Necropsy photos: Any input?

[Cyprus]

Hi everyone
I did a necropsy for a friend and took photos to have y'all look and help diagnose cause of death.

Owner notes:
Age: 2-3
Breed: Bantam Light Brahma
Gender: Male
Feed: 18% feather fixer
Suspected cause of death: Heart attack
Clinical signs: Dark comb and wattles

Spoiler: Body Cavity

Spoiler: Liver, spleen and heart

Spoiler: Body Cavity w/o liver & spleen

Spoiler: Gastrointestinal Tract

Spoiler: Lungs, I think (hard to see)

If y'all need any more info about the bird let me know.

 

[True Patriot]

Sorry. I can't be much help in your findings. A suggestion though, pics taken against the black background of the gloves are hard to distinguish. A hard light or neutral color surface will improve the quality of the photos. I've used a cookie sheet covered with wax paper for photos in a laboratory sample shoot with fairly good results.

 

[Cyprus]

Sorry. I can't be much help in your findings. A suggestion though, pics taken against the black background of the gloves are hard to distinguish. A hard light or neutral color surface will improve the quality of the photos. I've used a cookie sheet covered with wax paper for photos in a laboratory sample shoot with fairly good results.

I know. I didn't think about it until after.

 

[casportpony]

Why do you think heart attack? To me, the intestines look very unhealthy, but hard to say if that was from being frozen or not.

 

[Cyprus]

Why do you think heart attack? To me, the intestines look very unhealthy, but hard to say if that was from being frozen or not.

The owner thought heart attack, not me.
I think something was wrong in the GI tract, as well. That was my immediate thought as soon as I saw it.

I told him my suspicion was something wrong in his gut but that I would see what others think. I saw nothing else abnormal so he still thinks it was a heart attack.

Bird was frozen for less than an hour, then refridgerated for less than 16 hours.

 

[coach723]

I agree, the first thing that hit me was the color of the intestines. I've necropsied refrigerated birds before and did not see that color, never have done one that had been frozen, but being frozen for only an hour probably didn't freeze that far in. I've no idea what caused it, infection?, but would think that was ultimate cause of death.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Heart, liver and spleen look fine. Looks like it was intestinal for sure. I dont know why your friend would think heart attack unless he witnessed it seemingly to fall over dead without symptoms. Is that one photo the crop cut open or was that the end near the vent? If its the vent end a fecal compaction could have led to an infection. If thats the crop it looks like it was impacted. Sorry i cant help more im new to necropsy myself and i still have a lot to learn

 

[Kiki]

I would say(guess) a blockage in the intestines.
Did you open these intestines up to look for worms?

 

[coach723]

Heart, liver and spleen look fine. Looks like it was intestinal for sure. I dont know why your friend would think heart attack unless he witnessed it seemingly to fall over dead without symptoms. Is that one photo the crop cut open or was that the end near the vent? If its the vent end a fecal compaction could have led to an infection. If thats the crop it looks like it was impacted. Sorry i cant help more im new to necropsy myself and i still have a lot to learn

That looks like the gizzard to me. And there is a lot of grass in it, and most concerning I don't see any grit. Maybe gizzard impacted and bacterial infection followed.
Wonder how his weight was, no signs of any fat in the cavity. I'm guessing his droppings were abnormal and that should have been a clue.

 

[Kiki]

Does your friend feed a complete feed daily or just sometimes?

Is there grit available at all times?

If not now might be a good time to offer grit if they have to forage for their food each day.