Necropsy (graphic)

[LaurenRitz]

18 week old cockerel. Beginning of February he hurt his leg and has been in pseudo-isolation since then. Isolated to the run during the day, roosting with the flock at night.

A couple times I thought the leg had healed and let him out, only to have it injured again as the hens chased him mercilessly. The last two weeks I put his brother in there with him. The wind blew the door open the other day and they both escaped, but rather than running from me he let me pick him up.

Back in the run, this time alone. Judging by his digestive system he has been eating fine until today. When I did the necropsy the crop only had water in it.

I found him dead in the run when I came back from town. His comb was deep purple. When I left he was on his feet and mobile, although still favoring that leg.

A couple oddities with the necropsy. His skin was very tough but thin and didn't look at all healthy. Dry. He was fully feathered, no sign of bare skin, but his feathers pulled out without any kind of pressure.

I wasn't able to cut or tear the skin easily, and he had little to no fat on him.

The crop had only water in it, but the digestive system looked healthy. Gizzard was healthy and normal, intestines, windpipe, and esophagus the same. No abnormalities there.

There was water in the abdominal cavity but no fat and the water wasn't yellow. The liver was severely engorged and fell apart as I pulled it out.

The heart had a great deal of blood around it, which I believe is where the blood around the crop came from.

I believe he died of heart failure associated with liver failure. I did his biological mother's necropsy a while back, and the results were nearly identical except for enormous amounts of fat around the internal organs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Hopefully others like @Eggcessive @coach723 and @azygous will chime in.

The liver fell apart; did you find blood clots or just blood inside the body like he had a hemorrhage?

 

[LaurenRitz]

Just blood inside, mostly up near the heart. Blood had leaked out up near the crop but obviously not coming from the crop.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It would have been good to have seen a better picture of the liver. What I can see in the second picture, it looks splotchy and discolored. I cannot tell much besides the blood so far. But liver problems can lead to hemorrhage.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Well, it's more of a pile than a liver as such. I should have taken the feathers off, at the least. Should I have washed the organs for the pictures?

 

[azygous]

One thing almost everyone forgets to do when giving us photos like this is to place a ruler next to the subject matter when they shoot, so we can judge size. Size is especially important with the liver. If it's enlarged, it can have a very dire meaning. Was the liver enlarged?

 

[LaurenRitz]

It was enlarged. I can only judge by other healthy birds I have put in the freezer.

I'll make sure to use a ruler next time.

 

[coach723]

Anything for scale can be helpful, a ruler, a coin, anything constant that is easily compared for size. Fatty liver disease can have a genetic component, it could make a bird more prone to it. A diet that might be ok for a less prone bird can be a bigger problem for a bird that is genetically at risk. So that could be a factor. Ascites is usually yellow or amber in color, but it can range from clear to darker amber, and sometimes is clear and sometimes cloudy, depending on exactly what is going on. I will link below to a good (and not too long) explanation of water belly in hens, it all still applies to a cockerel except for the reproductive issues. Considering how young he was, I would guess that he either had a genetic predisposition for liver disease, or may have had a congenital heart problem that caused it all. Was the heart enlarged at all? Heart failure can also cause ascites, it causes pulmonary hypertension and puts a lot of strain on the lungs, which in turn makes the heart work harder. Vicious cycle. Sometimes it can be hard to know which came first. I lost a 16 week old pullet a few years ago, I suspected heart problems due to her behavior and symptoms. On necropsy her heart was as big as my adult fist and very spongy. I was shocked she'd even made it 16 weeks, and I've no idea how she was able to get enough oxygen at all. She was purchased and I can only assume it was congenital.
https://www.poultryproducer.com/causes-of-water-belly-in-laying-hens/

 

[LaurenRitz]

The heart looked enlarged to me, but again I have limited experience.

I haven't cleaned up from the nectopsy yet, so here are more pictures of the liver and heart. The necropsy was done 18 hours ago, so take that into consideration.

 

[coach723]

It's hard to tell, especially with all the blood clotted, but in either picture the heart doesn't look completely normal to me either. I think that the second picture of the liver, it just isn't fresh enough to really tell in a photo, it's darkened and dried too much. But based on your descriptions, I think you are correct in thinking it was heart/liver problems.