Necropsy - who to contact and how to go about it?

[Godiva]

I have something weird going on with my chickens. I had the incident with 6 13 week old RIR roos getting weak, staggering, great appetites, but no improvement and eventually culled them all about a month later. I kept them outside in a chicken tractor while ill. Now I have another lot of chickens in a different tractor in a different part of the property and this morning when I checked on them the 13 week old mixed breed roo is lying down, reluctant to walk, staggering a little but eating fine, poop fine etc. No other hint to what is wrong. THere is no sneezing or any respiratory symptoms... They are on the same feed as many of our other young birds, I saw nothing in the area of grass that I moved them to that looked unusual or potentially dangerous to them - but I know that there is tons I don't know. I really need to figure out what is going on. Now I am not totally sure that this is the same thing, but it seems similar. I really don't want to hang on to a roo that is a weak link to let disease into our flocks, but I was wondering if I should get a necropsy done, how do I do that, how much does it generally cost - is it actually worth it particularly in light of his symptoms? I am really frustrated... could this be a wild bird spread thing? What does it sound like to you? These birds have been nowhere near where the other affected birds were and I am pretty particular about cross infection.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Contact your local county extension agent and they can steer you in the right direction

Sorry to hear you are having problems

Good luck.

 

[Wynette]

Sorry to hear of your issues; you've lost several, that has to be heartbreaking and frustrting.

I called my state vet (Michigan) last fall for a necropsy - there's a thread on BYC somewhere that has a link to every state's vet. Anyhow, I called and they told me they charge $150 for a necropsy. Really ticked me off. They said they will do up to 6 for that price, and that it's more geared toward commercial chicken keepers, not the backyard poultry enthusiast. I tried to chat with them and get them to lower the price since I only had one, but nothing doing. BEST of luck with YOUR state vet!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Anyhow, I called and they told me they charge $150 for a necropsy. Really ticked me off. They said they will do up to 6 for that price, and that it's more geared toward commercial chicken keepers, not the backyard poultry enthusiast. I tried to chat with them and get them to lower the price since I only had one, but nothing doing. BEST of luck with YOUR state vet!

You SHOULD be "ticked off"!
That's an outrageous price considering that our state does them on any type of farm animal for just the cost of disposing of the body, which is usually less than $20.​

 

[Wynette]

I wonder why Michigan would charge so darn much more? And, it makes me wonder if there are other places that would do necropsies...as dumb as it sounds, thought I do have an avian vet, I've never even given a thought to asking if she does them. Maybe I'll check with her if I ever need another one done. YEs, it's frustrating; you try to do ALL you can for your birds, event to the extent you want to know what they had if they expire, only to be unable to do so due to the expense.