Cystadenocarcinomas in Laying Hens - Graphic pictures

[casportpony]

-Kathy

 

[la femme farmer]

We put down a hen today and performed a necropsy. She presented with the same exact results shown in the pictures. I'm adding to this post because the article mentioned very little information being available for older hens plus the study was on commercial laying hens between 2-4 years old raised in commercial conditions.

Our hen was a 7 year old Buff Orpington/Barnevelder cross. She was the first chick hatched by one of our first year broody hens. The parents were a little over 1 year old (Orp hen/Barnvelder roo). I purchased them from a local farm that operated a small hatchery so they were not your classic hatchery birds. These birds were raised from day 1 on organic whole grain feed (Scratch n' Peck in Washington). We used nipple waterers so no dirty water ever. We used the deep litter method in the coop - there was never a moisture build, smell, etc... What I'm getting at is these birds were treated quite well and lived in an optimal environment - including a large, well-ventilated coop and a large fenced area - we used electronet so the fence was moved periodically to gain them access to fresh ground (we lived in a woodland setting). We never experienced any illnesses, diseases, etc...

When she first presented symptoms - tail feathers down, abdomen bloated - I thought she was egg bound and proceeded to have her soak in warm water and then gloved up and tried to feel around for the egg. I did this a few times but could never feel an egg. She was lethargic and not eating and her breath was labored. She was pooping but there was no egg yolk, so I ruled out that the egg had burst inside her. I thought she would not make it through the night. The next day she seemed "better" in that she was eating, hanging out with the flock, tail wasn't dragging but she was still quite bloated. Her comb never turned pale - it was bright red.
I thought then maybe she had ascites and that was what was causing the bloating but couldn't find much about it that fit her particular set of circumstances. Most of it seemed to related to heat stress and young broilers.

She waddled about but seemed to be ok so we decided to wait on putting her down. Two days ago she started going downhill - breath labored again, loss of appetite, sleeping all day and her comb was getting a little purple and flopped over. By this morning her wings were dragging and she was barely able to move so we decided it was time.

Again - just documenting our situation just in case the info might be useful to someone.

 

[Irmasmom]

I wanted to add to this thread for another case... my 3 year old Buff orphington recently started going downhill (ruffled feathers, lethargy and weight loss) I quarantined her so I could monitor her food and water intake and try to get her feeling better. Over 1-2 weeks she continued to decline. I then noticed her waddled walk and swollen abdomen. I work at a veterinary hospital so I took her in to drain the abdomen to see what we found. Nothing too exciting just a clear fluid and she immediately perked up and ate well that day. However, as expected two days later she was all swollen again. So, I elected euthanasia as I just couldn’t let her suffer any longer. I chose to do a necropsy. What we found was an abdomen FULL of cysts!! I didn’t send out for testing but it is definitely to be suspected Cystadenocarcenoma. It’s quite an interesting find but it appears that this can actually be a common thing in hens. So, I wanted to share if it could help someone in the future!

 

[mg15]

Very informative! Thank you. and as if the poor things needed more to go wrong with them. or get them.
You know when the industry producers cull every two years versus home chickens seems we have more
to deal with and learn. Lots of hands on care and flock care.

 

[Kiki]

View attachment 1754813 I wanted to add to this thread for another case... my 3 year old Buff orphington recently started going downhill (ruffled feathers, lethargy and weight loss) I quarantined her so I could monitor her food and water intake and try to get her feeling better. Over 1-2 weeks she continued to decline. I then noticed her waddled walk and swollen abdomen. I work at a veterinary hospital so I took her in to drain the abdomen to see what we found. Nothing too exciting just a clear fluid and she immediately perked up and ate well that day. However, as expected two days later she was all swollen again. So, I elected euthanasia as I just couldn’t let her suffer any longer. I chose to do a necropsy. What we found was an abdomen FULL of cysts!! I didn’t send out for testing but it is definitely to be suspected Cystadenocarcenoma. It’s quite an interesting find but it appears that this can actually be a common thing in hens. So, I wanted to share if it could help someone in the future!

I am sorry for your loss, thank you for sharing this photo.

 

[Eggcessive]

@Irmasmom sorry for your loss, and glad you shared you necropsy photo.

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you for sharing and so sorry for your loss.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I had a 5-year-old pretty little Easter Egger hen that recently passsd away. She had been noticeably feeling unwell and declining for about a week prior. Nothing obvious except for becoming increasingly inactive and listless, and her abdomen felt swollen. Only during her last two days did it become obvious she was dying. At that point I euthanized her.

Opened her up and found this. Her abdominal cavity was nearly completely filled with these grape-like clusters of varying sizes. Underneath the larger ones were Many more smaller ones.

While such veining would be great in a developing embryo, when the the blood supply is instead feeding a malignant growing cancer, i found the image kinda creepy.

I was able to identify this as cystadenocarcinoma only after finding this thread, @casportpony . I didnt find much information at all on the condition other than your posts.

I don't know how fast growing cystadenocarcinoma is, but i would think this was growing inside her for a while, even though she showed no indications until her last week of life. Birds of all species are masters at hiding their discomfort and pain, that's for sure.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

That looks painful.

 

[Faraday40]

Sadly, my fav 6 yr old hen, Precious died of this yesterday. I orig thought water belly or internal laying. She stopped laying in spring but always had a healthy appetite. She remained top hen even when she could no longer run. She hobbled to greet me each day but spent more & more time resting under her fav tree as the summer progressed. Now in fall, her abdomen was extremely enlarged, the penguin stance was the norm, and I began to see her use her wings to steady herself as she waddled.

Spoiler: autopsy pics

Precious was part of our family and enjoyed her spot as top & elder hen. She was never a high production hen but her attention-seeking personality made us love her nonetheless. Her eggs were large with those dark golden yolks. At 1 yr old she ripped a nail (It grew back) and she had a case of bumble foot about 3 years ago. Otherwise, she was a healthy barnyard mix. Our flock has basic chicken feed but also free ranges during the day. They get kitchen veggie scraps a couple times a week. No other hens have had this.

RIP my dear, sweet Precious.