Necropsy pics [graphic], 2 hens w/ crop issues

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

So I did my first necropsies today on two hens we had to euthanise. I have a few questions about some of my findings. For a little background- I have butchered a few birds, but not enough to be entirely comfortable with how everything is supposed to look. I'm very long-winded, so I put my questions in bold for anyone who doesn't want to read my entire life story, haha!

The first subject is an 11 month old chocolate orpington hen. This hen first presented with an assumed impacted crop about 5-6 weeks ago. I first posted about this hen here. Long story short: I cleared the impaction with coconut oil & massages, but the crop wouldn't empty. I treated w/ Miconozole, but the crop still wouldn't empty. I made multiple attempts to successfully use a crop bra but none worked (that post). I tried epsom salt flushes & regurgitation without success. At this stage, I felt the most humane thing to do would be to put her down. This leads us to the necropsy.

The hens were pulled off the roost in the morning before they had a chance to eat/drinnk anything. This hen's crop was still huge, and covered in blood vessels (I don't believe it should be). While researching how to necropsy, I recall seeing a video that said blood vessels like this indiciate inflamation. Is that correct? The contents of her crop, which I did not photograph, were primarily grass. There was also sand, rocks/oyster shells, some seed/corn, and one small tangle of nest box material. With the exception of this one small tangle, her crop was very soft in spite of being so full. I sort of wish I'd weighed it. It had to be atleast a pound. It was softball sized or maybe a little larger. I believe the initial impaction was caused by the nesting material (which was removed after multiple hens developed hard crops). I believe the impaction was cleared but had soured/become pendulous. Ultimately I believe the extremely pendulous nature of her crop was the primary reason it wouldn't clear. (That or the impacted gizzard... ?)

Lungs, heart, liver, and spleen all looked as expected. Then I found the gall bladder, which somehow hadn't come up in my research so at the time, I had NO CLUE what it was. I cut it open and dark green liquid came out. It did not have a strong smell. I was weired out and afterward did some research. It was the gall bladder, but it was much larger than the impages I saw online so I thought perhaps it was swollen/inflamed/something. Can someone confirm if this gall bladder looks normal or not? I also opened the gizzard, and I think it's impacted. Can someone confirm if this is what an impacted gizzard looks like? It was full of mostly grass and some rocks & sand.

By the time I got to the intestines, I was getting a little antsy. Her intestines were full of matter. In a healthy chicken, I think these intestines should have been mostly empty. I was also confused when I found 2 things that I assumed were intestines, but they didn't "go anywhere"? I thought intestines were tubes or hoses that went from one organ to another. But these tubes ended. Is that normal?

Hen #2- Shortly after I discoverd the first impaction, I realized I had several more hens whose crops were not emptying. I posted about them here. I decided the issue was the nest box material when I realized that the chickens who weren't having crop issues were: roosters, old hens that weren't laying, young hens that weren't laying, and a special needs hen who lays eggs in her special needs nest box which just has pine shavings in it. I removed the nest box material.

Hen #2, even before her crop issue, was on the list to be culled due a genetic defect/issue. However I hate culling and have been putting it off. But when her crop started acting up and she wouldn't voluntarily eat the coconut oil, I decided I wasn't going to wrestle with her for treatment and would cull instead. Unrelated background info on this hen: Turns out chicks hatched from my SS hen have "drinking problems" where they drink water excessively and then have extremely watery (and sometimes projectile) stools. I made this post about one hen back in August, and then posted here again in September. Over the winter my rooster got frostbte from the all the moisture in the coop, so I knew these hens had to go before next winter- I just needed the motivation. I anticipated finding something interesting that might have explained the drinking problem she had. The other "drinking problem" hen got snagged by a fox a few weeks ago so no necropsy there.

Hen #2 is a 7 month old speckled sussex/orpington/rhode island blue mix. She was unrelated to Hen #1. She was laying and otherwise healthy aside from the crop and the watery stool mentioned above. Her necropsy results were similiar to Hen #1. Her crop was not as large but much harder. There were some, but not a lot, of blood vessels on the crop. I did remember to take a pic this time of the crop content. It was primarily sand. There was also grass, some rocks & a bit of corn/seed. I did not find any nest box material, but did find a string or thread that did not seem to be organic in nature.

This hen's gizzard also appears to have been impacted. Again, hoping for confirmation that this is what an impacted gizzard might look like. Her gizzard was mostly sand.

After removing the gizzard, I noticed this... intestine? or tube?... I don't know the proper name for it. But I'm pretty sure it had been attached to the gizzard. It seems really large. Can anyone tell me what it is and whether or not it's larger than normal?

This hen's intestines were also full of matter. They weren't quite as full as the previous one. I did notice air and some rocks at one point in her intestine. I also found the same 2 intestines that seemed to "go nowhere." So is that maybe normal...? Her gall bladder looked the same as Hen #1. I don't know if that's normal or abnormal. Her heart and lungs looked good. Her kidney I'm less sure about. Unfortunately, I'm sloppy, and I cut into the ovary/egg in process and got yolky stuff everywhere. I'm not sure if you can tell much about the liver since it's discolored by the yolk already. But I did notice it seems to have some red or dark spots. The pic isn't great. Next time I will need a photography assistant. Too much taking off/putting on gloves! Does this liver look normal/abnormal? Again it did get egg yolk on it, so that is impacting the color slightly.

I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and respond to my questions.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am an amateur where necropsies are concerned. Was there a lot more fat inside that you found than you thought you would have?
From what I see, the two dead ended parts of the intestines were the 2 ceca, which are pouches between the small and large intestines where food ferments before moving on to the large intestines.
The liver appears more tan than it should be. Did you see any clear yellow fluid come out when the abdominal wall was cut into?
Were you able to find the oviduct in the two hens?

Here are a couple of pictures of the digestive system in chickens:
https://ohio4h.org/sites/ohio4h/fil...oultry/Avian Digestive System - eXtension.pdf

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Was there a lot more fat inside that you found than you thought you would have?

I would say no, but my experience is limited to 1 hen we butchered last fall and these 2. These both had less fat than the healthy hen we processed back in the fall.

From what I see, the two dead ended parts of the intestines were the 2 ceca, which are pouches between the small and large intestines where food ferments before moving on to the large intestines.

Based on the link you included, I’d say you are correct.

The liver appears more tan than it should be. Did you see any clear yellow fluid come out when the abdominal wall was cut into?

There wasn’t really any fluid I noticed, aside from when I cut into the egg yolk (or unformed egg, I don’t remember what it’s called).

Were you able to find the oviducts in the two hens?

I found the ovaries in each hen, but didn’t follow it any further out than that. I decided to mostly focus on just the digestive system since I had to do both hens and didn’t want to overwhelm myself with too many parts.

Here are a couple of pictures of the digestive system in chickens:
https://ohio4h.org/sites/ohio4h/files/imce/animal_science/Poultry/Avian Digestive System - eXtension.pdf

Thank you.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is good to look for the oviduct which will be at the bottom near the vent, for any sign of cancer or tumors. Sometimes lash egg material will cause it to become very large. When I have done necropsies, I usually don’t know what I will find. I have seen evidence of fatty liver hemorrhagic disease which causes very thick deposits of fat on organs and under skin, tan livers, and blood clots under the liver. Once I found cancer. Many hens have had yellow ascites fluid in the abdomen. In some diseases you may find spots on the liver. Lash egg material from coelomitis (egg yolk peritonitis) is a common finding. In the article below there are good pictures of the reproductive system:
https://www.rangioravetcentre.co.nz/chicken-reproductive-system

 

[coach723]

I agree that the liver color is off, too pale with what looks like maybe some small areas of hemorrhage. In some birds fatty liver disease can have a genetic component. The gallbladder looks normal to me.
I had one bird with an impacted gizzard, it looked much like yours. Very enlarged and packed with grass and grit. What stood out to me the most in your pictures was all the grass. Grass is probably the most common reason for impactions of the crop or gizzard, they just have a really hard time passing it. And they will sometimes eat a LOT of grit trying to get it all to pass, and/or drink a lot of water. Once the crop becomes stretched out too much and becomes pendulous, it generally doesn't ever recover from that. Sometimes a crop bra will help, but if it's stretched too much it just can't function correctly. My bird with the impacted gizzard had nothing in her intestines past the gizzard. The last one I lost who had a pendulous crop had very full, swollen intestines, like yours, I think from the stuff passing through so slowly and bacteria/fermentation taking place in there. And yes, those are the cecal pouches.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

It is good to look for the oviduct which will be at the bottom near the vent, for any sign of cancer or tumors. Sometimes lash egg material will cause it to become very large.

These 2 hens were both actively laying. The Orpington hen had stopped only about 2 weeks ago likely due to her crop issues. The mix hen laid just the day before we culled, so I wasn’t too concerned about reproductive issues this go round. But I’ll definitely keep an eye out for that next time.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

What stood out to me the most in your pictures was all the grass. Grass is probably the most common reason for impactions of the crop or gizzard, they just have a really hard time passing it.

I know the grass is slow to digest, but I thought it wasn’t a problem unless it was in long pieces that tangled together. Most of the grass that came out of both hens’ crops & gizzards were tiny pieces of grass.

I mean, the first hen had a crop that was so pendulous she wasn’t going to going to recover. It makes sense why she couldn’t pass the grass. But the second hen, I don’t know why she couldn’t pass her grass. Ive had my chickens living in the same area for almost 6 years. I wonder why all of a sudden the grass is an issue.

I just wish I could figure out why this happened all of a sudden. I have yet another hen with a small impaction in her crop.

 

[coach723]

Long grass is definitely a problem. But even shorter grass can be an issue if they eat too much of it. Anything that is very fibrous and tough is much harder for them to digest. Sometimes when plants come up in the spring they can gorge on something, and it can cause a problem. Causes of pendulous crop can be varied, I personally feel that some of them are a genetic issue, the muscles just aren't as good. Birds that really stuff their crops all the time are more at risk also. Once that is stretched out too much, it just can't recover. Any kind of health problem that slows digestion can also cause it. When food sits for longer then the crop is more apt to get stretched out.
I have large animals on pasture, the grass is not always the same year to year, season to season. It depends a lot on weather conditions, amount of rain, sun, fertilizer, etc. Sugar content varies a lot as well as moisture level. Sometimes the grass is drier and tougher than others. I keep my chicken area mowed and don't let the grass get tall, so clippings are very small, and no long tough stuff. I also rake up clippings if we've had a lot of rain and there are a lot of clippings. I don't leave piles of clippings in the run, as that is exactly where they go.
You can't prevent everything, stuff just happens sometimes. All you can do is do the best you can. I lost a young pullet once, not quite 15 weeks to a pendulous, impacted crop. At necropsy no obvious issues were found, except a small narrowing/almost kink of the proventriculus going into the gizzard, but that was it.