Help! Warning: graphic necropsy

[gingerfarms]

One of my barred rocks started with panting yesterday mid morning. She was sluggish and not eating or drinking. By evening she was gone. I did a necropsy, and there was a large mass of yellow fat (?) in her abdomen and surrounding her gizzard. It looked like a bunch of yolks in her oviduct as well. No signs of mucus in respiratory tract or nasal cavity. Any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

there was a large mass of yellow fat (?) in her abdomen and surrounding her gizzard. It looked like a bunch of yolks in her oviduct

I'm sorry for your loss.

There is a lot of fat.
Did you open the oviduct and find egg yolks and/or an egg, something like an egg?
Had she been having trouble laying eggs?

https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/avian-reproductive-female/

 

[gingerfarms]

I'm sorry for your loss.

There is a lot of fat.
Did you open the oviduct and find egg yolks and/or an egg, something like an egg?
Had she been having trouble laying eggs?


View attachment 2091887

https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/avian-reproductive-female/

There were a lot of yolks- about 3 or 4 good sized ones and several more smaller ones. We had been getting less eggs lately, but I have 3 other barred rocks so I couldn't tell which one was laying. I use all flock since I have roosters in with the hens, but I'm not sure if that contributed to the fat or not.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

There were a lot of yolks- about 3 or 4 good sized ones and several more smaller ones. We had been getting less eggs lately, but I have 3 other barred rocks so I couldn't tell which one was laying. I use all flock since I have roosters in with the hens, but I'm not sure if that contributed to the fat or not.

Do you give a lot of treats?

The yolks are see are where they should be - the Ovary is in the body cavity and you should be able to see those. The 3-4 that were good size would be the next ones that were "ready" to be released soon into the Infundibulum to be laid.

Some hens do seem to have more fat than others. I'm no genetics expert, but I've found that my Barred Rocks carry more fat than say my New Hampshires. It may be they are hogs (mine Love food), may be they are not as active - sometimes I do feel they may be more predisposed to being "fatter". I too feed an all flock feed with limited treats. Some hens I've necropsied had very little fat while my BR had more. I've never found as much as you are showing though, the ones I've lost had clear signs of reproductive problems like Egg Yolk Peritonitis and 1 had cancer of the ovary.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Other than the large amount of fat, I don’t see anything that jumps out. Was there any yellow fluid that came out of the abdomen when you opened it? Thanks for posting your necropsy pics.