4 1/2 week old chick in need of help

[jonalisa]

sorry to hear she didnt make it... you did well to get her to a vet and put as much effort into helping her as you did. If you do end up getting a necropsy done, let us know what the results are

Bringing her in the morning - I've got the paperwork all filled out. Will keep you posted.

 

[jonalisa]

Gross Examination
A five-week-old, 148 g, female Buckeye chick is submitted for necropsy. This chick has a one-week history of being puffed up and anorectic with weight loss.
At necropsy, the body was in fair postmortem condition. The bird was emaciated, with marked, diffuse skeletal muscle atrophy. Esophagus and proventriculus were inverted into the ventriculus, with marked ectasia and mural thinning of ventriculus. The proventricular mucosa was edematous, with adherent yellow, fibrinous material. Moderate amounts of feed were trapped between proventriculus and ventriculus. Scant digesta was present in distal segments of intestine, and no feces were evident in cloaca. Other viscera were within normal limits.

Gross diagnoses:
1. Chronic intussusception of proventriculus
2. Emaciation

COMMENTS ON GROSS EXAMINATION:
This is a very rare condition in chicks, resulting from altered gut motility but generally of unknown cause. One old publication suggests an association with coccidiosis.
Limited microscopic examination of tissues will be performed to identify possible causes;
unfortunately, insufficient fecal material was present to look for coccidian parasites, but they may be visible on direct examination of the tissues.

 

[jonalisa]

Gross Examination
A five-week-old, 148 g, female Buckeye chick is submitted for necropsy. This chick has a one-week history of being puffed up and anorectic with weight loss.
At necropsy, the body was in fair postmortem condition. The bird was emaciated, with marked, diffuse skeletal muscle atrophy. Esophagus and proventriculus were inverted into the ventriculus, with marked ectasia and mural thinning of ventriculus. The proventricular mucosa was edematous, with adherent yellow, fibrinous material. Moderate amounts of feed were trapped between proventriculus and ventriculus. Scant digesta was present in distal segments of intestine, and no feces were evident in cloaca. Other viscera were within normal limits.

Gross diagnoses:
1. Chronic intussusception of proventriculus
2. Emaciation

COMMENTS ON GROSS EXAMINATION:
This is a very rare condition in chicks, resulting from altered gut motility but generally of unknown cause. One old publication suggests an association with coccidiosis.
Limited microscopic examination of tissues will be performed to identify possible causes;
unfortunately, insufficient fecal material was present to look for coccidian parasites, but they may be visible on direct examination of the tissues.

Gross Examination
A five-week-old, 148 g, female Buckeye chick is submitted for necropsy. This chick has a one-week history of being puffed up and anorectic with weight loss.
At necropsy, the body was in fair postmortem condition. The bird was emaciated, with marked, diffuse skeletal muscle atrophy. Esophagus and proventriculus were inverted into the ventriculus, with marked ectasia and mural thinning of ventriculus. The proventricular mucosa was edematous, with adherent yellow, fibrinous material. Moderate amounts of feed were trapped between proventriculus and ventriculus. Scant digesta was present in distal segments of intestine, and no feces were evident in cloaca. Other viscera were within normal limits.

Gross diagnoses:
1. Chronic intussusception of proventriculus
2. Emaciation

COMMENTS ON GROSS EXAMINATION:
This is a very rare condition in chicks, resulting from altered gut motility but generally of unknown cause. One old publication suggests an association with coccidiosis.
Limited microscopic examination of tissues will be performed to identify possible causes;
unfortunately, insufficient fecal material was present to look for coccidian parasites, but they may be visible on direct examination of the tissues.

@casportpony @Eggcessive @aart @Jen1989 @SusanMc @azygous @FloorCandy @Momma1996

 

[aart]

So basically a malformation of 'food path', cause unknown?

 

[jonalisa]

So basically a malformation of 'food path', cause unknown?

Almost sounds like a birth defect, except I'm not sure how long this was an issue, as she seemed normal in the first couple of weeks...
But perhaps the lack of nutrition takes that long to present externally?

 

[aart]

But perhaps the lack of nutrition takes that long to present externally?

That would be my guess.

 

[SusanMc]

Almost sounds like a birth defect, except I'm not sure how long this was an issue, as she seemed normal in the first couple of weeks...
But perhaps the lack of nutrition takes that long to present externally.

hey...sorry about your chick, so it did have something to do with the crop, maybe the chick grew into the deformity, cause she was fine at first.

you Did the best you could, have a peaceful day

 

[Eggcessive]

Intussuseption is when one organ is swallowed up or telescoped into another. It can happen in humans, and animals when the small intestine is swallowed up by the large intestine, and it creates an obstruction. It makes sense since you could not find the crop. So glad that you got an explanation of why she was so ill and died. It sounds rare.

 

[jonalisa]

Intussuseption is when one organ is swallowed up or telescoped into another. It can happen in humans, and animals when the small intestine is swallowed up by the large intestine, and it creates an obstruction. It makes sense since you could not find the crop. So glad that you got an explanation of why she was so ill and died. It sounds rare.

Yes, in the end I knew she wasn't getting nutrition and the food wasn't going in her crop... So sad for her to have been so uncomfortable and starving.

 

[jonalisa]

That is really weird.
Wonders of her crop is anatomically incorrect and buried inside her chest somewhere somehow.

You were right.