Help! Hen was sleepy one day, found dead the next. What could be the cauze of death? *WARNING: GRAPHIC NECROPSY PHOTOS*

[HomesteaderInTraining]

I bought full grown birds - 7 hens, 1 rooster, pair of turkeys - from my grandma-in-law's neighbor. She did not know what breeds they were. On their second day in their new home, I noticed one of the laying hens was sleeping a lot. She would just stand or sit on the ground in the coop and sleep, not really responding to any external stimuli. The next day I found her dead under the roost. I didn't see any injuries, so I opened her up to help figure it out. This was a very rudimentary necropsy, especially because I didn't have any tools (or knowledge) on me at that time. I feed them laying pellets and scratch, and their previous owner said she did the same. I have been cleaning their water bowl every morning to give fresh water. I don't know their breeds as the lady I bought them from didn't know. The others have seemed fine thus far, though she did too the day before her "sleepy" day. I've attached a picture of her on the day before her death, sleeping. The rest are post-mortem photos.

Those dark blobs in the intestines (poop, or soon to be poop I assume?) seem oddly large to me as compared to the size of the intesine, like they are too big to normal, easily passable poops, though I'm not an expert.

There are lots of little round, white blobs (tumors?) lining her intestines. The only pictures I found online (here and on Cornell's website) that looked similar were of Marek's, but these don't look exactly like any of the other pictures I've seen, though I suppose all illnesses and injuries vary slightly from case to case. There is some blackening of organ tissue in the following picture.

I assumed the yellow stuff in her mouth/throat was mucus, though I could be wrong.

Her crop was full, containing seeds, what I assume was grass, and what seemed like A LOT of little rocks. There was also a lot of yellow, yolk-like fluid that came out when I first opened her up. I'm not extremely familiar with chicken anatomy and what "normal" looks like. The diagrams on this site were very helpful for that, but I didn't see them (or do any research into chicken anatomy) until after the necropsy. I have a few more pictures of organs and such, but as a novice without a tool in hand I destroyed some of the organs in the necropsy process so I'm not sure if they'd be helpful.

I need help diagnosing this so I can try to prevent issues with the rest of the flock, or at least know what I'm dealing with.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm no expert for sure.
The yellow fluid is commonly seen in hens that have reproductive disorders.
The nodules could be tumors from cancer or avian leucosis(?) @azygous or @Eggcessive may recognize more.
I do notice her feet, looks like she had Scaly Leg Mites, so you may want to check the other hens and address that if you see any with raised scales.

Sadly, reproductive problems are common in laying hens. Her hunched appearance in the photo tells us she was not well.

 

[azygous]

The trouble with photographing something against a busy background is that your camera, unless it has manual aperture settings, will focus on the background and not the item your photographing, so it's blurry.

From what you tell us, yes, those look like tumors. Probably from an avian virus, but we cannot tell you which one or even confirm it's a virus.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with the others that it sounds like tumors and reproductive infection with possible ascites. I would check inside the beaks of the other birds for any yellow material or plaques, which can be a sign of canker (trichomonosis) a protozoan infection. It has a bad odor and is transmitted in water. Metronidazole or Aqua Zole is a common treatment. It could be related to the other findings though. Here is some reading:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/trichomonosis/trichomonosis

 

[HomesteaderInTraining]

The trouble with photographing something against a busy background is that your camera, unless it has manual aperture settings, will focus on the background and not the item your photographing, so it's blurry.

From what you tell us, yes, those look like tumors. Probably from an avian virus, but we cannot tell you which one or even confirm it's

I'm no expert for sure.
The yellow fluid is commonly seen in hens that have reproductive disorders.
The nodules could be tumors from cancer or avian leucosis(?) @azygous or @Eggcessive may recognize more.
I do notice her feet, looks like she had Scaly Leg Mites, so you may want to check the other hens and address that if you see any with raised scales.

Sadly, reproductive problems are common in laying hens. Her hunched appearance in the photo tells us she was not well.

I didn't notice her feet until you said that, but they do look funky. Since she died I've done more research on illness and disease in chickens and I've started paying more attention to looking over the others, so far no one else has had any problems that I've noticed, Though I do have a pair of hens that seem to be the pariahs of the group for some reason, poor girls.

 

[HomesteaderInTraining]

I agree with the others that it sounds like tumors and reproductive infection with possible ascites. I would check inside the beaks of the other birds for any yellow material or plaques, which can be a sign of canker (trichomonosis) a protozoan infection. It has a bad odor and is transmitted in water. Metronidazole or Aqua Zole is a common treatment. It could be related to the other findings though. Here is some reading:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/trichomonosis/trichomonosis

This might be a stupid question, but how do you catch them and do physical exams without freaking them out? I'm not very good at catching them, and the whole process really stresses them out. Is there anything I can do to make it less stressful or to get them more comfortable with me touching them?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Go out when they are roosting to examine them. Easier to catch.

 

[Eggcessive]

This might be a stupid question, but how do you catch them and do physical exams without freaking them out? I'm not very good at catching them, and the whole process really stresses them out. Is there anything I can do to make it less stressful or to get them more comfortable with me touching them?

The best time is to go in the coop at night when they are on the roost. Wear a headlamp and I use the red light which doesn’t excite them as much, and you can grab them and look them over. This is a good time to give any medicines or treatments.

 

[azygous]

I don't see well at night so my method of snatching a chicken I need to treat is to go into the run carrying a carton of meal worms. I stop and let the flock crowd around me, and I drop a few meal worms at my feet. When the "target" gets withing grabbing range, usually boxed in by the other chickens so she can't easily turn and run off, I drop a few more meal worms practically on my shoes, and when she comes in to get them, I scoop her up.

 

[HomesteaderInTraining]

The best time is to go in the coop at night when they are on the roost. Wear a headlamp and I use the red light which doesn’t excite them as much, and you can grab them and look them over. This is a good time to give any medicines or treatments.

Thank you!