Necropsy - Fibrous white on heart

[Amart]

Thanks for your help,

It doesn’t look too much like gout. Those are pretty nasty pictures. The “whitish” deposits on my bird was much more subtle. Liver wasn’t shrunken like that.

Thanks


QUOTE="Eggcessive, post: 21672704, member: 85053"]Sorry for your loss. White urate deposits can sometimes be found on internal organs when there is kidney disease or viseral gout. Here are some articles and pictures of visceral gout:
https://thepoultrysite.com/publications/diseases-of-poultry/232/gout


View attachment 1881535[/QUOTE]

 

[azygous]

Usually some moisture is necessary to harbor anaerobic bacteria. You can tell by scraping away all the duff or litter down to the bottom. If a slimy, swampy putrid odor wacks your nose, you may have anaerobic bacteria.

The solution is to dig it all out and expose the lower soil level to sunlight and air.

Mold is very toxic to chickens. Look for that also. The symptoms of mold toxin poisoning is drunken imbalance and ultimately lameness and death.

 

[Amart]

Thanks!

Yup, I really should dig it out. It’s a pick axe kind of job. It’s pretty dried out, so I guess less likely anaerobes, but nonetheless would be better if it was cleaner.

In terms of mold, what would be a source of mold? One thing I have been giving them lately is cracked corn. We bought a huge bag probably 1yr ago - it’s stored outside in an only “semi-sealed” container. It’s looks and feels completely dry, but it is old. I feel like I just starting giving them that within the last 2 weeks as treats (b/c they are laying now, somehow it seemed logical?). Anyway, could this be an issue.

Edit - I just checked my cracked corn. It is super dry, no moisture at all. No obvious abnormality on inspection.

Thanks

QUOTE="azygous, post: 21675251, member: 45606"]Usually some moisture is necessary to harbor anaerobic bacteria. You can tell by scraping away all the duff or litter down to the bottom. If a slimy, swampy putrid odor wacks your nose, you may have anaerobic bacteria.

The solution is to dig it all out and expose the lower soil level to sunlight and air.

Mold is very toxic to chickens. Look for that also. The symptoms of mold toxin poisoning is drunken imbalance and ultimately lameness and death.[/QUOTE]

 

[Eggcessive]

You really should ship or bring any newly dead chicken to your state poultry vet if it happens again. We can spot certain maladies in a necropsy at home, but sometimes it takes professional eyes or testing to get a diagnosis. It is happens again keep the body cool, but not frozen and wrapped in a couple of garbage bag. Hopefully your other hens will recover, but the Corid might not be a bad idea, or get some fresh droppings check by a vet.

 

[Amart]

Thanks for your suggestion. I assumed sending a bird away for professional assessment was expensive. It turns out it is only $28 where I am, definately worth while.

To my surprise the bird I thought was going to die rallied. Looked good this AM. Then laid a huge triple yolker. Now eating well....I’m not sure now, egg bound? Is that really a thing.

Thanks again

You really should ship or bring any newly dead chicken to your state poultry vet if it happens again. We can spot certain maladies in a necropsy at home, but sometimes it takes professional eyes or testing to get a diagnosis. It is happens again keep the body cool, but not frozen and wrapped in a couple of garbage bag. Hopefully your other hens will recover, but the Corid might not be a bad idea, or get some fresh droppings check by a vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

May I ask what state you are in? We like to know about costs in other states so that we can suggest it to others. I really do think that gout may have been the cause of your chicken’s death. There are 2 types, articular and visceral, and that powdery white coating on some organs is a sign. Gout is caused by kidney disease, and can be caused by many different things, including hereditary, environment, diet, exposure to fungus, drug toxicity, too much salt, or feeding too much protein.

 

[Amart]

Thanks for your thoughts! Yes, I’ll read a little more about chicken gout.

I live in British Columbia, Canada. The $28 cost is for a flock of non-commercial with <100 chickens. You can have one necropsy done per year at that price, then the price jumps up if more than one is required/yr. (it is still only $28 if it is you submit multiple birds at the same time if you think they are related).

Thanks

May I ask what state you are in? We like to know about costs in other states so that we can suggest it to others. I really do think that gout may have been the cause of your chicken’s death. There are 2 types, articular and visceral, and that powdery white coating on some organs is a sign. Gout is caused by kidney disease, and can be caused by many different things, including hereditary, environment, diet, exposure to fungus, drug toxicity, too much salt, or feeding too much protein.

 

[Amart]

May I ask what state you are in? We like to know about costs in other states so that we can suggest it to others. I really do think that gout may have been the cause of your chicken’s death. There are 2 types, articular and visceral, and that powdery white coating on some organs is a sign. Gout is caused by kidney disease, and can be caused by many different things, including hereditary, environment, diet, exposure to fungus, drug toxicity, too much salt, or feeding too much protein.

Hi There, I know this is an old thread, but I did get the necropsy results. Will post them here for those in this thread. I also have some questions about it, so will post it in a new thread. You were right, it was urate nephropathy.

Here's the report: It does not copy and paste well.

Final diagnosis:

Urate nephrosis

Chronic tubulointerstitial disease (nephritis)

Bilobed oviduct

Comment:

The kidney disease was the immediate cause of death. Urate nephrosis is usually observed in birds which undergo dehydration and it would be advisable to ensure adequate access to water for all birds at all times. The chronic tubulointersitial disease (also known as nephritis) is suggestive of bacterial disease and may be secondary to thepresence of urate in the kidney interfering with excretion, although this is unusual.

The bird a bilobed oviduct rather than one and this is a congenital anomaly in that the oviduct did not develop normally prior to hatching. It is possible that there may also have been a congenital anomaly of the urinary tract (which develops in concert with the reproductive tract) which interfered with kidney excretion efficiency and predisposed to the urate nephrosis and tubulointerstitial disease.

It is highly unlikely that this bird represents the cause of the death in your other losses to date. If losses continue, it would be advisable to submit another bird for further workup.

Necropsy:

One 5 month old layer chicken weighing 1.5 kg was necropsied on September 13, 2019. The bird was in thin body condition with reduced internal fat stores and pectoral muscle mass. There was food in the crop. The kidneys were swollen and mottled grey/red in colour. The bird was not in production. The oviduct was bilobed and distended with firm white material forming casts of the lumen.

Histopathology

Oviduct: There is luminal distension by accumulated proteinaceous and myxomatous material with multifocal mineralization. There is mild heterophilic infiltrate in the submucosa.

Kidney: There is moderate generalized mixed interstitial inflammation dominated by plasma cells. There is multifocal necrotic cell debris in tubules with tubular epithelial degeneration as well as amorphous basophilic substance typical of urates. Varying size granulomas are scattered in the parenchyma.

Lung, liver, heart, proventriculus, pancreas, crop, intestinal tract, sciatic nerve, brain: No significant lesions.


Bacteriology

Aerobic Culture - Prod Resulted by:

Specimen ID Isolate Result Level

Liver No Bacteria Isolated

Spleen No Bacteria Isolated

Oviduct Bacteria Positive 2+

Bacteria identified as Lysinibacillus sp.

Intestine E.coli (non-haemolytic) Positive 4+

Intestine E.coli (haemolytic ) Positive 2+

AVGN

Organism

Antibiotics E.coli (non-haemolytic) E.coli (haemolytic )

Amoxicillin r s

Apramycin s s

Enrofloxacin s s

Ceftiofur s s

Gentamicin r r

Neomycin r s

Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s s

Tetracycline r r

Sulphonamides Compound r r

Organism

Antibiotics Bacteria

Apramycin s

Enrofloxacin s

Erythromycin s

Ceftiofur s

Lincomycin s

Penicillin G s

Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s

Tetracycline s

Culture - Salmonella Resulted:

Specimen ID Isolate Result Level

Oviduct No Salmonella sp. Isolated

Intestine No Salmonella sp. Isolated

 

[azygous]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting this update. It sounds as if this chicken was burdened with genetic defects that set her up for these problems that caused her death.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the necropsy report. I had suspected kidney disease, but it turns out that it (kidney disease) was caused by a birth defect instead of gout. This really helps us all to learn from your experience.