Pics - never seen this before. Any ideas/clues/knowledge?

[Sara Ranch]

One of my friendly girls died this morning. It appeared she had a prolapsed vent. Got her inside, opened her up, and was SHOCKED at the find.

Her heart and her lungs were great. The intestines were very healthy -- they had come out with her vent and undelivered egg.

What was shocking was all the "fatty?" tissue around her gizzard. She showed no signs of swelling or distress in any part of her body during our daily, multiple visits.

Asia was supposedly a Asian Blue, born end of August 2017, from Tractor Supply. That entire batch from TSC has had a high mortality rate with numerous health issues. She has always appeared to be happy and healthy. She use to allow me to pet her and to hold her daily. Her feed is meat bird wet or fermented (depending on the time of year) and some scrambled eggs and bugs and some green grass.

1) First pic - the mass that was around her gizzard. *** Anyone seen this before? Know what it means?

2) Second pic - the undelivered egg. When I found her, that portion, and her intestines were out. No flies, no bugs, no other chicks around her.

 

[rebrascora]

It would have been helpful to have seen a photo of the carcass opened up and her organs in situ rather than removed. The yolks dotted about here and there rather than clustered together in the ovary tell me that things have been mangled in the removal which makes it difficult to identify other organs and comment. Was there much of a yellow fat pad on the abdomen? What was the texture of the liver like? Can you post a photo of the carcass opened up, even if it is without the organs and a photo of the gizzard and surrounding fatty tissue cut open. Sometimes tumours can look like fatty tissue. Was there any fluid in the abdominal cavity when you opened her up? I'm wondering if she ruptured her liver with the strain of trying to pass the egg and that was what killed her.
Prolapse can often be as a result of too much fat restricting the cloaca from stretching to allow an egg to pass. Consequently the bird strains too hard and prolapses and the tissue is then stuck outside the bird.
What form does the meat bird feed take? Is it pellets or crumbles or grains? Is there a particular reason why you feed them meat bird feed? What is the protein percentage? I assume you do also provide a source of calcium ie oyster shell, since they are not getting a layer ration?

 

[Kiki]

What brand meat bird feed was used?

 

[Sue Gremlin]

What about her liver? What did that look like?

What you show in the photos could be an enlarged bursa of Fabricius.

 

[Sara Ranch]

My partner did the open up. Scooped out innards. Didn't take pictures. I did include pics from when I first brought her in. I don't take my phone with me when I work outside or check on the animals, usually. Yeah, I have to schedule the photo shoots.

1. Liver was normal. No fat around it.
2. Intestines were within the normal range. Very little fat.
3. Heart was normal. No fat around it.
4. Lungs were normal. No fat around it.
5. Kidneys were normal. No fat around it.
6. Muscles were normal. Normal fat - very little.
7. Bladder was normal. No fat around it.
8. Ovaries were normal. No fat around it. Note - that she had the egg that didn't make it out. Plus two full yokes, plus tiny yokes. With other chickens harvested, the yokes were tiny.
9. Abdominal cavity was normal. No fat and no fluid.
10. Gizzard felt normal and looked normal. The huge amount of "fat" around and attached to it was abnormal. It was like the "fat" was glued to the gizzard. It did rub away.
11. The "fat" felt spongy, no blood vessels, no point of origin, yellowish color. It appeared to be like normal fat found on a chicken.
12. Nutrena Meatbird Feed, 22% protein. The absorbable protein can be a little higher when it's fermented. It's wet feed in the cold months and fermented feed in the warmer months. The girls also get scrambled eggs, with ground eggshells in the eggs, green grass, and bugs/worms. My ranch is pesticide free. I use the meat bird feed so I am buying only one type of feed for all.
13. The girls are in two pastures that had been resting for a few years.
14. Water is sometimes dosed with apple cider vinegar or nutridrench.
15. I use sand in the coop and in the nesting boxes.
16. Her behavior yesterday was normal for her. I had to leave for a few hours today. When I got home, I checked on all the animals and found her, by herself, already moved on to chicken heaven.
17. I don't think it's bursa of Fabricius. That would be located at the rear end of the chicken, not the front end of the chicken. Is there a way to tell or feel if a chicken has an enlarged bursa of Fabricius?

 

[Kiki]

I'm not sure this will help you but it's worth a try:
https://fieldcasestudy.com/2017/08/20/veterinary-pictures/

 

[Sara Ranch]

Thanks for the link. The information was good.

She didn't have the bursa. Now that I know what it looks like, I will watch for it in other birds.

Maybe it was a tumor. That batch of birds from TSC has had a lot of health issues. A LOT. I'm carefully watching the rest of the flock.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

sorry, my bad. I wasn't understanding where the mass was. I've had chickens from TSC just full of tumors, so I wouldn't be shocked.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Very interesting.....
My guess is the cause of death had to do with the prolapse and bound egg, and that the fatty gizzard is unrelated. I'm really not sure what would cause the excess fat around that organ. Maybe the extra protein had something to do with it?

 

[Kiki]

I thought it was obvious that the egg issue is what caused the death.
@Sara Ranch are you thinking differently?