Chicken dropped dead - warning, necropsy photos included

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

The eye issue is on a different chicken. One that is still alive and I pray will stay that way for a long time. She’s my favorite and loves to come sit on my lap. Here is the picture of her eye

The eye thing looks very, very similar to something one of my hens had on her cheek next to her beak. It seemed like a pus-ball and I simply pulled it out. It bled a little bit but healed up fine and she was perfectly fine afterwards.

 

[Emak2323]

The eye thing looks very, very similar to something one of my hens had on her cheek next to her beak. It seemed like a pus-ball and I simply pulled it out. It bled a little bit but healed up fine and she was perfectly fine afterwards.

I would kiss you if this is true for my girl as well!! With losing two chicks within 5 days of each other, you can imagine why my worry is peaking. I have had all 9 of them for a year and a half since they were a day old, so it’s been a bit of a shock. Now I have7

 

[micstrachan]

I just looked this up. They aren’t really fed anything excessive for treats (meal worms to get them back into their coop at night and not an enormous amount) and they free range all day. It has been hot, so perhaps they haven’t moved around as much, but they also aren’t over weight. Is that a pre-requisite? That they be fat?

If yours free range all day, it seems to me that they would not be fat. My understanding is that fatty liver is usually, but not always, caused from being “well conditioned” (carrying excessive fat). There can be a genetic component, as well.

My necropsy was done at UC Davis. She did not seem fat to me, and I even thought she was getting thin (maybe losing breast muscle from the undetected liver disease?) A necropsy of another bird revealed extra fat and an avian vet on a live, but ill bird said she was “well insulated like a seal.” My flock has definitely been carrying too much fat, even though I thought I was barely giving them any treats, either. I think in my case, it was mostly from the forage seed I threw two eeasons ago, combined with access to unlimited amounts of feed and boredom.

Sorry not to be of more help.

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

I would kiss you if this is true for my girl as well!! With losing two chicks within 5 days of each other, you can imagine why my worry is peaking. I have had all 9 of them for a year and a half since they were a day old, so it’s been a bit of a shock. Now I have7

I'm so sorry!
Unfortunately some years are just rough! A couple years ago I lost a large amount of my flock from a bombardment of bad luck involving disease and predators. The good news is that while there are bad times there are also really good times, so don't give up!

 

[Emak2323]

If yours free range all day, it seems to me that they would not be fat. My understanding is that fatty liver is usually, but not always, caused from being “well conditioned” (carrying excessive fat). There can be a genetic component, as well.

My necropsy was done at UC Davis. She did not seem fat to me, and I even thought she was getting thin (maybe losing breast muscle from the undetected liver disease?) A necropsy of another bird revealed extra fat and an avian vet on a live, but ill bird said she was “well insulated like a seal.” My flock has definitely been carrying too much fat, even though I thought I was barely giving them any treats, either. I think in my case, it was mostly from the forage seed I threw two eeasons ago, combined with access to unlimited amounts of feed and boredom.

Sorry not to be of more help.

This is so helpful!! I really wouldn’t have thought it possible, but maybe I over did it with treats In the winter. Thank you for sharing with me. It’s given me some hope for the rest of my girls

 

[Nurz betty]

This morning I went out to check the chickens/eggs and found one of my girls dead she just laid an egg yesterday and nothing had seemed wrong.

4 days ago I put down another chick that had thrown up and was wheezing, but I believe that was related to her laying eggs internally and having egg peritonitis.

I hadn’t noticed any signs in this chicken of anything wrong. However, she has always been stand-offish. I did a necropsy and it seemed there were lots of fat deposits (on her heart, a big fat flap in her coeminal cavity) and her liver seemed a bit flabby. I’ve never dissected a healthy chicken so it’s difficult to say. Her lungs were also tan in color and looked to have some hemorrhaging. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I am terrified it’s something contagious and I may lose more of my girls.

Warning: graphic content

So sorry for your lost!
Something similar happened to one of my hens yesterday evening. Found her dead in the coop..just laying there. She was fine earlier in the day, eating, running around and even lid her last egg. Had a necropsy performed this morning (30 bucks) and apparently it was internal bleeding from the liver. I felt horrible! She was only 1 years old . Thought it was coccidiosis because of one my other hens was ill with that but I was able to nurse her back to health.

Below is their report;

Comment: The cause of death of the bird was internal bleeding from the liver. The bird was affected with the condition fatty-hemorrhagic liver syndrome (also called fatty liver-hemorrhagic syndrome [FLHS]). This condition is relatively common in laying hens with excessive body fat. The exact cause of the condition in backyard laying hens is unknown, but consuming high-energy feed (feed high in calories) and low energy-burning rate are believed to be important contributing factors. Other factors include mycotoxin in the feed, deficiency of certain amino acids and vitamins, and genetic
predisposition.

 

[Eggcessive]

@Nurz betty sorry for your loss, but thanks for posting the necropsy results. My hens that have died from fatty liver were fed a diet of flock raiser, and free ranged. They didn’t get a lot of treats, and were not overweight. As the statement said, they can get it from heredity, mycotoxin or fungus, and other causes.

 

[Emak2323]

So sorry for your lost!
Something similar happened to one of my hens yesterday evening. Found her dead in the coop..just laying there. She was fine earlier in the day, eating, running around and even lid her last egg. Had a necropsy performed this morning (30 bucks) and apparently it was internal bleeding from the liver. I felt horrible! She was only 1 years old . Thought it was coccidiosis because of one my other hens was ill with that but I was able to nurse her back to health.

Below is their report;

Comment: The cause of death of the bird was internal bleeding from the liver. The bird was affected with the condition fatty-hemorrhagic liver syndrome (also called fatty liver-hemorrhagic syndrome [FLHS]). This condition is relatively common in laying hens with excessive body fat. The exact cause of the condition in backyard laying hens is unknown, but consuming high-energy feed (feed high in calories) and low energy-burning rate are believed to be important contributing factors. Other factors include mycotoxin in the feed, deficiency of certain amino acids and vitamins, and genetic
predisposition.

Oh I’m so sorry. I know how hard it is. thank you for sharing the necropsy results. Where did you get it done? $30 seems so cheap! I heard it’s about $100 at the university of New Hampshire here.

I also wanted to update this thread with my suspected cause of death for Mink. She either had fatty liver hemorrhagic disease or she might have had worms that lead to a hemorrhage (when I did my own version of a necropsy, I didn’t cut into the intestines, so I could have missed the worms I suspect).

I talked to another chicken owner about all the weird unrelated symptoms I was seeing and she thought it might be worms (I had another hen with a spot on her eye, the next day another hen looked like she had blood on her nose, probably from bumping it, and later that day a different hen laid a shellless egg outside of the coop right in front of me!).

I gave them some diatomaceous earth last night with some treats and this morning I found a round worm in their poop! I’ve never been so relieved. I got a de-wormer and gave it to all 7 of the 1&1/2 year old hens today along with a preventative all natural supplement that I added to my 2 month old chickens water (they live in separate housing and have been acting fine). I believe it was called backyard defend or something if the sort. Short little bottle with black liquid inside.

since you got an actual necropsy, I’m sure it wasn’t that for you, but I wanted to share on this post for future others.

thank you again for sharing. I buried my girl under a new tree i bought in memorial Hope you found a way to help you deal with it too.