I found one of my hens dead in the coop this morning....Necropsy revealed this. Thoughts? *Graphic!*

[mymilliefleur]

The photos pretty much speak for themselves. The heart, liver and body cavity were covered with white, mold like like stuff. There was also some yellow fluid in the abdomen. Yolk maybe?

The hen in question was an 9 month old BR mix. She had been acting fine, eating, drinking, etc. Last night I noticed her standing by herself, but when I walked toward her, she ran away, and seemed alert. This morning she was laying in the coop dead. Every one else is fine. I haven't had a sick bird in the flock for probably 6 months.
What are your thoughts? Any idea what the white stuff is? Maybe some type of infection?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Looks like a systemic infection of some kind.

Note, you probably want to edit your title to include *graphic photos*

 

[Jetblack2004]

Unfourtunately, it looks like an infection. I'm sorry for your loss. Also, you may want to put *Graphic* in the title as this may upset some members.

Edit: double-posted with @Redhead Rae.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Looks like a systemic infection of some kind.

Note, you probably want to edit your title to include *graphic photos*

Unfourtunately, it looks like an infection. I'm sorry for your loss. Also, you may want to put *Graphic* in the title as this may upset some members.

Edit: double-posted with @Redhead Rae.

That was my thought too. Maybe she was an internal layer, or had an egg broken internally?
I just added *Graphic* to the title. Sorry about that !

 

[mymilliefleur]

And to the poor staff member who saw my Report message - Please ignore it, I found out how to edit the title myself! So sorry!

 

[Eggcessive]

Amber fluid in the abdomen can be from ascites from heart or liver failure. A whitish coating on the surface of organs can be a sign of uric acid crystals and visceral gout. The liver looks more tan, and that with a lot of excess fat can be a sign of fatty liver hemorrhagic disease.

I am not a good judge of necropsies, having only done a handful myself. Three of my hens recently died and had a large amount of amber fluid in their bellies from ascites.

Those are several illnesses in chickens that you may want to Google for more info. Hopefully others will chime in with suggestions. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Alaskan]

I think that is a huge amount of fat for a young bird.

Do you feed a high amount of corn?

 

[mymilliefleur]

Amber fluid in the abdomen can be from ascites from heart or liver failure. A whitish coating on the surface of organs can be a sign of uric acid crystals and visceral gout. The liver looks more tan, and that with a lot of excess fat can be a sign of fatty liver hemorrhagic disease.

I am not a good judge of necropsies, having only done a handful myself. Three of my hens recently died and had a large amount of amber fluid in their bellies from ascites.

Those are several illnesses in chickens that you may want to Google for more info. Hopefully others will chime in with suggestions. Sorry for your loss.

Thanks. That's interesting. The liquid was more yellow then amber, it looked like egg that had been scrambled. There were lots of little yellow specks in the liver. You can kind of see them in the pic were the liver is sliced open.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I think that is a huge amount of fat for a young bird.

Do you feed a high amount of corn?

I was surprised by the fat too. I don't feed any corn. She was being fed 18% grower crumbles.

 

[Alaskan]

I was surprised by the fat too. I don't feed any corn. She was being fed 18% grower crumbles.

huh... odd to be that fat then.....