Culled rooster: Liver hard, grey, with tiny yellowish spots.

[MargaretYakoda]

On Friday I culled a rooster. A hatchery bred buff Orpington. He was from our first set of chicks, and he was almost 3. He had episodes of having some blue on his comb. That has started when he was only nine months old. But it was rare, and only the back couple of points. Otherwise he appeared fine. No discharge, no coughing, active and very interested in his hens. His fertility did drop to about 75% in the last six months, however. And lately his comb was more blue, more often.

So, we culled him. And his liver was a fright. Hard, like it had been over cooked. And it had tiny, yellowish, spots. And I don't think I saw a gall bladder, although there was a green spot on the liver.
Also? The ends of both cecas were almost black, and one had a lump in it.
The lungs were fine. Everything else appeared to be fine.

He wasn't overly fatty. The butchered carcass was just over 5 pounds.

I don't think I have the resources to test the carcass, and I did throw away the guts.

We have had three chickens out of perhaps a hundred since we began raising them. Three total have dropped dead. One cockerel at about 3 months, one egg bound hen - I did a necropsy, absolutely egg bound. Gross. And a hen who was also in the first bunch of chicks dropped deal two days after I gave her to a friend. The friend didn't wish to necropsy, but said the hen had looked perfectly fine the day before. ALL of the sudden deaths were overnight, discovered in the coop in the morning.

We have broody raised chicks running around the yard, and they all look excellent. We have a bunch of other hens and capons who also show no signs of illness. And we have two younger Jersey Giant cocks who appear to be absolutely fine. No sneezes. No other blue combs. Everybody appears to be a decent weight, and all have good appetites and are enthusiastic foragers.

SO. My thoughts on what this might be are:
Edited to add in italics the ones I know are safe to eat if cooked properly

Fowl Cholera The liver looked a LOT like the one here:
http://www.poultrydisease.ir/Atlases/avian-atlas/search/lesion/385.html

Mareks Safe to eat when cooked properly Everyone else appears fine, and there were no other tumors or lesions on this bird. Further, he was supposed to have been vaccinated at the hatchery.

Mycotoxins (we do occasionally have a bit of mold on the feed)

Fatty Liver Disease Safe to eat when cooked properly (he LOVED his cracked corn!) But there wasn't any excess fat on him.

Lymphoid Leucosis

campylobacter jejuni Safe to eat when cooked properly
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...verview_of_avian_campylobacter_infection.html
Possibly? This rooster DID have a very bad case of pasty butt when he was shipped to us. It was about four days before it finally cleared up.

Zink poisoning? He had a hex nut in his gizzard. Could that have leached enough metal toxin into his system to fry his liver? Highly unlikely. Zinc causes pancreatic lesions, but not liver issues.

histomoniasis: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/207/histomonosis/

Any other possibilities?

Also, I fed the heart and gizzard - raw- to our golden lab. She shows no sign of illness (Did that before I really looked at the liver)

We won't be eating this bird, because we were emotionally attached to him. But would it be OK to give the meat to a friend? The friend would cook it... of course ...

 

[Folly's place]

Throw it out! I sure wouldn't offer it to a friend; Maybe to an enemy? Just kidding, sorry. Mary

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Throw it out! I sure wouldn't offer it to a friend; Maybe to an enemy? Just kidding, sorry. Mary

But, for most of these illnesses - maybe all - it's OK to eat the cooked meat. So why would I throw it out? And remember.... My dog at it RAW and she's totally fine... And I'm not sick, which, if it were campylobactor, would probably not be the case at all.

 

[jrjoplin]

It's hard for me to eat a bird that died from any cause other than butchering even knowing that it's been shown to be safe. Most of the time you're safe but my issue here is that you really can't determine the cause of death. I'm sure the risk is minimal but I'd hate for someone I know to get sick from one of my chickens when I knew the bird was somehow diseased.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

It's hard for me to eat a bird that died from any cause other than butchering even knowing that it's been shown to be safe. Most of the time you're safe but my issue here is that you really can't determine the cause of death. I'm sure the risk is minimal but I'd hate for someone I know to get sick from one of my chickens when I knew the bird was somehow diseased.

Hence this thread....

I am asking if there could be any causes other than what I've identified, and if ANY of the causes I've identified are a hazard to humans.

 

[Eggcessive]

I probably would not give the meat away. Most chicken carcasses will be condemned if anything unusual is found during processing. This is interesting to try and figure out what was wrong. I hope someone comes up with an answer.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I probably would not give the meat away. Most chicken carcasses will be condemned if anything unusual is found during processing. This is interesting to try and figure out what was wrong. I hope someone comes up with an answer.

At the very least I'll probably feed the meat to our dog. But the person I am thinking of giving it to is going through a very poor time right now, and could really use the meat. IF I can determine that it's safe, I would like to give it to him.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Also? I'd like to have a better idea of what may be the cause, so I can treat the entire flock properly if I need to.

 

[jrjoplin]

Hence this thread.... 

I am asking if there could be any causes other than what I've identified, and if ANY of the causes I've identified are a hazard to humans.

A guess of other causes would be just that, guesses. I'd have to research your list but off the top of my head Campylobacteriosis can make people quite sick if the meat isn't cooked properly.

 

[rides2far]

Yes, it is very bad. I contracted it from a restaurant when I was 2 months pregnant. I was extremely ill & had to have IVs & ultrasounds to make sure baby was all right. You don't want to pass this on.