Strange object from pullets bum - pictures **Final UPDATE post #37**

[Brahmagirl]

Thanks from me too, for this update - I also was not a member when this thread was originally started and have found it extremely interesting. One of my light sussex hens died recently and when I did a "layman's autopsy" I found this object in her oviduct - very similar to Speckledhen's pictures, posted earlier.

 

[Barnyard]

 

[CTChickenMom]

Is that what looks like a cooked yolk in the middle? Is that her whole oviduct or is that what was pulled from it? That is huge considering the size of a full size hen!

 

[Brahmagirl]

No this wasn't the whole oviduct - this was inside it. She was always a large, heavy bird - had laid reasonably well. The whole object was made up of concentric circles of egg material - I cut it into sections to show this - and it was like one whole, long sausage. There were other, smaller ones inside too, which I did not photograph, plus lots of "cooked" egg yolks in the abdominal cavity. She was only ill for a couple of days - how birds with problems like this carry on without showing they are ill amazes me.

 

[TimeMist]

Brahmagirl, those photo's are incredible! They look like layer upon layer upon layer. You poor hen must have been very uncomfortable with those inside her. So glad you did the autopsy though. I think if we do end up losing an animal we should do our best to learn as much as we can from it.

I lost a bird yesterday to bumblefoot (I had to cull her) and I ended up dissecting her foot to get a better understanding of the whole thing.

I have certainly found that when you own chickens you learn a little something new almost every week.

 

[dlhunicorn]

The problems causing this could be any number of things... these are battery birds from a commercial farm you said (thus a commercial breed) ??? If so they are probably what the industry terms "spent" hens meaning they are due a full molt (which sometimes has to be helped along with high producing breeds)
For a general summary on eggs and reproductive problems read the article by Monique on eggs in this issue:
http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/indexUK.html