Home necropsy - graphic photos

[Sammster]

Was this egg in a sack right next to the cloaca? Or was it just inside the cloaca? Could you tell?

Internal laying, eggs don't have shells and are floating in the abdominal cavity. But a stuck egg might.have a thin shell. If the egg was still inside the uterus or shell gland, it may have stuck. Another possibility is sudden death syndrome from low blood calcium. The shell gland sucks out all available calcium from the blood, and this causes a heart attack.

To avoid this, when you see a hen laying thin shell or "rubber" eggs, getting her immediately on several days of calcium helps keep blood calcium high and also helps correct the shell issue.

I "think" the egg was just inside the cloaca. It was very easy to remove from the tissue that enveloped it, if that helps. I had not noticed any squatting or distress, leading up to Trixy's death. Also ~ I don't know if I matters - but the droppings under Trixy's roost seemed normal in number - up until this morning's clean-up.

I did have a couple other girls on supplemental calcium last month, when I found a shell-less egg and some slightly yellow droppings, that resolved after a few days. This was all shortly after finishing a regimen of SafeGuard.

What do you think of this thick layer of fat? Is this likely from offering too many treats? And could it lead to a calcium deficiency? I feel awful if I caused this. Obviously, I'm concerned for my other girls, and will no longer be offering these treats.

Some of my girls are molting, and looking pretty raggedy. I know molting can be hard on them. I'm pretty sure they are off lay. They have free-choice oyster shell. Might it be helpful if I sprinkle some into their feed, just to ensure they are ingesting it?

 

[azygous]

The fat isn't a huge concern. Fat is normally present throughout the body, but when it is found in the liver tissue, then it's probably from too many carbs in the diet. But, it's not easy to pin it all on you, so don't be too quick to blame yourself. Some hens are just very simply gluttons. They seems to get more than their share of food, and no matter how carefully you dole out treats, these gluttons will find a way to keep feeding their gluttony.

Since you didn't see this hen in any obvious distress prior to her death, egg binding producing pretty unmistakable symptoms, I lean toward sudden death syndrome. There is no way to predict this, so you couldn't have really done anything.

 

[Sammster]

The fat isn't a huge concern. Fat is normally present throughout the body, but when it is found in the liver tissue, then it's probably from too many carbs in the diet. But, it's not easy to pin it all on you, so don't be too quick to blame yourself. Some hens are just very simply gluttons. They seems to get more than their share of food, and no matter how carefully you dole out treats, these gluttons will find a way to keep feeding their gluttony.

Since you didn't see this hen in any obvious distress prior to her death, egg binding producing pretty unmistakable symptoms, I lean toward sudden death syndrome. There is no way to predict this, so you couldn't have really done anything.

Thank you so much for weighing in. I very much appreciate it.
And thank you, too, @Eggcessive

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Nice job on gaining the courage to take a look and photos too.

I do agree, there's fat, but the liver looks pretty good to me, I see healthy looking Ovum (yolks) in intact Follicles which look normal to me as well.
That was a large egg for sure.
Really hard to say what caused her to suddenly die. Could have been egg binding or it was just her time. Sometimes we are left with unanswered questions.

 

[Sammster]

Nice job on gaining the courage to take a look and photos too.

I do agree, there's fat, but the liver looks pretty good to me, I see healthy looking Ovum (yolks) in intact Follicles which look normal to me as well.
That was a large egg for sure.
Really hard to say what caused her to suddenly die. Could have been egg binding or it was just her time. Sometimes we are left with unanswered questions.

Thank you for weighing in ♡

 

[BelovedBirds]

Please don't judge. I realize this is not a clean necropsy. It's my first, and I had a difficult time. It's also incomplete. I stopped when I thought/hoped I had enough information.

Trixy died unexpectedly, last night. I did not notice any signs of illness or distress, leading up to her death.

First observation: very excessive abdominal fat. I think this is my fault. Too many treats.

Second observation: large, unpigmented egg. Larger than normal for this hen. I'm not certain when her last lay was, but I think it was 2 days ago?

I did not dissect her crop. It seemed normal? Her gizzard... was on the opposite side of her body, than the necropsy video? Her liver seemed very large

I just want to say, I don't think a single person would judge you. You were really brave to do this.
I'm sorry she passed and I hope you have/will get all the answers you need

 

[CindyK75]

Was this egg in a sack right next to the cloaca? Or was it just inside the cloaca? Could you tell?

Internal laying, eggs don't have shells and are floating in the abdominal cavity. But a stuck egg might.have a thin shell. If the egg was still inside the uterus or shell gland, it may have stuck. Another possibility is sudden death syndrome from low blood calcium. The shell gland sucks out all available calcium from the blood, and this causes a heart attack.

To avoid this, when you see a hen laying thin shell or "rubber" eggs, getting her immediately on several days of calcium helps keep blood calcium high and also helps correct the shell issue.

How long/many days do you give the calcium +d3 tablet? I have a B.O. hen who is also finishing up molting now it seems and WAS trying to lay during her re-growing of her damaged feathers (my late rooster really LOVED her, he tore her up and made bald spots, she wore a saddle for a good while) --she has been laying thin shelled eggs off and on but I think she is on the last leg of her molt but I've noticed a ton of feathers everywhere lately and her tail feathers are thinned out. Before this I gave her a calcium+d3 pill for maybe 5 days in the evening after finding cracked shells in nest box. Should I continue or wait till she is done molting. I have slow molting hens it seems, I have oyster shell, crushed egg shells available (don't see her eating them). *I haven't seen anymore broken eggshells in nest nor signs of a broken egg and she hasn't been sitting in the nest box since the calcium supplement*. Thanks for the help.

 

[Sammster]

How long/many days do you give the calcium +d3 tablet? I have a B.O. hen who is also finishing up molting now it seems and WAS trying to lay during her re-growing of her damaged feathers (my late rooster really LOVED her, he tore her up and made bald spots, she wore a saddle for a good while) --she has been laying thin shelled eggs off and on but I think she is on the last leg of her molt but I've noticed a ton of feathers everywhere lately and her tail feathers are thinned out. Before this I gave her a calcium+d3 pill for maybe 5 days in the evening after finding cracked shells in nest box. Should I continue or wait till she is done molting. I have slow molting hens it seems, I have oyster shell, crushed egg shells available (don't see her eating them). *I haven't seen anymore broken eggshells in nest nor signs of a broken egg and she hasn't been sitting in the nest box since the calcium supplement*. Thanks for the help.

@Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give the calcium for a few more days, usually a week.

 

[azygous]

@casportpony could you please look at these photos? This necropsy is anything but benign.