Necropsy

[LaurenRitz]

One of my girls was lethargic yesterday, not eating or drinking. She wouldn't let me catch her. I tried to snatch her off the roost and she jumped down where I could not get to her.

I thought coccidiosis and started them all on corid last night. I caught her this morning and isolated her.

I noticed at the time that there was some kind of liquid coming from her beak.

A few hours later she was dead.

I did a necropsy.

I found no external or internal parasites.

Her crop was full of liquid and nothing else. I would guess that the water was from what I helped her drink this morning. It appeared to be open going down, so I don't think she had an impacted crop.

Heart, lungs, and kidneys looked perfect. Spleen and gallbladder looked good as far as I can tell. The liver fell apart as I pulled it out, so obviously something weird going on there.

Intestines looked healthy, full to a certain point and then empty, I assume because she hasn't eaten anything the last few days. No sign of worms, but I'm not sure I know what to look for. I cut into the intestine and found no obvious wormload in her poop.

Aside from the liver, the major problem I found was a truly nasty amount of fat around her organs. The internal cavity was full of liquid, but I wasn't sure if that might be normal.

Fat under her skin was negligible.

She hasn't laid an egg since mid-summer and there was no obvious egg developing. I assume the lack of eggs was due to the fat? I wasn't sure which bits might be her reproductive system.

Based on this information, do you think I'm dealing with liver failure? Other possibilities?

They have free access to a commercial food but spend the majority of their time free ranging.

 

[Debbie292d]

Awe, sorry for your loss.

I've butchered many in my day, but have never done a necropsy, so I'm no expert by far, but since a chicken's liver is firm and jelly-like, and hers was crumbly, it sure sounds like she had some liver issue. When you mention excess fat you found around the organs, then it could have been due to her liver not functioning properly as being fed chicken feed and foraging wouldn't cause that. I know folks who feed their chickens corn daily can cause that to happen though.

There may be no cause, as you know. Some chickens, just like people, come up with some ailment we may never know until they've passed. Again, I'm sorry.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you see anything that looked like a large blood clot near the liver? Was the liver more tan colored than the normal red? It could have been fatty liver hemorrhagic disease, just from the large amount of fat present and the liver condition. Did the liver appear larger than normal? Were there any spots on the liver? Usually with fatty liver, there is a lot of fat elsewhere under the skin, and you also may see yellow ascites fluid inside the abdomen that comes out when you open the belly. Sorry for your loss.

 

[LaurenRitz]

No, the liver was a good color and I didn't see what might be called a blood clot. It just fell apart. As far as I could tell it wasn't enflamed or enlarged, and no spots I could see. The abdominal cavity was very full of yellow fluid. I have never done this before, so I wasn't sure if that was normal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well, the yellow fluid is ascites or water belly, a result of liver disease. It occurs in chickens with egg yolk peritonitis, cancer, infection, and heart failure, and is eventually fatal. It is interestion about what you described in the intestines. Maybe she had something wrong with her liver or bile duct? Hard to know without a state vet lab pathologist who could do a more thorough necropsy. Thanks for sharing your necropsy here.