15 week w diffiuculty breathing - necropsy points to tumor

[SeattleLeah]

My favorite gal got sick on monday. Gasping and stretching her neck to breathe. I dewormed and started her on Duramycin abx. I wanted to cober my bases against possible gapeworm or bacterial infection. I couldnt see anything in her mouth or throat.

Well she died this morning. I looked in her mouth and she had yellow cancers all over her tongue and mouth. I think it must have been Wet Fowl Pox. Poor girl. Now, what can I do to protect the rest of my flock? I know its a virus so no abx. . . . no one looks sick yet. Should I vaccinate them all?

Thanks so much. Im really bummed she didnt make it. she was a 15 week frizzle OE named Farrah Fawcett.

 

[SeattleLeah]

well it turns out no one local carries the vaccine and shipping is super expensive. Im going to clean everything with bleach and hope for the best. I've given all the ladies some of my home made Kefir that has tons of probiotics. I'll put them on grower mash for a few days to boost thier immune systems. Hopefully that will do the trick

 

[SeattleLeah]

The vet believes it was a tumor. She found a large mass on the lungs that connected to other tissues. She says it is not wet pox. She is running a blood culture to rule out any bacterial cause and histology to see what kind of tumor it was and make sure thats what it was. Im so relieved its not liekly to be something that will effect the rest of my flock!

Here is the necropsy report:

The carcass of a 15-week-old female chicken was submitted for laboratory evaluation.
The bird has a small raised knob on the base of the beak. She is thin and has moderate depletion of the
breast muscle. The keel (breast bone) has an “S” shape.
The most striking internal gross change is replacement of the left lung with a large, white, amorphous
mass. The mass is attached to the ribs and intercostal muscle and fills the space of the anterior and
posterior thoracic air sacs. There is about 3 cc yellowish fluid in the left posterior air sac.
The ovary is grossly abnormal, large and reddened.
No other significant gross changes are noted in this bird

GROSS DIAGNOSES: Pulmonary disease, severe

COMMENTS: The changes in the lung and air sacs can explain the clinical signs (gasping and stretching
the neck) observed in this bird. Although I believe this is a neoplasia (tumor), I would like to confirm it by
histology. I would also like to make sure that bacteria are not involved in this process. The gross changes
are NOT consistent with wet pox