Necropsy Graphic Pictures

[jlwquilter]

The first link didn’t work quite right- most of the article was cut off so not readable.

The 2nd link is amazing! Man those sacs are HUGE! How did the bird even walk?!

We did see some tubes that seemed dead ended. We thought we just couldn’t see where the connection was but now maybe they were signs of atrophy.

I’m pretty positive Petunia had the cystic oviduct.

The IB... does this mean all my chickens have been exposed, probably infected and are now ticking time bombs?

 

[Eggcessive]

You said that your birds have had a respiratory infection, so that may have been it. Infectious bronchitis is the most common one, and mostly just causes sneezing and some congestion. It sometimes may be a secondary infection with MG or CRD. Sometimes they are hard to distinguish without testing. But cystic oviduct can also happen by itself without being caused by IB. A lot of the unusual egg shells that we sometimes see in our eggs can be due to IB. Here is an article on that subject:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[alexisrambles]

One of these articles said that a lot of cystic oviducts were not discovered until necropsies were performed. Does that mean that most of the time it doesn't negatively affect the chicken's life? From a human health POV I know you can have internal cysts develop and not cause any problems.

 

[jlwquilter]

Ah I see. Yes it seems the chickens had/have CRD/MG. I treated with Tylan. They still do sneeze more than they should but I can’t be treating them with tylan every day for the rest of their lives!

Every post I am more and more glad we did the necropsy. I have learned so much and just as importantly, I can feel that I am coming to an understanding of where my flock is health wise and what the future with them looks like. It’s actually making me feel calmer and more balanced in viewing what going on overall in my flock. It’s not good news but at least I’m less in the dark and feeling less confused and overwhelmed. And that is a good thing!

 

[Mimi13]

One of these articles said that a lot of cystic oviducts were not discovered until necropsies were performed. Does that mean that most of the time it doesn't negatively affect the chicken's life? From a human health POV I know you can have internal cysts develop and not cause any problems.

This would be good to know. Hopefully someone will come back and answer it.

 

[sarahconnor]

This shows bumblefoot right? Only has it on one foot. I didn’t know she had it. I realized I’ve not been checking the bottom of their feet. Does it look severe?

View attachment 1837268

Sure looks like it. There are lots of tutorials on how to treat it on YouTube.

 

[jlwquilter]

Th

Sure looks like it. There are lots of tutorials on how to treat it on YouTube.

that’s next on the list. I did a foot check on everyone 2 days ago and did find 3 hens with small, not inflamed bumblefoots. Bumblefeets? Lol!

The roosts are tiered and they jump up and down off the lowest one 99% of the time. It’s 24” high which doesn’t seem excessive. There is also a ladder they can use, which sometimes some hen does use, but mostly they jump up and down.

The floor is loose sand. I rake it most days to make sure it’s not compacted.

I have been putting a thin layer of sand on the roost boards to help absorb droppings. PDZ is mixed in. But the sand does contain small pebbles. I’m wondering if some hens happen by bad luck to stand on a pebble all night long and don’t think to move off of it ...?

I could sieve the sand to remove pebbles but what a PIA. Have to think on this!