Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

[Swbertrand1]

UPDATE: This came from my uncle, a retired Head of Pathology at a major Virginia hospital system. We sent him the same photos that you see above. This was his response:

l can't identify the origin of the primary tumor mass so it is hard to say what kind of tumor it is. If it came from the abdomen, it is probably a carcinoma of the intestine, pancreas, or other nearby organ. The picture of the intestines
shows multiple metastases, probably carcinomatoses. If you had a microscope and some tissue slides. we could make a more specific diagnosis.

 

[Kiki]

UPDATE: This came from my uncle, a retired Head of Pathology at a major Virginia hospital system. We sent him the same photos that you see above. This was his response:

l can't identify the origin of the primary tumor mass so it is hard to say what kind of tumor it is. If it came from the abdomen, it is probably a carcinoma of the intestine, pancreas, or other nearby organ. The picture of the intestines
shows multiple metastases, probably carcinomatoses. If you had a microscope and some tissue slides. we could make a more specific diagnosis.

It's probably Marek's or LL. They both look similar.

 

[aart]

It's probably Marek's or LL. They both look similar.

Ditto Dat^^^

 

[Swbertrand1]

What is LL?

 

[Kiki]

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/neoplasms/lymphoid-leukosis-in-poultry#:~:text=Lymphoid leukosis is a neoplastic,, gross necropsy, and histopathology.

This is LL.

 

[Swbertrand1]

This is LL.

That helps; thank you. This hen was approaching her 5th "birthday" (July). Wouldn't Mareks have presented before then? We have no other birds that have shown any symptoms of either Mareks or LL and all of the flock is in the 3-6 year-old range, save one Silkie that just hit the 2 year mark in April.

In fact, this hen was laying until about 2-3 months ago and showed no signs of any illness whatsoever. Her stools were normal (we check all the birds' stools every month or so), her behavior was normal (active, inquisitive, etc), her appetite was normal (she ate just like our other Comet).

What did we miss?

 

[Kiki]

That helps; thank you. This hen was approaching her 5th "birthday" (July). Wouldn't Mareks have presented before then? We have no other birds that have shown any symptoms of either Mareks or LL and all of the flock is in the 3-6 year-old range, save one Silkie that just hit the 2 year mark in April.

In fact, this hen was laying until about 2-3 months ago and showed no signs of any illness whatsoever. Her stools were normal (we check all the birds' stools every month or so), her behavior was normal (active, inquisitive, etc), her appetite was normal (she ate just like our other Comet).

What did we miss?

Were all of your birds vaccinated for the Marek's disease?
No one's saying that you missed anything.
Without proper testing, nobody really knows exactly what this bird has, but it's likely one of those two things mentioned and both of them can show up at any time.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did the liver seem overly large? Chickens can suffer from a number of malignancies. Common ones are oviduct cancer, and lymphomas from Mareks or Lymphoid leukosis. Leukosis is also called big liver disease, and strikes chickens 4 months and older. Mareks usually shows up in young birds, although it can happen at any age where they are exposed. I’m not qualified to even guess a diagnosis here, but you might see something similar in another bird, where you could then consult your state vet lab for a necropsy. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Were all of your birds vaccinated for the Marek's disease?
No one's saying that you missed anything.
Without proper testing, nobody really knows exactly what this bird has, but it's likely one of those two things mentioned and both of them can show up at any time.

Thank you.

The Golden Comets (we had three; one was killed by a dog in a freak incident, then this one with the euthanasia a few nights ago, and we still have 1) came from a seller in SE North Carolina that buys chicks in bulk from a hatchery, but we're unsure if those chicks were vaccinated, but suspect they likely were.

The rest of our flock has NOT been vaccinated as 70% of them were hatched right here (we only keep about 10 birds in a backyard flock). The few that were not hatched here are 5 and 6 year-old Silkie hens that came from other local flocks over the years but were quarantined prior to insertion in our flock (there are 2 of these); they are as healthy as can be.

I was not aware that Mareks could show up at any time, but being a hatchery chick, I would think this Comet that died was likely vaccinated. The seller bought the chicks in 100-chick lots.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Did the liver seem overly large? Chickens can suffer from a number of malignancies. Common ones are oviduct cancer, and lymphomas from Mareks or Lymphoid leukosis. Leukosis is also called big liver disease, and strikes chickens 4 months and older. Mareks usually shows up in young birds, although it can happen at any age where they are exposed. I’m not qualified to even guess a diagnosis here, but you might see something similar in another bird, where you could then consult your state vet lab for a necropsy. Sorry for your loss.

We wouldn't be able to discern an overly large liver from an overly small liver, but we did address ascites in this same hen last week, draining about 400ml of yellow fluid from her abdomen.
That's what I thought about Mareks, but it makes sense that it could present at any time if the bird has been exposed. We'll watch the other birds closely, especially the last Golden Comet.
We've never had a necropsy done because of the cost, but if the other Comet gets sick and dies, we'll likely do it to know for sure.