Peachick autopsy results very strange - yellow cheesy material throughout lower body, and liver is b

[QueenMisha]

Finally got the pictures from the phone to the computer, what a hassle. Here they are.

Pictures were taken the morning after autopsy, family was out with the only remaining smartphones (mine was lost a few months back) and didn't get home until the absolute middle of the night, at which point in time I was already dead asleep. You can see here the underside of the liver - the top had darkened to red overnight as it dried, but the underneath was still wet and had not changed color.



And there's the top of the liver... like I said, it darkened overnight. Not sure why. When first opened, it was the same bright yellow as the underside. On the bottom left you can see a chunk of the yellow cheesy matter sitting next to an intestine.



Another pic of underside of liver + cheesy matter.



Better picture of the cheesy matter with gizzard/intestines pulled aside. You can see several separate chunks, including the bright and obvious the one to the lower right of the gizzard.




Thoughts?

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

I think you're right, it definitely could have been an infection, the chick didn't have any naval issues but the cheesy matter certainly looked like it could have been pus or a similar substance. I was also googling earlier today, found a 1909 agricultural report regarding a study of yolk infections in chicks. It described "matter with a similar substance to curdled milk, ranging in color from yellow to greenish-yellow." Yellow curdled milk is rather a good description of what I saw.

Baytril? I have Baytril on hand because I work with a wildlife rescue to rehab raptors and we use it frequently. By giving, do you mean preventatively, or on a basis of which ones look "droopy"? Whichever way, what's the recommended dosage?

Posting autopsy pictures ASAP.

I just give Baytril to the chicks that hatched with dried yolk not absorbed, I will drop a tiny drop in their beaks four times, a drop every 12 hours. If the chick started to look off it will be too late i guess. I tried it with a week old chick but it didn't work.