WARNING!! GROSS!! Graphic Necropsy PICS - I need help with diagnosis

[Funky Feathers]

Yes, it is the kidneys you are pointing to. One looks bigger than the other, and the bigger one looks like it has a cyst?

 

[Dar]

sorry for your loss...

WOW those are some FAN FREEKIN TASTIC pics...

I was wondering if you can label the organs and nerves you are talking about?...

I am a nurse and I know what you are talking about but i would never be able to recognize these organs in a chicken, human ok.. chicken not so much..lol

I can get the obvious ones but there were a few i had to cross reference to figure it out

 

[Danigirl3]

Interesting pics. Thanks for posting them. Sorry about your chicken. ;(

 

[pips&peeps]

I just checked my poster from Peter Brown which is a guide to chicken anatomy and common diseases. Most everything looks normal.

I don't see where to check the sciatic nerves for mareks.... There is a clear picture of a healthy nerve and mareks inflamed nerve, so it would be easily discerned.

I do see a dark area in the intestines in the second and third picture, looks kind of like necrotic tissue. I think the final picture is the kidneys and they look spotted.

Try e-mailing your pictures to Peter Brown and see if he can offer you any suggestions.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

What led to me not getting a thorough & official necropsy;

I called the AZ dept of agriculture last Friday and left a detailed message on the answering machine. A few hours later, I called back again, but got the same answering machine. Monday, I still hadn't heard from them and called back again, getting the same answering machine - at that point, I just gave up on them and started looking for avian veterinarians.

I found two vets that were experienced with treating chickens - one reference was given to me by a BYC member:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=6972
The other was referred to my by the vet who treats my dogs.
Both of these veterinarians send their birds out to the U of A for necropsies. I didn't ask the price of one vet, but the other vet said the cost was $200-$300. I called the University of AZ (a 2 hour drive from me, but the only university here that does necropsies) and asked them their price to do a necropsy on a chicken - their cost is $190 - no wonder the vet charges at least $200.

One of the veterinarians was able to come to the phone and talk to me. He is also a chicken owner (has about 40) and after asking a lot of questions & listening to me describe the symptoms, he recommended not sending her in. He said that it's not unusual to lose a chicken every once in a while and unless I had another one come down with the same symptoms, not to worry about it. He said sometimes you can have a weaker chicken that can't take stress.
He asked if all my chickens came from the same place. Splash didn't. She came from some eggs I bought from a local seller- she is the only chick to hatch from those eggs (my broody's fault, not the seller's).

I have 17 more pullets. Seven of them are 18-20 weeks old - three are 9 months old & 8 of them are 11 months old - none of them have ever been sick or had any physical problems (except for bumblefoot), so it made sense to me not to spend the $200, especially when it may just be a one time incident.

 

[klevesque]

I'm sorry for your loss. I don't think I could ever do an autopsy on a chicken. I commend you for doing that.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Okay - good idea. I'm attempting to use the photobucket editing tools. I'm getting ready to add two new pictures (close-ups with labels) to the original post.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Thanks everyone for the tips, thoughts, advice, & support - good video link too.


Quote:
ThreeHorses You know, I think you're right about the heart. It looked so odd to me (that dark, bulbous part), but I just rechecked the online manuel and the heart there looks similar to hers:
http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/aphi/FAD/PDFs/Poultry necropsy manual 2008.pdf (page 5, picture on the right)

Granular is a good word to describe the normal sized kidney - I was using 'spongy', but it was more 'granular than the other organs. I'll have to look up mycotoxicosis again and see if it affects the kidneys.
The gallbladder may have become filled with bile due to her lack of eating very much near the end?


NewHobby I didn't open the crop. I had planned to, but when I felt it and pushed in on it, it seemed empty. She didn't eat anything the day she died and hardly anything the day before - we kept her hydrated, but by then we could tell she was on her way out and eating was such a struggle for her, that I didn't force much into her. You can see how empty the crop looks in this picture:

JJ & Fattie Yes, the gallbladder does look very large - I'm not sure if it could get that big because her diet when down so much the last week? or if it was that big to begin with. There wasn't a cyst on the kidneys - it's some kind of tissue (membrane, fat?) that I failed to get off the kidneys when removing them from the body.

Pips & Peeps - Thanks - I will ask him if he would mind taking a look at the pictures. I googled and found his website.

Edited: I just added a few close-up shots of the heart & kidneys (and other organs) to the first page (my original post).

 

[pips&peeps]

The picture you have of the sciatic nerve is not the sciatic. Check out this pdf download.....

http://www.lahinternational.com/pdf/PoultryAnatomyEng_w.pdf

 

[tulie13]

Did you open the intestines or the ceca? The way the insides look on those can be telling if there was any coccidiosis or intestinal infection.