Dead Guinea, need help

Runkrod

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 17, 2014
12
0
22
Chesapeake, VA
Hey gang,
Went out to the coop this evening and found one of my guineas dead on the floor. I have a small flock of 5 (now 4). They are all about 16 weeks old. She was just laying on the floor, like she was roosting there, but with head laying to one side as if she fell asleep and died. I can see no obvious wounds or marks on her body, with the exception of the picture below. There was no predator in the coop and the other 4 appear fine. I realize I have provided zero information to be able to determine cause of death, with possible exception of picture. This thing is located at what I can only describe as the small of the back. It is surrounded by a yellow, waxy material. I can't tell if this is a natural part of the guinea anatomy, or the "smoking gun" of some sort of wound or even external parasite. Would appreciate if someone might be able to tell me what this could be and if it could be related to cause of death.
Thanks
 
I have had guinea's fly into walls, break their neck on the perch and kill them selves falling from a tree branch and hitting other branches on the way down. Not the brightest birds in the world. Could yours have just broke its neck inside the coop?
 
I think what you are seeing is the guinea's preen gland (uropygial gland), which is a natural part of a guinea's anatomy. I don't know if the gland might be infected or possibly ruptured, but it doesn't look quite "normal" to me. I have read that a large number of problems with the preen gland can be related to a deficiency of Vitamin A. Here's a link I found to an article that discusses various diseases and abnormalities of the gland that might be of interest: http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/uropygial.html I'm so sorry you lost your guinea.
 
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I have had guinea's fly into walls, break their neck on the perch and kill them selves falling from a tree branch and hitting other branches on the way down.  Not the brightest birds in the world.   Could yours have just broke its neck inside the coop?


That is certainly possible. And concur, they aren't the brightest bulbs on the tree... Thanks
 
I think what you are seeing is the guinea's preen gland (uropygial gland), which is a natural part of a guinea's anatomy.  I don't know if the gland might be infected or posssibly ruptured, but it doesn't look quite "normal" to me.  I have read that a large number of problems with the preen gland can be related to a deficiency of Vitamin A.  Here's a link I found to an article that discusses various diseases and abnormalities of the gland that might be of interest:  http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/uropygial.html  I'm so sorry you lost your guinea. 


That makes sense. I appreciate the info. Thanks.
 
I'd agree that that's the uropygial gland, which has a variety of lovely functions when working correctly, like waterproofing and maintaining feather integrity. That one appears odd though, maybe a clog or infection? I don't have direct experience with an ailment like that, but it might be something worth a look. Sorry about the guinea, best of luck in the future.
 

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