Healthy hen drops dead. Autopsy pics. **graphic**

[theladieskeeper]

This is a 2nd hen that didn't present any symptoms and was found dead as if scared to death right on the spot. the last one was a buff. this one is a Barred rock. I have a couple questions about the autopsy pics I took if anyone has experience looking at them. I am experienced with chickens and know when chickens aren't doing well, by their behavior and the smell in the coop. My girls are doing even after the heat wave here in cleveland and seem to be putting on weight for the coming winter. No standing around, coughing, feather picking. We have had a red tail flying around and even landed in the pasture but this hen didn't have a mark on her. They eat certified NON gmo no soy feed from an Amish mill in applecreek ohio. i do give scratch every couple days to have them scratch up under the apple trees to get the bugs that winter in the ground then mark up my apples. So on to my questions:
1. Should there be so many formed egg yolks waiting to ascend and get their shells then laid?
2. Is the amount of yellow fat in the backside normal?
3. I did find a couple worms in the intestines, but I haven't de-wormed for winter yet. Not infested.
4. Is the stuff in the gizzard normal? if so I don't think ill be eating gizzards any longer...
5. What am i looking at in pic 3? the hard black oval thing?
I have many more photos if more are needed. I didn't dissect lungs because i didn't notice any coughing and honestly didn't think about cutting organs open except that fat gizzard..
Comments welcome
Thanks
Cheryle

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't mean to upset by saying this but IF I was fed water that looked like this I'd prolly die too. Has this water ever been changed?

View attachment 1498214

I don’t know about the OP, but I have several of those kinds of pans in my chicken yard that get scrubbed out twice a day and look like that. Chickens walk through them to cool off in 95 degree weather, and they have other regular chicken waterers as well.

 

[coach723]

I agree, there is too much fat in the abdomen, and around the heart and gizzard. Gizzard looks normal to me, except for the fat around it. Where in the cavity was the black oval thing, and the organ next to it in the picture? Also the red mass in the picture next to the heart? If those are liver, then that is a very diseased liver, looks almost necrotic, but in the first picture there looks like more normal liver in the bottom of picture, so not sure what I'm seeing. My other thought was lash egg, wish you had cut it open to look. Where it was in the body may provide clues.
I don't know if it will help, but here are some pictures of normal organs during necropsy, maybe one will help in recognizing what you found based on where it was.
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/Poultry necropsy manual 02008.pdf
Sorry, not much help in this case, but will be watching to see what others think.

 

[Eggcessive]

In fatty liver hemorrhagic disease, the liver may appear tan or putty colored. There also can be evidence of hemorrhage which could be the bloody colored blob. The black thing looks like the gallbladder which normally is next to the liver.

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...f-fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-poultry

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/fatty-liver-syndrome

 

[theladieskeeper]

I'm sorry for your loss

I am by no means an expert I'm still learning, hopefully @Eggcessive @coach723 and @rebrascora will chime in.
I'll give you my thoughts. There is a lot of fat, so no, that is not normal. Excess fat can lead to Fatty Liver Disease and make it harder for hens to lay eggs. Some birds can be predisposed to packing on the pounds, but it's always a good idea to evaluate what and how much you feed. https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

I looks like she has yolk in the abdomen. She probably was laying internally for at least a while, some of the matter in there looks to have become "congealed" for the lack of a better term. This is what's seen with hens that have eggs/egg yolks deposited into the abdomen.

The gizzard should not have layer of fat. The contents are probably normal, it looks like it contained ground up foodstuff.

I don't know what the black "thing" is, hopefully someone will recognize it.

View attachment 1498245

Thank you!
I too was shocked to see those yolks there and thought the yellow fat looked like jellied yolks. Ill take a look at the makeup of their feed and evaluate the kitchen scraps they get. They seem healthy running around all day doing their chix stuff. My egg production has slowed, hopefully they arent all packing their abdomens with yolks...
Thanks again for your input.

 

[casportpony]

I don’t know about the OP, but I have several of those kinds of pans in my chicken yard that get scrubbed out twice a day and look like that. Chickens walk through them to cool off in 95 degree weather, and they have other regular chicken waterers as well.

lol, yeah, you should see some of mine!

 

[casportpony]

Here is a photo of when i first opened her up. I think the red items may be the kidney?
But why would the liver be orange?

Read this:
https://htrchickens.com/2013/04/15/...er-hepatic-lipidosis-contains-graphic-images/

I am not an expert, but this is what I think:

 

[theladieskeeper]

A big thanks to everyone for the comments and great links. This site is soo helpful because of people like you guys..
Thanks
Cheryle

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Sorry, late to the game. I agree, severe hepatic lipidosis and the liver fractured (it becomes very friable when it's that fatty) and the hen bled out - that explains the roughened area on the bottom of the liver, and the huge blood clot in the abdomen. The color of the fat - that bright neon yellow - also is consistent with fatty liver disease and icterus from liver failure. If you peel back her eyelids and look at the conjunctiva, is it also yellow? Her skin may be tinged dark yellow, too. Sadly, a lot of birds are like me - too willing to each too much good food. Some of it is genetic predisposition, breed, etc. I think the number of yolks is normal for an active high production layer like a BR. But that globby looking yellow stuff is probably necrotic fat - does it feel "soapy" (soap is basically just fat with stuff added to it) ? The more liquid yellow is probably a yolk that was nicked when you opened the abdomen.
FWIW, I don't feed my chickens free choice with access to food all the time; I do some feed limitation to encourage them to forage more and get exercise. I think they are probably hungry a lot of the time...But don't beat yourself up - it sounds like you have a great set up, just greedy birds and too much good stuff to eat! And you are helping other people, too, by sharing your experiences. Great pics by the way.

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

@speckledhen @KikisGirls @casportpony @drumstick diva they are members of BYC that have been here for a while and know a lot of stuff