Labored breathing

[staceyj]

I am so sorry to hear this news about your girl!



I lost a 9month old australorp last year without warning.
She was out and about, running and dust bathing with her flockmates...
she was hilarious, the Lucille ball of the group.
Went into the coop to lay an egg...

We had been working in the yard. I’d gone in to do a few things in the house and got involved in other things and later came out to ask DH a question.
Noticed she wasn’t with the others. When he opened the coop door to check on her she was dead as if she’d stepped out of the nesting box and just collapsed.
I wanted to necropsy, DH did NOT, but finally he came around to understanding my need to know.

It was very apparent as soon as I opened her abdomen that it was a fatty liver hemorrhage. There were many clots of pooled blood and her liver was like mush.
Not at all that firm and silky texture it should have been.

I apologize for being graphic in my description but I want to share that it didn’t take long at all to figure out the problem.
We buried her in the garden.

Many hugs to you today.

 

[rebrascora]

It doesn't sound like diet is the issue and not a heavy bird being a red sex link but she could still have had a genetic disposition to Fatty Liver and as @stacyj explained it is pretty simple to pinpoint with a necropsy.

 

[sonjadowns]

I am so sorry to hear this news about your girl!



I lost a 9month old australorp last year without warning.
She was out and about, running and dust bathing with her flockmates...
she was hilarious, the Lucille ball of the group.
Went into the coop to lay an egg...

We had been working in the yard. I’d gone in to do a few things in the house and got involved in other things and later came out to ask DH a question.
Noticed she wasn’t with the others. When he opened the coop door to check on her she was dead as if she’d stepped out of the nesting box and just collapsed.
I wanted to necropsy, DH did NOT, but finally he came around to understanding my need to know.

It was very apparent as soon as I opened her abdomen that it was a fatty liver hemorrhage. There were many clots of pooled blood and her liver was like mush.
Not at all that firm and silky texture it should have been.

I apologize for being graphic in my description but I want to share that it didn’t take long at all to figure out the problem.
We buried her in the garden.
Many hugs to you today.

Thank you so much for your assistance and insight. It took me awhile to do the necropsy as I have never done that before nor have I ever butchered a chicken. I took some pictures but am having difficulty in loading them to the website via my old cell phone. I will try later using the computer. Her liver was mush. Part even looked like it just exploded. There was a thick layer of fat in her abdominal cavity. I think your right that it was fatty liver disease. I want to make sure I'm not giving out too much evening treat. I mix 1 cup each of cracked corn, meal worms, and BOSS. I give 1/3 to 1/2 of this mixture to 16 chickens. Is that too much?

 

[staceyj]

Thank you so much for your assistance and insight. It took me awhile to do the necropsy as I have never done that before nor have I ever butchered a chicken. I took some pictures but am having difficulty in loading them to the website via my old cell phone. I will try later using the computer. Her liver was mush. Part even looked like it just exploded. There was a thick layer of fat in her abdominal cavity. I think your right that it was fatty liver disease. I want to make sure I'm not giving out too much evening treat. I mix 1 cup each of cracked corn, meal worms, and BOSS. I give 1/3 to 1/2 of this mixture to 16 chickens. Is that too much?

You have your answer then.

I think some breeds are more susceptible to it and some birds in particular as well.

I’m not going to pass judgment on your treating habits or tel you what to do.

Instead I’ll share what I did after we lost Margaret-Tate.

I saw how thick the fat was inside her body, and held what was left of her liver in my palm.

I made a decision to let DH give the girls treats but I stopped completely and immediately.

I felt like I’d killed her.
I want to cry just thinking of her.
She was such a sassypants!

I grow lots of herbs and keep a pretty diverse home garden in the warm months and I’ve tried to convince DH to choose chicken treats from there.

I also now spend money at the grocery store in the winter months buying herbs by the bunch.

We keep a small container of raw sunflour seeds and a small one of dried mealworms by the door in case of emergency and on the weekend I “allow” DH to give them some of these goodies.

I’m militant about it honestly. Lol.

Like I practically pat him down when he goes out the backdoor because he loves them but doesn’t get the seriousness of this. He delights in trying to sneak out with the treat jar in his pocket. I know he thinks I’m mean. Because I stop him and take it away if he’s already been out there once.

He couldn’t bear to watch the necropsy of his favorite “girl” and even made me sew her back up at the end so he could say goodbye to her when he buried her.

 

[ChickNanny13]

sonja downs & staceyj

 

[staceyj]

@sonjadowns can I add here please that I’m really proud of what you did today.
It’s hard.

 

[sonjadowns]

My DH doesn't give out the treats so I don't have to worry about that. I use the treats to get them back into the run while it is still light so I can count them. Today I only gave out two handfuls to get the majority of them up. The other two were placed in the run. I'll try the fresh herbs.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

My DH doesn't give out the treats so I don't have to worry about that. I use the treats to get them back into the run while it is still light so I can count them. Today I only gave out two handfuls to get the majority of them up. The other two were placed in the run. I'll try the fresh herbs.

Well done @sonjadowns , it is a difficult thing to commit to doing but I really think the closure and explanation of why they died makes it a really beneficial experience.

We all love to treat our girls What I do to try 'get it right' is try to go by the 10% rule: 10% of what I give them can be nice healthy treats, other than that they only get their complete chicken feed. I thought they would be terribly upset when I adjusted to this rule, but it was only I that got upset about it, they really didn't seem to care

Well done again

 

[ChickNanny13]

Treats are actually for us, makes us feel better

 

[rebrascora]

I agree, well done for having the courage to do the necropsy, especially when you haven't done anything like that before. I also agree that it sounds like fatty liver from your description of the liver and the fat. The images of the ones I have done with it stay with me mentally and help me to be more strict with the treats. I really found the amount of thick yellow fat quite shocking. If I were you I might be inclined to cut the cracked corn out altogether and just give them a few meal worms if you need to get them back in. A quarter of a cup of meal worms should still be enough to bring them back in when you want them but try to remember that free ranging is probably the biggest and best treat they can get, so don't feel mean about cutting back on the other stuff. I give my girls a warm mash on a night made from their regular feed soaked in warm water until it breaks down to a mush (or ferment it). They treat that like a favourite treat too and all jostle for space around the pan until it is gone, so it doesn't have to be something different for it to be a treat, just how you present it.