I had a 10 month old Dominique hen die. I did a necropsy but am not sure what was wrong. She did not look right and I think it was some kind of tumor. We feed GMO free feed and the hens free range all day.
Here are her last few weeks in a nutshell:
Beginning March: Lethargic, sleeping a lot, huddling, not eating well, very green and white runny poop sticking in butt feathers.
I brought her in and fed her whatever she would eat for 3 days. Corn, bread, peas, rice, chicken feed, sunflower seeds ect.
She got oxytetracycline and vitamin/electrolytes daily. It was very difficult to get the antibiotics down her.
Weight was 4lbs 11oz. Her regular weight was about 5lb. 6 oz. She had stopped laying eggs.
We put her back outside after 3 days because she refused all food and was stressed from being indoors. She improved
immediately outside and did start to eat. She was not filling her crop but grazed and seemed happier. She seemed to
have trouble breathing because you could see her breathing when she laid down. No sneezing, runny nose, ect.
Until her death 4/09: She never ate well but did eat. I was sure to feed her 3 times a day away from other hens and gave her other
things like apple and spinach to encourage her to eat. She got vitamins, electrolyes, and probiotics daily. She continued
to lose weight, down to 3lbs. 9oz. on the day she died. She was skin and bones but still eating, walking around, and
obviously ill but not too unhappy.
The mass I removed was throughout her abdomen both in flat parts between the intestines and as a large mass. I had trouble getting intestines out of it. The intestines were mostly empty but had some partly digested food in them. I forgot to photograph the intestines. It's hard to balance a scalpel and camera without making a mess of the camera!
I'd like to know if this is just a tumor or something else. I have other chickens and would like to know if they are going to come down with something. The others are all happy and healthy. It can't all be fat because she was skin and bones and the mass was not much like chicken fat. It was fairly solid but also tore away from the organs easily. Also the mass was stuck to her skin when I opened her up and I had to peel her skin off to get her opened up. She had very little muscle remaining. There was no foul odor when I dissected her so probably no infection.
This is her when I first opened her up and removed her keel.
Whatever the cream mass is it was all over everything. Under this part was a yellow mass like egg yolk.
Gizzard was very hard, full and located under the cream mass on the right side as you looked at her.
Gizzard contents. Undigested sunflower seeds, wheat grains, and other stuff.
Back side of liver with part of the mass on it. Spleen is on the right.
Front side of liver, I cut it a little getting into her.
The rest of the mass. Also more yellow yolk type stuff. I never found any ovaries or developing eggs.
The mass removed.
The other side of the mass. Some of the intestines are in this mess.
A cut into part of the mass revealed bright yellow liquid and solid material.
Another cut into the mass (on the right) showing solid material.
Heart and lungs. The heart had a very large thin part at the top full of clotted blood that ruptured when I removed the heart.
Any information would be great. Hope the pictures are helpful to someone else. Thanks!
Here are her last few weeks in a nutshell:
Beginning March: Lethargic, sleeping a lot, huddling, not eating well, very green and white runny poop sticking in butt feathers.
I brought her in and fed her whatever she would eat for 3 days. Corn, bread, peas, rice, chicken feed, sunflower seeds ect.
She got oxytetracycline and vitamin/electrolytes daily. It was very difficult to get the antibiotics down her.
Weight was 4lbs 11oz. Her regular weight was about 5lb. 6 oz. She had stopped laying eggs.
We put her back outside after 3 days because she refused all food and was stressed from being indoors. She improved
immediately outside and did start to eat. She was not filling her crop but grazed and seemed happier. She seemed to
have trouble breathing because you could see her breathing when she laid down. No sneezing, runny nose, ect.
Until her death 4/09: She never ate well but did eat. I was sure to feed her 3 times a day away from other hens and gave her other
things like apple and spinach to encourage her to eat. She got vitamins, electrolyes, and probiotics daily. She continued
to lose weight, down to 3lbs. 9oz. on the day she died. She was skin and bones but still eating, walking around, and
obviously ill but not too unhappy.
The mass I removed was throughout her abdomen both in flat parts between the intestines and as a large mass. I had trouble getting intestines out of it. The intestines were mostly empty but had some partly digested food in them. I forgot to photograph the intestines. It's hard to balance a scalpel and camera without making a mess of the camera!
I'd like to know if this is just a tumor or something else. I have other chickens and would like to know if they are going to come down with something. The others are all happy and healthy. It can't all be fat because she was skin and bones and the mass was not much like chicken fat. It was fairly solid but also tore away from the organs easily. Also the mass was stuck to her skin when I opened her up and I had to peel her skin off to get her opened up. She had very little muscle remaining. There was no foul odor when I dissected her so probably no infection.
Whatever the cream mass is it was all over everything. Under this part was a yellow mass like egg yolk.
Back side of liver with part of the mass on it. Spleen is on the right.
The rest of the mass. Also more yellow yolk type stuff. I never found any ovaries or developing eggs.
Any information would be great. Hope the pictures are helpful to someone else. Thanks!
