Updated! Hen Autopsy, Large Mass (shell cyst?) CAUTION: Graphic Pics

[Solarpowered]

I have (had, she passed away last night) a Gold star hen, about 5 months old.
She got very lethargic and sick in March, then seemed to recover, but never laid eggs and couldn't get up to roost with the other hens.
I thought she had started laying eggs last week, but was never positive.
Yesterday she was sitting on the floor of the coop, closing her eyes, very listless, with heavy breathing.
I separated her and pet her and felt her, but I am an amateur and didn't know what to feel for.
I dropper fed her ACV water and loved on her, but she passed away in the night.

I was so curious about what could be wrong that we decided to autopsy. The following is graphic.

Could she have been making a shell "cyst" these last 8 weeks? It is difficult to see, but there are rings in the white mass, like a gobstopper (sorry, couldn't think of anything else!)
There were several of the cysts clumped into one that was bigger than my fist (I have a big fist!). They had a creamy, clotted fluid inside a small center.

This was in her ovipositor. Looks and feels like a cooked yolk.

Her heart seemed enlarged to me...Triangular, but excessively large at the top.

She was making eggs, this is a "pretty" line up.

 

[KansasBoy]

You can post pics after you have a few more comments, just go hit the welcome thread and say high to a few people and then try and upload them then! Then you can edit them into your post! Sorry to hear about your hen! Very sad!

 

[GiddyMoon]

You only need ten posts..so find a few topics and join in.

 

[cackydoodledoo]

It doesn't take long to rack up enough posts to be able to post pics.

 

[Solarpowered]

Thanks for the advice, workin' on it now.

 

[Caliphe]

Wow. It's like something out of Aliens.

Thanks for the pictures! Really interesting. Wish I could help you determine what was up, but I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable folks will chime in.

 

[cackydoodledoo]

You got more guts than I do! I don't know if I could actually autopsy a chicken!! Looks to me like she might have had something wrong with her egg making machinery or got egg bound but I have never opened one up. Hope someone comes along that has played Dr. G on their chickens!

 

[Petey119]

Looks a little like the ones in my Buff but she was a lot older and had several.