Another chicken dies... Chicken Necropsy - Graphic

[theladieskeeper]

Good morning all,
I have a situation with a new flock i received end of july. there are 28 birds and all looked healthy when they got here, i would say they are about a year old. a couple little ones were hatched with the group are about 7 months old i would guess.
I need some help with some of these chickens dying suddenly. I go out to the coop in the morning and have found a dead hen laying on the coop floor now twice in the last 4 days. They free range about 12 hours a day. 8 acres, water inside and outside their coop and run, also 3 ponds. they eat an organic no soy feed from maysville elevator, the same place i get turkey and meat bird food from. their run portion of their coop has pine shavings, and i use a litter system under their roost, with sweet pdz, and food grade DE.
I see these hens several times a day, they tend to follow me around, i didnt notice one standing off the side tired looking, but now i am watching the color of the combs and if they seem lethargic. I do have a lovely bantam in the group that i think looks more tired, usually she is darting around.
my first thoughts.
1. their crops were jam packed with food. so I assumed they weren't using any grit, i switched up to a smaller granite style grit other than the TSC purple stuff, which they haven't touched since they have been here.
2. the first bird was really thin, I didn't really notice with her feathers, but when i picked her up i realized it. Her crop was large and stuffed with food. some grass, and i think a couple pieces of the pine shavings i put in their pen run. nice looking liver, and other organs looked good. but hardly no meat on her bones. pale comb.
3. second bird, same full crop, full gizzard, beautiful bright liver, but a lot of yellow fat on gizzard. she wasnt as thin, had meat on her breasts and legs. the pictures of the second hen are below. The first bird had no fat anywhere on her organs.
4. both their combs were pale by comparison, both died overnight at the bottom of the coop. I haven't seen any worms in their droppings and i scoop poop nearly everyday.
5. I'm at a loss maybe someone here can see something in the photos that im missing. I really thought their crops were too full so maybe the grit wasn't working, i switched that up to a good smaller granite type grit. I didn't feel any grit in the food in the crop. I apologize if this is to long of a post, but I've been guessing here for days now. dreading going out to the coop this morning. yesterday a cute little bantam wasn't herself, very tired looking..
Thanks in advance for any help..

First pic whole bird

This was the food in the crop:


the food in the Gizzard and inerds


heart and lungs

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for posting your necropsy pictures. Sorry for your loss. Were the bodies found early in the morning before they had been eating food? It looks like that is the case, so it may be crop or gizzard impaction. The skinny one may have had a crop disorder for awhile. The lungs are discolored in the picture. Did you see much fat around other organs or under the skin? Fatty liver disease is fairly common. Do you know what they had been eating before you took them? How old are they? Hopefully others will chime in on the necropsy pictures. What state are you in? Most state vets can do a more thorough necropsy, complete with tissue samples and cultures. Each state is a little different. I might send in one if you lose another. It might not hurt to treat them with Corid since they are new to you and could be exposed to a different strain of coccidiosis, especially the young ones. Worms, reproductive disorders, and other things can cause a slow down of the crop.

 

[theladieskeeper]

Thanks for posting your necropsy pictures. Sorry for your loss. Were the bodies found early in the morning before they had been eating food? It looks like that is the case, so it may be crop or gizzard impaction. The skinny one may have had a crop disorder for awhile. The lungs are discolored in the picture. Did you see much fat around other organs or under the skin? Fatty liver disease is fairly common. Do you know what they had been eating before you took them? How old are they? Hopefully others will chime in on the necropsy pictures. What state are you in? Most state vets can do a more thorough necropsy, complete with tissue samples and cultures. Each state is a little different. I might send in one if you lose another. It might not hurt to treat them with Corid since they are new to you and could be exposed to a different strain of coccidiosis, especially the young ones. Worms, reproductive disorders, and other things can cause a slow down of the crop.

I did find them early morning laying under the roost bars. i check them at night, so it happened after dark, before sunrise.
The gizzard was covered with fat, a little on the heart. not much under the skin. the first one was really skin and bones, ive never seen that, yet with her feathers she just looked young.
I noticed the discoloring on the lungs as well
I don't know what they were previously eating,
i would guess a year or so old, they had lots of tiny eggs left.
I am in NE ohio.
Thanks for your reply, i will look into the corrid.