Necropsy Pictures- Warning Graphic! Third hen I’ve lost so I cut her open and I need experienced eyes

[ChickInnMama]

I just had our 3rd hen die of the same thing in 4 months. So I cut her open after she died, all 3 hens got an impacted crop and her gizzard was impacted. I finally worked up the nerve to do more than just check the crop after they died. I didn’t find anything that looked like it would have caused the impaction. They all had grass and feed that was fermenting in their crop (and her whole system was fermenting). She seemed to be septic all the way down from her crop to her intestines. Her kidneys (I think it was her kidneys) were also full of the same gross smelling black liquid. I took some pictures but they aren’t great because I really didn’t think to take them until I had done it. There was way more fat than I anticipated but I’m sure in my other two there was hardly any fat because they were skin and bones. If anyone can tell me if anything looks off I would REALLY appreciate it. I want to figure out what’s going on so we don’t lose any more hens. Thanks so much!

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

I'm sorry for your losses
I'm not sure, but perhaps @Eggcessive or @Wyorp Rock may be able to answer your questions.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I am not a vet or that knowledgeable with necropsy photos. Usually, I try to find similar pictures online which may be helpful. The 2 dark things full of smelly liquid in the first 2 pictures are the ceca, the pouches found between the small and large intestines, where the food is fermented during digestion. So that is normal. Did she have any signs of a reproductive infection? Was she still laying eggs? What do you feed, and do they get grit for digesting grasses and other foods. There looks to be a lot of fat which might point to fatty liver disease. Did you see any sign of bleeding or blood clot near the liver? Did the liver seem a normal dark red or was there any discoloration?

 

[ChickInnMama]

Sorry for your loss. I am not a vet or that knowledgeable with necropsy photos. Usually, I try to find similar pictures online which may be helpful. The 2 dark things full of smelly liquid in the first 2 pictures are the ceca, the pouches found between the small and large intestines, where the food is fermented during digestion. So that is normal. Did she have any signs of a reproductive infection? Was she still laying eggs? What do you feed, and do they get grit for digesting grasses and other foods. There looks to be a lot of fat which might point to fatty liver disease. Did you see any sign of bleeding or blood clot near the liver? Did the liver seem a normal dark red or was there any discoloration?

Thank you Eggcessive! That’s good to know that what I thought was the kidneys wasn’t and that’s it normal for there to be poop in there. It was definitely fermenting and smelled of septic, all of it did, from her crop down. Most of our hens haven’t been laying, but there seems to be a weird something going on around our area because most everyone I know with chickens aren’t getting eggs and it’s plenty warm here in FL. Most everyone I know hasn’t gotten eggs since the summer which is also when ours stopped laying. We had them on Naturewise but they seemed to have changed something and it has a really strong smell now and my girls wouldn’t eat it so we switched to Purina (this is after my first 2 died). They do have access to grit and oyster shell every day, it’s right next to their food and she had a lot of grit in the mix with all the grass and feed and grains. I didn’t really know what to look for but I think i remember there being extra blood around the liver area when I stuck my finger down in that cavity area there was dark blood that came out onto my hand in some little tiny clots. The liver looked healthy to me, it was a nice dark red. It just seems like one day they started getting stopped up and went septic by the time we noticed. The gizzard was full, the crop was full and of course the intestinal tract was full of the same gross smelling black liquid. I am just at a loss. We will not be putting them out in their chicken tractors any more until we can figure this out, they will only be in their runs and coops. Thank you for any insight and help! I also tried to look up pictures that resembled what I found but I could only find things about impaction but nothing gave any insight into what might have caused other peoples chickens to die either. I found no foreign objects and other than all the black, smelling stuff inside her I didn’t see anything that looked weird. She was molting, my other 2 were also molting when they died. Their layer feed is 16% but maybe I need to up it to a mixed flock feed when one is molting? I was giving them extra mealworms for protein. Thanks again!

 

[Eggcessive]

I have only done a necropsy once on a chicken of mine who had fatty liver disease. She had about 1.5 inches or more layer of fat all over, and a huge blood clot pounder the liver. Many times I have seen crop issues and clogged gizzards and could not figure out the cause of death. If it was fatty liver, than can be diet related. Your state vet at Kissimmee is pretty affordable, and you can take or send a body there for a professional necropsy, but the body must be kept cold, not frozen. Here is a list of state vets to contact including yours in case you lose another:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...7IOlHOhP-eD8qMtZ70RNq6BMO9kVUn3x6so7q0Z_JgEr8

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Egg Yolk Peritonitis.