Please help me save my bird

[SarahLadd]

I guess I don't know what to say. I killed my little babies for nothing. Not sure what to do. Knock on wood no one is sick right now.

 

[SarahLadd]

I am back to resurrect this thread, as one of my adult birds has died as a result of her symptoms. I'm frustrated, sad, and crying, but hopefully this presents an opportunity to learn more about what's wrong. I've contacted the pathologist that was working with me on this case, and he's agreed to do the diagnostic report on Aura for me.

I saw this coming. I don't know what I could have done to prevent this. She picked the coldest day of the year to have spinny drooly fits and never made it back inside. I found her within moments of her dying. She wasn't even cold yet.

 

[SarahLadd]

Amber died this morning.

At 6 am she got off the roost poles and sat under them until 9 am, where she sat puffed up with her wings out a bit, and at 10 am she shuddered, threw her head back a little, laid down and died.

I don't know what's happening.

I emailed Dr. Porter and he said he didn't find anything from Aura, just that she had no body fat.

 

[azygous]

Have you disposed of the body yet? If not, you could cut her open and take a look inside the abdominal cavity to see what you find. Since she's the second chicken to die in a short span of time, the two deaths could be related, meaning an avian virus.

You would find tumors on organs or enlarged liver, or even "hard boiled eggs" if she has been internally laying.

 

[SarahLadd]

Have you disposed of the body yet? If not, you could cut her open and take a look inside the abdominal cavity to see what you find. Since she's the second chicken to die in a short span of time, the two deaths could be related, meaning an avian virus.

You would find tumors on organs or enlarged liver, or even "hard boiled eggs" if she has been internally laying.

No, I know this is what I should do but I'm not sure if I'm able to bring myself to

 

[azygous]

Refrigerate the body until you decide. Another option is to call your local university extension office and ask where the nearest state animal testing lab is located. You could get a necropsy and they can determine what killed your hen.

 

[SarahLadd]

Refrigerate the body until you decide. Another option is to call your local university extension office and ask where the nearest state animal testing lab is located. You could get a necropsy and they can determine what killed your hen.

I just did that with Aura.

They found nothing

This is $200 every time and they find nothing every time.

I don't know, what am I going to find that they aren't? I'm a goldsmith I make jewelry, I could cut open my baby girl but I don't know what I'd be doing or looking for.

 

[SarahLadd]

Like I don't know. The pathologist isn't telling me I should bring amber in too. I feel really discouraged at the moment. I don't know what to do.

 

[azygous]

I've done lots of do-it-yourself necropsies over the years. I use a sharp serrated knife to open the abdominal cavity from the anus to the throat, then I pull it open like opening a book.

A normal chicken has pink organs of normal size. So anything that departs from normal is what you'd look for.

Over the years, I've seen a two-pound liver with lots of white pea-size tumors on it. I've seen "cooked" eggs floating in the cavity. I've seen a "brown soup" of infection with lots of little tumors floating in it.

Take photos and paste them here and I and others will tell you what we see.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You just might learn something you didn't know.

 

[FunClucks]

I just did that with Aura.View attachment 4011002

They found nothing

This is $200 every time and they find nothing every time.

I don't know, what am I going to find that they aren't? I'm a goldsmith I make jewelry, I could cut open my baby girl but I don't know what I'd be doing or looking for.

I am so very sorry you lost Amber. It's heartbreaking. I have both pets and meat birds, and am quite good at processing the meat birds, but with the lack of any progress you describe, I don't know if I could bring myself to home-autopsy a beloved pet either. You might find something, like others state, but it would really be a toss up if I could personally do it.

I know it's been a few days, you may already have made different decisions, but if it were me, I'd pick a different state veterinary lab to send Amber off to. I'd call a number of other labs, describe the issues, share Aura and the others' test results, and see if there's different tests than can be run on Amber and any other chickens you lose in the future. There's got to be someone out there who can help you figure out what's going on. I'd also be deep diving into the MERCK veterinary manual, among other sources, to see what illnesses are hard to diagnose /identify but have low/zero body fat as a symptom, along with the other neurological symptoms that have been seen in the past. And they may still have died of different causes.

I'm so sorry you lost another beloved pet. Sending you many supportive thoughts and prayers.