Mysterious Chicken Death... What Happened???

[mikegostomski]

I'm new to chicken ownership... I acquired three chickens last fall.

A few weeks ago, the youngest one (about 1 year old) started acting strange. I first noticed it when she tried to get into the coop, but couldn't jump high enough (the entrance to the coop is about 2 feet off the ground). I started watching her closer, and noticed she wasn't going to the bathroom much, and when she did, it was foamy. I researched a little online and decided she may have a bad case of worms. I gave her Pig Swig (Piperazine), but she continued to get worse. Twice I saw her fall over, and not be able to get back up on her own. One week after giving her the de-wormer, I came home from work and found her dead.

Based on what I had seen online, I was thinking it had to be worms, but was also curious about the possibility of her being "egg bound" because some of her symptoms matched, and she had never laid any eggs... ever. I decided to perform a chicken-autopsy to see if I could figure out what happened. I did not find any visible worms or eggs inside her.

What I did find, and even though I know nothing of chicken anatomy, I found this very strange, was that the entire cavity holding her internal organs was filled with yellow liquid, which I can only assume was urine??? There must have been about a pint of it, and it probably made up about a third of her weight. Could she have had some sort of bladder problem that prevented her from urinating until it killed her?

I am very curious about what happened, mostly because I want to know if this is something I could have prevented or treated. My other two chickens appear to be fine.

The chicken in question was a Rhode Island Red... if it makes a difference.

Any information or theories would be most appreciated.

-Mike

 

[honeydoll]

The fluid build up is a definite issue. The yellow fluid is not urine, chickens do not pee or have bladders, their poo has white in it do to the urates in it. Urates is a white paste. The fluid build up can have several causes, and I do believe that that can be caused from being egg bound. The yellow in it could be yolk, maybe? Some others will chime in that know more. Oh, I forgot to mention that it can also be a sign of liver failure.

Carolyn

 

[Judy]

It wasn't urine and they don't have bladders. Their system works differently. The solid white stuff on a normal poop is their version of urine, where the urates are excreted.

I'm not sure, of course, but that might be from heart failure. The fluid then would be body fluids building up in her because her heart couldn't pump them out, not unlike congestive heart failure in people. A tumor would also be a possibility.

At any rate, she had a medical problem that you couldn't have cured, without much doubt. Most likely a vet couldn't have, either.

I'm sorry you lost her.

 

[Judy]

Well, not egg bound if there were no eggs, but liver failure is possible, and another form of egg laying machinery problem is, too. There are probably other possibilities, too.

 

[Judy]

Oh, if it was a hatchery RIR, they are often referred to on here as production reds, because they aren't pure bred, they are cross bred to increase egg laying. It seems that egg laying problems are more common in those breeds. Could have been a tumor of that part of her anatomy as well.

 

[dawg53]

Maybe a possible internal layer. Not much can be done about that...death was inevitable if that's what it was.

 

[mikegostomski]

Thanks for all the responses!

Here's a post that discusses the problem: Ascites (also called "water belly"). Apparently it's pretty common.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=68731

 

[redheadmama13]

We just lost an almost 6 month old RIR hen today, with almost the same finding when opened up. She had never laid either, but she did have what appeared to be an impacted gizzard along with the ascites. I'm thinking I need to find a breeder in my state if I want to have my little red hen...

 

[McGoo]

I just encountered the exact same thing. I euthanized her and when I opened her up at least a cup or two of clear yellow liquid came out. She was unable to really move and aside from the large bloated area, she was emaciated. I felt that she was suffering and I had to stop that.

 

[honeydoll]

Quote:
That is egg peritonitis, there is no cure and most often effects heavy laying breeds like comets. I just finished culling six comets over the last 3 months due to this. It is just so hard on those production breed girls to produce so many eggs. It can happen to other breeds too, but is most common in the heavy laying breeds.