Nercopsy report - anyone might understand this?

[openheartnp]

Sorry for your losses.

I'm not a vet, but I work in human medicine. I agree with the respiratory aspect being infectious and passed from hen to hen. Mycoplasma is hard to culture in humans, too. That may have started the illness. She may have gotten weak after that, fed/absorbed poorly and laid internally. Weakened conditions cannot effectively fight off additional stress.

As far as the source, I agree with the outside birds carrying the disease. You'll need to move the food. My feeders are in the secure run, behind chainlink, and in the coop. Now you've got me watching!

Although rare, chicken to human infection can occur, especially if you are immersed in it. Wash hands/arms/face, change clothes when done. Your vet will have more ways you can protect yourself and your girls.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Mycoplasma gallesepticum or synovia is not a parasite or technically a bacteria. It is very contagious from chicken to chicken but is very fragile in the environment. Birds can recover from the symptoms but then become carriers for life. It can lay dormant until the bird is under stress, then you will see the respiratory problems and rales. Treatment for infected birds is generally Tylan 50. i think there is a vaccination, but it does not prevent a bird from catching it, it just helps with keeping up egg production. Someone tell me if my memory is wrong on that.

But it sounds as if there was no definitive answer - only that the vet suspected that as a culprit.

 

[henpeckedmuch]

I'm a retired RN with many years or reading reports like this on humans. They have many of the same problems. It would appear that your birds died of an respirtory infection, as you have already understood. The other problems may well have been secondary or caused by the main problem. Her liver and ovum ducts and eggs apparently had some problems.
But, and this is the part that I would like to have you understand, the words "adequate body fat" doesn't mean you were over feeding them. But, rather that
--THEY WERE RECEIVING SUFFICIENT FEED AND WERE ABLE TO CONVERT THAT INTO NEEDFUL NUTRITION.
It rules out several possible conditions that could have caused the birds to have infections and die. ie. starvation, cancer, ect.
So, don't beat yourself up, you didn't do anything wrong sometimes bad things happen.

 

[seminolewind]

Colleen, I think what you think. Egg Peritonitis infection, and stress leading to Mycoplasma that was dormant.

 

[Pele]

Quote:
I'll ditto this. The report states that the suspected primary cause of death was an infection from internal laying or an internally broken egg. The examiner also believed that the lung and throat infection was opportunistic, and set in because the hen's immune system was weakened by the primary infection.

I hope that helps to clarify the report. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[bonnie in indiana]

The reply from the 4-Her is on the money. REMEMBER in the World of Poultry-----Chickens are Disposable. And to us lay people there are 2 poultry diseases................respirtory and all the others. I have 40 years of poultry behind me and it still comes down to breathing and the other stuff.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
I'll ditto this. The report states that the suspected primary cause of death was an infection from internal laying or an internally broken egg. The examiner also believed that the lung and throat infection was opportunistic, and set in because the hen's immune system was weakened by the primary infection.

I hope that helps to clarify the report. I'm sorry for your loss.

I also agree with the stress of the peritonitis bringing out the Mycoplasma.

 

[PipiOli]

Quote:
Hi

actually the report says she had abundant body fat. English is my second language and I understood that abundant meant she had too much body fat.

Also I was wondering... is it safe for us to eat the eggs? In case the other hens could possibly be also sick would the egg be effected in a way that we shouldn't eat them?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

The eggs should be fine to eat from a chicken with latent MG. The eggs should be cooked. However, i wouldn't eat eggs from any chicken that appeared sick or had an active infection. And i would not hatch any eggs from a chicken known to carry MG.

 

[Erica]

My understanding of this:

Quote:
is fatty liver. However they've put it last on the list, which I'd imagine means it wasn't the cause of death. I'm no expert in official necropsies, this is just my layperson's reading of the order.

Fatty liver is common with older backyard birds, and common also among layer hens in a commercial setting after the first year or so. It's not necessarily fatal, but what can happen is that the liver can get softer and more breakable. A hen with fatty liver (which can be caused by a high grain/energy diet) can die of a sudden rupture and bleeding through the liver, and she's also more prone to accumulating too much fat in the body cavity (which can get in the way of laying properly).

For prevention, I guess all you can probably do is make sure any treats you give are low in energy and high in fibre and nutrients. Fresh chopped grass, spinach, that sort of thing. Adding grains and especially corn to a normal diet would be more likely to lead to fatty liver syndrome.

Maybe you could try a higher priced but better quality pellet? Some pellets are no more than cheap fillers with spray on vitamins and artificial methionine... Actually that would be my view of all pellets, but that doesn't mean they're a bad product, and they have their uses.

best wishes,
Erica