HELP, tumors ALL inside of hen....

[Jenski]

Whoa. You are one tough cookie. My hat is off to you.

And for the rest - - threehorses said it all much better than I could have.


Sending peace and healing to you and your son - -

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

My son Nugget (Chickennugget here on BYC but he never really posts, he reads with me though) is doing okay. We saved a good amount of her nice feathers and I plan to get a heavy piece of nice paper and make a drawing of her on it and then "make" her with the feathers. We'll then frame it and he can hang it in his room. She was one of our first chickens and the friendliest. She would walk right into the house if you left the door open looking for treats and stuff and followed people all over the farm. Speeder sure will be missed.
Her death was fast. She was ready to go I believe deep down. As soon as I saw how her insides looked I didn't hesitate another moment, poor girl.
RIP Speeder.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
Thanks. I grew up in a vets office almost literally, a very good friend of the family is a very well known vet here in RI and from the time I was 6 I was allowed in his private practice to quietly observe. I then went on to help volunteer in several local rescues and became friends with alot of vets that way, I have helped spay and neuter probably 60+ cats in the local spay/neuter clinics, suture injuries, etc. I don't balk at much and I have probably done surgery on 5 chickens now in the last two years and this the first one I put down. All the others were fixed and now still here. The key is preparing ahead and setting up, and keeping everything as clean as you possibly can. I use most things ONE time and the chuck them, you have to. EVERYTHING she touched yesterday or that her fluid touched got tossed, I took no chances.
I was reluctant to keep the feathers but I knew my son needed something from her to have so I caved, I only took the cleanest feathers from her neck and breast areas and some from under the wings.

I really think it's like processing. The first few times you're doubting yourself, but once you get going and gain confidence you're good to go.
I had a woman call me last week that her duckling broken it's leg very badly and the bone was sticking out. No vet would see it. She brought it to me and I set the bone as best as I could, cleaned the wound, stitched the wound, and made a custom splint and cast for him. He's doing fine so far.
If I think there is even the slightest chance I can help, I will try, it's worth the risk to try.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
I really do think this sounds like internal laying more so than Marek's or Leukosis to me (or perhaps it's wishful thinking). But if you could knock them off of the organ, that's not likely cancer. Things inbed in outer tough skin (thinking collars/dogs) so why not organs? That would really explain the fluid, the nearly-free-floaters, etc. There was a post on here that had very graphic photographs of an internal layer. I wonder if we can dig it up?

Still more hugs. I'm glad you took the chance. I think it's particularly important for us to TRY especially if we have kids watching and learning, and it's a big life lesson when they do have to be put to sleep. It teaches the fragility and responsibility of life.

I'm going to see if I can find that other post.

/hugs


Edited: this wasn't the one I was thinking about, but were the tumors similar to this? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=59777

 

[threehorses]

Leukosis looks more like this:

(credit: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0756e/T0756E08.htm )

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

It DID look like those first two pictures! Almost exactly, but there were of I don't know, over a hundred of them in all different sizes.

The other thing that stands out to me is in the last picture, the heart of her bird off to the right, looks exactly like how Speeders heart looked.

Thank you for that link!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
I don't know, it kinda looked like that though too. I have to wonder if it's possible to have had both things going on. Because she had some that were moveable and could be knocked off of organs, but then she had some INSIDE her liver that you couldn't see from the outside until I cut it open where there was an enlarged bump.
There was nothing on the lungs or anything, did I say that?

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

You know... And don't bash me for this, but-

I'm almost thinking about processing one of my other older hens (same age as her about) to see what her insides look like. I have a couple who have stopped laying and have been destined for the chopping block anyway.

At least if she's fine I'll have chicken dinner.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Remind me - were the tumors down in her lower abdomen? Or up where her ova should be?

If there were some inside the liver, that was likely cancer (marek's or leukosis) unless they were fat globules... Still possible.

If you have a hen that was going to be processed anyway, I don't see why you shouldn't just go ahead and look. Some people simply raise them for meat.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Quote:
Speeder may have suffered from internal laying, but it may have been something contagious such as Marek's or Leukosis. I think that sacrificing one to investigate may, in turn, save the rest. I haven't had experience with any of the above issues, so my opinion is pretty worthless, but if the hen is gonna end up being dinner anyway, may as well do it sooner and find out if Speeder's issue is affecting other birds too.

Also, a 1.5 yr old hen should still be laying (except during molts and winter months when light is less, of course). If you have 1.5 yr olds that aren't laying AT ALL, then I definitely agree with you about processing one to investigate. Just for comparison, I have 6 hens that are 2 yrs old and all of them still lay 3-4 eggs a week minimum. Again, I am not experienced with this internal layers or contagious cancers, but from what I do know, it seems that 1.5 yr old hens that stop laying completely is a bit suspicious.

I hope it is just a one-time thing and the rest of your flock is fine.