwise, she was a healthy barnyard mix. Our flock has basic chicken feed but also free ranges during the day. They get kitchen veggie scraps a couple times a week. No other hens have had this.

RIP my dear, sweet Precious.
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so sorry for your loss of Precious.She must have been a love. So sad to not be able to save them. My Georgiegirl tonight is suffering from water belly or ascites or somethong. There is no egg in there, I checked and soaked her. I don't know what to do now. From what I've read everthing had a negative outcome. I wish I was a vet.

 

[Granitestater]

View attachment 1754813 I wanted to add to this thread for another case... my 3 year old Buff orphington recently started going downhill (ruffled feathers, lethargy and weight loss) I quarantined her so I could monitor her food and water intake and try to get her feeling better. Over 1-2 weeks she continued to decline. I then noticed her waddled walk and swollen abdomen. I work at a veterinary hospital so I took her in to drain the abdomen to see what we found. Nothing too exciting just a clear fluid and she immediately perked up and ate well that day. However, as expected two days later she was all swollen again. So, I elected euthanasia as I just couldn’t let her suffer any longer. I chose to do a necropsy. What we found was an abdomen FULL of cysts!! I didn’t send out for testing but it is definitely to be suspected Cystadenocarcenoma. It’s quite an interesting find but it appears that this can actually be a common thing in hens. So, I wanted to share if it could help someone in the future!

TY I wonder if this is what my Georgie Girl has. Ha s fluid filled abd, trying to lay but nothing happens, no egg felt, walks like a penguin, has seemed stressed for months. What to do?.

 

[Irmasmom]

TY I wonder if this is what my Georgie Girl has. Ha s fluid filled abd, trying to lay but nothing happens, no egg felt, walks like a penguin, has seemed stressed for months. What to do?.

It’s a hard decision but if she is continuing to decline I would elect euthanasia. Does she have food in her crop? Is her keel prominent? If she continues to fail to thrive I just know for me I couldn’t let her go through that long slow process. Thankfully I was able to get an answer that gave me peace afterwards but it may be hard to know.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I had a 5-year-old pretty little Easter Egger hen that recently passsd away. She had been noticeably feeling unwell and declining for about a week prior. Nothing obvious except for becoming increasingly inactive and listless, and her abdomen felt swollen. Only during her last two days did it become obvious she was dying. At that point I euthanized her.

Opened her up and found this. Her abdominal cavity was nearly completely filled with these grape-like clusters of varying sizes. Underneath the larger ones were Many more smaller ones.

While such veining would be great in a developing embryo, when the the blood supply is instead feeding a malignant growing cancer, i found the image kinda creepy.

I was able to identify this as cystadenocarcinoma only after finding this thread, @casportpony . I didnt find much information at all on the condition other than your posts.

I don't know how fast growing cystadenocarcinoma is, but i would think this was growing inside her for a while, even though she showed no indications until her last week of life. Birds of all species are masters at hiding their discomfort and pain, that's for sure.