Warning - Graphic pics of Internal Egg Layer Necropsy

[the Old Rebel]

Hi All,

I am going to try to upload these pictures, because I have never seen anything like this. I have not been able to understand why we couldn't do anything to help a hen that is laying internally. Now I understand.

This is my Hope. She lived for a week after we discovered she was in trouble. But, obviously, she had been laying internally for quite awhile before that.

We did everything in our power to help her - two antibiotics, warm baths (she seemed to thoroughly enjoy them), keeping her on a heating pad with a heat lamp overhead (red bulb) (we're in the mountains of NC where it is still chilly at night and in the mornings and evenings), keeping her in the dark, giving her Poly-Vi-Sol, oiling her with olive oil in the mouth and in the vent - everything we could think of, but it didn't help. She died in my arms yesterday afternoon.

These pictures are graphic, but I had to see what everyone means by laying internally.

All I can say is "Wow". Who'd a thunk it?? They must internally lay for awhile before you even realize something is wrong. Wow.

Rest in peace, my little one.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Those look like cystic ovum to me > and yes it would not surprise me if adenocarcinoma was involved although I am too inexperienced to identify right off the bat ... I have sites and articles (including the cornell pathology site) with photos to help identify but yes I have seen that and it was not "internal layer" >that will look like cooked egg yolks (although in many cases , dependent on the cause and complicating factors , internal layers will often reabsorb the yolks ...
If you read the articles on the thread at my library (not all deal with internal layer but several do even though I may not have the section excerpted ) ... you will see that there is no cut and dried
"symptom XXX = disease/disorder XXX"
All you can do is read the articles and I strongly urge all to do so (don't try in one sitting tho !) Those eggs (reproductive disorder and disease) end up being the cause of death of our beloved birdies and often promt attention and identification of problems can prevent alot of heartache.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, that would certainly explain why our two birds were so different inside. I was told by someone who is very experienced that my hens did die of internal laying with the cooked yolk material compacted inside. Those look like egg follicles that are just blown up in Old Reb's pics, something I'd never seen previously. Also, that hen was twice the age of my four who passes of this last year, if that is at all significant. Seems most internal laying deaths happen at about two to three years old.

 

[the Old Rebel]

All I can say is WOW again. THANK YOU all for your comforting words of sympathy. Hope was a special lady. I feel like she deserved better than I was able to give her, but, honestly, I had NO IDEA what she was going through. She showed no signs of distress until one week before she died.

A special thanks to you, Dhlunicorn, and to you, SpeckledHen, for all of your information and input. I am convinced now that Hope didn't die from internal laying, but from something else. My DH and I both wish we had either taken her for further investigation at our diagnostic lab or investigated further ourselves. We just assumed those were unfinished eggs. Shows you how much we know.

Ha! I used to think I knew a little something about chickens. I don't anymore. I've had them as pets for 10 years and have had very good luck with them when it comes to diseases and other problems. We have been very, very blessed.

I have lost a few hens along the way.... a few stood straight up like a penguin, a few lost all of the meat on their breastbone, and a few were alive one day and dead the next with no readily apparent cause. This was the first time I opted to do a necropsy. Since they are pets, I couldn't bring myself to cut on them, but I think that has changed now. I WANT to know what is hurting my babies.

Just for everyone's information.... Hope was not a hatchery bird, but her great-grandparents were. She was hatched and raised right here on this property. She was 4 years old. I do not use artificial lighting to get my hens to lay. I would NEVER force a molt. My girls do what they want, when they want, and how they want. Some go broody and some do not. To my knowledge, Hope never did. I assumed she was laying, because I would see her in the nestboxes, but I have so many hens, I can't say which egg belongs to who. When I say so many, I mean 24 in the pen Hope came from..... which is actually two adjoining pens with separate hen houses. The hens cross back and forth under the common fence, but the two roos respect each other's territory and stay on their own side of the fence. It works for us.

Anyway, for you newbies, I pray you won't worry too much about your birds and really take time to ENJOY them. Sometimes they get sick and when they do, do your best to take care of them. But we have to know that death is as much a part of life as living. You WILL have losses. There have been times when I have given my very best only to find out it was the exactly wrong thing to do. I've killed a few of the ones I love the most with what I thought was kindness. So take advantage of the years of experience and wisdom that is represented here on this forum. I know I couldn't get along very well without it.

Thanks to all.

The Old Rebel

 

[speckledhen]

Mine didn't present that way. Wow! That is wild. I lost four to internal laying last year. It may have something to do with the way yours began. My girls' ailment probably began as an ovarian infection which was incapsulated in the oviduct. They say that happens when the cloaca is loose and feces backs into the wrong channel as an egg is being laid. Yours is each yolk sack separately, so maybe more the cause was hormonal? Interesting pictures.

 

[New adventure]

That is the most fascinating thing I hope I NEVER see in person! I'm so sorry you lost your hen.

 

[WriterofWords]

Wow, I've never seen anything like that.

 

[emvickrey]

Oh my gosh! That must've been very painful
.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

!!!DANG!!!

 

[preppy*hippie*chick]

That is wild. Sorry about your hen, but thanks for the information.