Hi All,
I was hoping for some help interpreting a necropsy report for one of my backyard hens that died around the 5 month mark:
Specifically my questions are as follows:
1) Urate nephrosis - Essentially is this gout? And it looks like apart from kidneys no other involvement? Would this be considered "visceral gout".
2) The Chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis - So it's bacterial, but secondary to the urate- or not? Maybe not much more can be said. Ie. would antibiotics had made a difference.
3) "The bird was not in production" - Essential means that despite the factor that the other birds were laying, this bird had no "pre-eggs....presumably a name for it" in her system (again presumably b/c she was unwell).
4) The E. coli in the intestine, is this normal or pathogenic. I thought we all had ecoli in the intesting.
5) Bilobed oviduct - google told me nothing about this. Is this common. Do chickens lay with this condition anyway, or do they not produce eggs. (mostly just curious).
Ultimately, obviously good hydration sounds important. They have lots of water during day time, I don't have water in the coop at night (usually they go in at sunset which is around 7:30pm and I let them out by 7:30am next morning). Is it normal to not have water in the coop. I never thought much about it, I assumed they drink what they need during the day? What do you folks do.
Any other comment on the necropsy is helpful. See below. Thanks in advance.
Final diagnosis: Urate nephrosis
Chronic tubulointerstitial disease (nephritis)
Bilobed oviduct
Comment:
The kidney disease was the immediate cause of death. Urate nephrosis is usually observed in birds which undergo dehydration and it would be advisable to ensure adequate access to water for all birds at all times. The chronic tubulointersitial disease (also known as nephritis) is suggestive of bacterial disease and may be secondary to thepresence of urate in the kidney interfering with excretion, although this is unusual.
The bird a bilobed oviduct rather than one and this is a congenital anomaly in that the oviduct did not develop normally prior to hatching. It is possible that there may also have been a congenital anomaly of the urinary tract (which develops in concert with the reproductive tract) which interfered with kidney excretion efficiency and predisposed to the urate nephrosis and tubulointerstitial disease.
It is highly unlikely that this bird represents the cause of the death in your other losses to date. If losses continue, it would be advisable to submit another bird for further workup.
Necropsy:
One 5 month old layer chicken weighing 1.5 kg was necropsied on September 13, 2019. The bird was in thin body condition with reduced internal fat stores and pectoral muscle mass. There was food in the crop. The kidneys were swollen and mottled grey/red in colour. The bird was not in production. The oviduct was bilobed and distended with firm white material forming casts of the lumen.
Histopathology
Oviduct: There is luminal distension by accumulated proteinaceous and myxomatous material with multifocal mineralization. There is mild heterophilic infiltrate in the submucosa.
Kidney: There is moderate generalized mixed interstitial inflammation dominated by plasma cells. There is multifocal necrotic cell debris in tubules with tubular epithelial degeneration as well as amorphous basophilic substance typical of urates. Varying size granulomas are scattered in the parenchyma.
Lung, liver, heart, proventriculus, pancreas, crop, intestinal tract, sciatic nerve, brain: No significant lesions.
Bacteriology
Aerobic Culture - Prod Resulted by:
Specimen ID Isolate Result Level
Liver No Bacteria Isolated
Spleen No Bacteria Isolated
Oviduct Bacteria Positive 2+
Bacteria identified as Lysinibacillus sp.
Intestine E.coli (non-haemolytic) Positive 4+
Intestine E.coli (haemolytic ) Positive 2+
AVGN
Organism
Antibiotics E.coli (non-haemolytic) E.coli (haemolytic )
Amoxicillin r s
Apramycin s s
Enrofloxacin s s
Ceftiofur s s
Gentamicin r r
Neomycin r s
Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s s
Tetracycline r r
Sulphonamides Compound r r
Organism
Antibiotics Bacteria
Apramycin s
Enrofloxacin s
Erythromycin s
Ceftiofur s
Lincomycin s
Penicillin G s
Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s
Tetracycline s
Culture - Salmonella Resulted:
Specimen ID Isolate Result Level
Oviduct No Salmonella sp. Isolated
Intestine No Salmonella sp. Isolated
I was hoping for some help interpreting a necropsy report for one of my backyard hens that died around the 5 month mark:
Specifically my questions are as follows:
1) Urate nephrosis - Essentially is this gout? And it looks like apart from kidneys no other involvement? Would this be considered "visceral gout".
2) The Chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis - So it's bacterial, but secondary to the urate- or not? Maybe not much more can be said. Ie. would antibiotics had made a difference.
3) "The bird was not in production" - Essential means that despite the factor that the other birds were laying, this bird had no "pre-eggs....presumably a name for it" in her system (again presumably b/c she was unwell).
4) The E. coli in the intestine, is this normal or pathogenic. I thought we all had ecoli in the intesting.
5) Bilobed oviduct - google told me nothing about this. Is this common. Do chickens lay with this condition anyway, or do they not produce eggs. (mostly just curious).
Ultimately, obviously good hydration sounds important. They have lots of water during day time, I don't have water in the coop at night (usually they go in at sunset which is around 7:30pm and I let them out by 7:30am next morning). Is it normal to not have water in the coop. I never thought much about it, I assumed they drink what they need during the day? What do you folks do.
Any other comment on the necropsy is helpful. See below. Thanks in advance.
Final diagnosis: Urate nephrosis
Chronic tubulointerstitial disease (nephritis)
Bilobed oviduct
Comment:
The kidney disease was the immediate cause of death. Urate nephrosis is usually observed in birds which undergo dehydration and it would be advisable to ensure adequate access to water for all birds at all times. The chronic tubulointersitial disease (also known as nephritis) is suggestive of bacterial disease and may be secondary to thepresence of urate in the kidney interfering with excretion, although this is unusual.
The bird a bilobed oviduct rather than one and this is a congenital anomaly in that the oviduct did not develop normally prior to hatching. It is possible that there may also have been a congenital anomaly of the urinary tract (which develops in concert with the reproductive tract) which interfered with kidney excretion efficiency and predisposed to the urate nephrosis and tubulointerstitial disease.
It is highly unlikely that this bird represents the cause of the death in your other losses to date. If losses continue, it would be advisable to submit another bird for further workup.
Necropsy:
One 5 month old layer chicken weighing 1.5 kg was necropsied on September 13, 2019. The bird was in thin body condition with reduced internal fat stores and pectoral muscle mass. There was food in the crop. The kidneys were swollen and mottled grey/red in colour. The bird was not in production. The oviduct was bilobed and distended with firm white material forming casts of the lumen.
Histopathology
Oviduct: There is luminal distension by accumulated proteinaceous and myxomatous material with multifocal mineralization. There is mild heterophilic infiltrate in the submucosa.
Kidney: There is moderate generalized mixed interstitial inflammation dominated by plasma cells. There is multifocal necrotic cell debris in tubules with tubular epithelial degeneration as well as amorphous basophilic substance typical of urates. Varying size granulomas are scattered in the parenchyma.
Lung, liver, heart, proventriculus, pancreas, crop, intestinal tract, sciatic nerve, brain: No significant lesions.
Bacteriology
Aerobic Culture - Prod Resulted by:
Specimen ID Isolate Result Level
Liver No Bacteria Isolated
Spleen No Bacteria Isolated
Oviduct Bacteria Positive 2+
Bacteria identified as Lysinibacillus sp.
Intestine E.coli (non-haemolytic) Positive 4+
Intestine E.coli (haemolytic ) Positive 2+
AVGN
Organism
Antibiotics E.coli (non-haemolytic) E.coli (haemolytic )
Amoxicillin r s
Apramycin s s
Enrofloxacin s s
Ceftiofur s s
Gentamicin r r
Neomycin r s
Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s s
Tetracycline r r
Sulphonamides Compound r r
Organism
Antibiotics Bacteria
Apramycin s
Enrofloxacin s
Erythromycin s
Ceftiofur s
Lincomycin s
Penicillin G s
Sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim s
Tetracycline s
Culture - Salmonella Resulted:
Specimen ID Isolate Result Level
Oviduct No Salmonella sp. Isolated
Intestine No Salmonella sp. Isolated
