EYP vs cancer

[silkienewbie93]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old red sex link who isn’t herself. She’s been doing the classic sick bird stance and for a few days and wasn’t going to the feeder or watered but would pig out if I offered her feed mixed with water. Today she is less inclined to eat even that and seems more lethargic.

She hasn’t been laying for a little while now although a couple weeks ago a saw her go to the nesting box once or twice without laying an egg.

Her poops have looked small but somewhat normal although occasionally she has a slightly mucousy poop.

Her crop is not emptying well, but it doesn’t feel impacted or sour. I’ve dealt with both before. I suspect there is something more going on that’s causing crop stasis. My guesses are EYP or reproductive cancer.

She hasn’t laid any lash eggs and her feathers around her vent look clean so I was more inclined to think cancer. But I don’t feel any tumours when I palpate her abdomen, which I had been able to with a past chicken. However, she does have a small mass just inside her vent. I thought maybe it could be like a hemorrhoid type thing but it could also indicate more masses inside that are causing her crop not to empty? One reason I’m not convinced it’s cancer is because she’s not underweight. When I’ve dealt with it before, the hens have always gotten skinny before they showed other symptoms.

Anyway, I’ve never dealt with EYP so I don’t really know what to look out for/how to distinguish it from other reproductive issues like cancer. Any thoughts?

 

[azygous]

You can't really know if a chicken has cancer until they die and you open them up and look at the organs. Cancer most often is not a large tumor but many small nodules growing on organs. The fact that the hen has not lost weight doesn't rule out cancer as multiple lesions on an organ can cause that organ to weigh as much as two pounds. This is something I've experienced in my flock.

You might rule out EYP as that often causes yellow soupy poop.

What I highly recommend is to have this hen necropsied at an animal testing lab when she dies to determine if she is carrying an avian virus that causes tumors as this could have serious implications for your flock.

 

[silkienewbie93]

You can't really know if a chicken has cancer until they die and you open them up and look at the organs. Cancer most often is not a large tumor but many small nodules growing on organs. The fact that the hen has not lost weight doesn't rule out cancer as multiple lesions on an organ can cause that organ to weigh as much as two pounds. This is something I've experienced in my flock.

You might rule out EYP as that often causes yellow soupy poop.

What I highly recommend is to have this hen necropsied at an animal testing lab when she dies to determine if she is carrying an avian virus that causes tumors as this could have serious implications for your flock.

Is all reproductive cancer linked to Mareks? I’ve lost 2 to cancer in the past which I just assumed was typical of older hatchery hens. But maybe it is Mareks. I just haven’t seen any of the other typical signs so I didn’t make the connection.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I'd imagine most reproductive cancers are due to how we've bred high production breeds, but I don't have any studies to back that up. I think most production breeds are prone to cancer regardless of their exposure to mareks.

 

[azygous]

@AinaWGSD pegged it. Reproductive tumors are generally not caused by avian viruses but by a genetic predisposition. I've lost three out of the four production breeds I had in their first two years from reproductive issues. Sadly, these breeds are designed to only last the two years most commercial egg operations keep their hens.

 

[silkienewbie93]

@AinaWGSD pegged it. Reproductive tumors are generally not caused by avian viruses but by a genetic predisposition. I've lost three out of the four production breeds I had in their first two years from reproductive issues. Sadly, these breeds are designed to only last the two years most commercial egg operations keep their hens.

That’s good to know, thanks! In retrospect I probably won’t go for production breeds again because they’re really just pets for me, and losing them young to cancer is so heart breaking. I didn’t know at the time I got them about all the associated health issues.

That being said my production breed hens have been some of my favourites. They have such sweet personalities.

 

[azygous]

That's also my view of these type of hens. Mine have been very affectionate which makes it all the more heart breaking what these chickens face.