Mystery illness

[corgiscatsandchickens]

Haven't posted in a long time, just been lurking. Need some serious help now though. Last year we lost three barred rock hens to a sudden illness. We medicated, treated, etc. and still lost them. Now, a year later, another hen is showing the exact symptoms. We've ruled out sour crop, impacted crop, cocci, lice, etc. The hens' deaths last year happened on a long holiday weekend, so preserving the bodies for a necropsy was impossible. Dear Maggie will probably die today. So now the question is how to handle things. If I put her out of her misery, how do I do it humanely without interfering with the necropsy? If she lasts until after business hours, what will be the best way to preserve the body until tomorrow?

In case anyone is interested, she's a 3 year old barred rock, and until Saturday, was top hen, laying, eating, and having a grand time. Saturday night we found her off the roost in a puddle of clear white poo, Sunday she ate a teaspoon of food and some yogurt, today she looks 100x worse, has a nasty butt and no strength at all. Sigh. I feel so helpless.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[casportpony]

If she dies today, just put her in the fridge, not the freezer and ship her on ice packs tomorrow. I've lost a bunch this year to ascites, EYP and oviduct cancer, all could be detected by doing a cloacal exam.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This is a copy and past from a post of mine:

How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy​

They need the whole bird, not frozen. If you live in CA, there are four labs that do necropsies on poultry (chickens, turkeys, waterfowl) for free. I know that they do out of state necropsies, but I think they charge for those. You could call them and ask what they charge for out of state "backyard poultry". The lab I use is the one in Tulare, CA. If you are in CA, let me know and I'll get the FedEx number for you.

CAHFS
Attn: Dr. Shivaprasad
18830 Road 112
Tulare, CA 93274-9042
(559) 688-7543
(559) 686-4231 (FAX)
[email protected]


The other labs are listed here:
http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/services/lab_locations.cfm

If it's Friday, unless you want to overnight for Saturday delivery, I would suggest shipping on Monday for Tuesday delivery. What you need to do, if you haven't already done so, is put your hen in your refrigerator, NOT the freezer! Then you need to find a box, line it with styrofoam (I use the 4'x8'x1" stuff from Home Depot. You can also get smaller pieces at an art store like Michael's, but is way more expensive. Click here to see foam options. You'll also need at least one ice pack. Here are some pictures that I took of the last bird that I sent:

Box lined with foam on four sides and bottom. Seams of foam taped sealed.


Box, sides, bottom and and top.


Frozen ice pack in ziplock baggie.


Brown paper on top of ice pack.


Hen in ziplock baggie on top of brown paper.


Brown paper on top of hen.


Ice pack on top of brown paper.


Lid on top of brown paper.
​

Inside the box you should also include a submission form in a ziplock baggie. Do not tell anyone at FedEx that you're shipping a dead animal... that seems to really worry them. Just make sure that nothing will leak.

-Kathy

 

[corgiscatsandchickens]

I'm in TN, and can transport her myself, so no need to worry FedEx, lol. Thanks

 

[casportpony]

I'm in TN, and can transport her myself, so no need to worry FedEx, lol. Thanks

Well that makes it much easier, lol. Curiously, are you going to UT?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Sorry, I don't mean to sound insensitive, but most labs will accept live animals and do the euthanasia for free, this allows them to do a blood draw, which makes their testing of certain things easier.

-Kathy

 

[corgiscatsandchickens]

C.E. Kord Animal Disease Laboratory
Ellington Agriculture Center in Nashville

 

[corgiscatsandchickens]

Kathy, don't worry abt sounding insensitive. Right now, I have to be less concerned abt Maggie and more concerned abt the rear of the flock. I called the lab and they won't take her live. Otherwise, I'd be on the road right now.

 

[casportpony]

Kathy, don't worry abt sounding insensitive. Right now, I have to be less concerned abt Maggie and more concerned abt the rear of the flock. I called the lab and they won't take her live. Otherwise, I'd be on the road right now.

That's too bad... I know the UC Davis lab actually does prefer them live, they'll even pick them up if one of the State vets is in the area. You could try doing a cloacal exam on her, that might help you rule out something contagious. I've lost several this year to repro issues and all could be detected by doing a cloacal exam. Unfortunately, your hen is at the age where you see lots of repro issues... I have several hens aged 3-5 years that have ascites or oviduct cancer that I can feel by doing the exam and I know they don't have much longer.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

For the exam you need to catch her and gently insert a well lubed, gloved finger in her cloaca.

Here are some pictures for you:












-Kathy