Necropsy

[OEV]

Can anyone tell me if this is normal chicken anatomy? I'm wondering if the bumpiness is follicles in the ovary? This 4yr layer hen died unexpectedly, trying to figure out a cause. All other organs appeared normal to me.

 

[coach723]

Do you know when she last laid?
I can't see enough to be sure, but it may be polycystic ovary, or ovarian cancer. I will attach an image below for comparison. In the second picture the intestine or oviduct tissue does not look a healthy color, the dark gray. It's often helpful to take pictures of what you can in situ, and then take more pictures as you remove organs, with something like a coin for size reference. It would be good to have seen what that intestine or oviduct looked like inside. I don't see any obvious lesions in the pictures indicating a cancer spread, but there is a lot that isn't visible. Seeing the liver is often helpful as well.

 

[OEV]

We have 30 hens, so I'm not sure when she last layed an egg. The blue/grayish intestine I am assuming is from being dead overnight. Thank you for confirming my suspicions of an unhealthy ovary. I'll try to do more step by step photos next time. There was a large "sac" of fluid near her vent area when I opened her up and some peritoneal fluid as well.