I got a preliminary report back the other day from the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab at Davis. Basically, it indicated that Alfred was obese, some trauma caused her liver to rupture, and she died of internal bleeding. Here's the case summary:
2/10/11:
Death is attributed to a sudden bleed out from a rupture of the liver. The liver had a very soft texture and was pale in color .
The findings are compatible with a syndrome reported in obese chickens referred to as "fatty liver-hemorrhagic" syndrome.
For some unknown reason the livers of very fat chickens often become very soft in texture making them prone to rupture
from even slight trauma. The rupture leads to extensive abdominal bleeding and death. However prior to the rupture these
birds are usually healthy in appearance. If you have other birds you might consider altering their feed (quantity and fat
content) to avoid a similar problem in other birds. While I don't expect to find any other significant findings, additional tests
including microscopic examination of tissues and select cultures are pending and an updated report will follow.
I always thought she was a little big, but never have raised chickens before, I had no idea what a normal size/weight was. I weighed her after she died and she was just over 5 pounds. The lab also sent a bunch of cultures out to check for bacterial infections, salmonella, and bird flu. I think the final report should be coming in a few days. In the interactions I had with the lab folks, they were all pretty helpful.
I haven't made any adjustments to the normal feed of my two remaining chickens, but I have cut back on their treats. I don't know that I have the time or ability to manage how much access the girls have to food.
Has anyone else had something like this happen? I don't know how common it is, but based on the stats of my flock, it affects 1 in 3. I think I need a larger sample group though before jumping to any conclusions.
