Water Belly or Ovarian Cyst? AND Internal Layer? GRAPHIC PICS

[Mountain Lori]

Someone pointed out to me that the caption on the news paper reads, "Something to SCREAM About." Macabre, yes, but purely unintentional.

 

[seminolewind]

Lori, I really appreciate the fact that you went ahead and did a necropsy and shared the pictures. I did my first one last week. Not easy.
I wish in the future that more people perform necropsies and share the pictures because there is so little information out there about chickens.
I have certainly learned alot from your pictures, esp about tumors.
Thankyou

 

[DickGJ]

I would bank on it being a genetic predisposition with this girl and highly doubt it was anything you could have contributed towards (through feed or otherwise). If that were the case, you would more than likely experience more of the same with your flock. I would be very interested in a veterinarian's opinion on all your observations. Though I believe all those tiny yolks (not the ones found in the abdomen) are normal. I believe the multiple tiny yolks in the oviduct are normal and are simply nature's way of lining up each subsequent egg that will eventually be laid. Please keep us updated if you get a bonifide medical opinion. I'm very intrigued by your case study... Take Care.

 

[DickGJ]

Quote:
I totally agree about the need to share issues like these here with the rest of us on BYC. To be aware of issues like this makes it much less shocking to know in advance of some of the maladies we could experience someday with our own chickens.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I appreciate the warning you put in bold at the top of your post. I almost did not look. I'm not sure I could have done a necropsy but I applaud you for doing so as it really helps us to continue to be curious about our bird's anatomy as well as what might affect them.

I'm sorry you lost your hen.

 

[Mountain Lori]

Well, I did some more research and have determined that my girl definitely had what is called a "cystic oviduct." What's more, I found out that this is a common result of a breakout of Infectious Bronchitis. This concerns me. Although I haven't noticed any real signs of infection - the occasional sneeze at night, etc. - but no really obvious signs of distress, some of my eggs do look like the shells in this link (bottom of page 2): http://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/LIR_Tech_Articles/Indian-River-Be-Smart-IBV.pdf.

I have another link I'd like to share with you all regarding the crazy amount of eggs I found inside her (pages 34-35): http://www.spottedcowpress.ca/chapters/06Abnormalities.pdf. It says that, "it is well documented that ad libitum-fed breeder hens are very prone to developing excessive follicle development."

So it looks like I have a couple of things to figure out here - like whether I've had an outbreak of IBV (and what to do about it), the cause of the 'phantom eggs' that I found inside her, and how to drain or treat cystic ovaries. I have a couple of other girls with missing feathers in that area as well and assumed I had a feather-picker or a molt. None are hugely swollen like this girl was though.

Apparently, draining the cyst provides relief and they can live a fairly normal life, but I can't find info on how to do that safely myself. Also, I'm thinking by the time it's large enough to notice, damage to the other organs has already been already done. I will also have to check my feed for ad libitum. I feed layer ration, a little scratch, some kitchen leftovers, occasional green treats (cabbage, parsley, kale, whatever) and freerange in the summer (native grasses, forest foliage, and of course... bugs), but so far this year, they've only been able to freerange for about 2 weeks now.


More research and feedback is needed.

Thanks all.

 

[debducttape]

All this talk about ovaries- I thought chickens only had one, left ovary? Is this not true?

 

[Mountain Lori]

All this talk about ovaries- I thought chickens only had one, left ovary? Is this not true?

Apparently, yes and no. They have both left and right. Normally the right ovary atrophies during development of the chick, and only the left ovary produces eggs. Although the right ovary doesn't develop, it remains dormant as an undefined sex organ (either male or female) within the hen. I read about a phenomenon that occurs wherein a hen may spontaneously change sex and become a rooster. Apparently this can happen if the left ovary stops functioning, which may trigger the development of the right sex organ. Because it is undefined as either male or female, it may secrete testosterone causing the hen to display male physical and behavioral characteristics. A true sex-change? Maybe not, but I did read about it on more than one site. Some of the info is posted on other forums, which I can't link to here, but I did find this article: http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/sex-change-chicken-rooster-1530/​

 

[DickGJ]

Quote:
Apparently, yes and no. They have both left and right. Normally the right ovary atrophies during development of the chick, and only the left ovary produces eggs. Although the right ovary doesn't develop, it remains dormant as an undefined sex organ (either male or female) within the hen. I read about a phenomenon that occurs wherein a hen may spontaneously change sex and become a rooster. Apparently this can happen if the left ovary stops functioning, which may trigger the development of the right sex organ. Because it is undefined as either male or female, it may secrete testosterone causing the hen to display male physical and behavioral characteristics. A true sex-change? Maybe not, but I did read about it on more than one site. Some of the info is posted on other forums, which I can't link to here, but I did find this article: http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/sex-change-chicken-rooster-1530/

You're right...this is a little different. But look up/google the word Parthenogenesis... it's very interesting. I've experienced this with honeybees after the queen was killed. It also occurs in birds...most notably Turkeys. The downside is that all off-spring produced are males... "Parthenogenesis occurs in turkeys through doubling of haploid cells, and the rate at which this occurs could be increased by selective breeding. The offspring produced by parthenogenesis were healthy, and as doubled haploids they were homogametic, and consequently all were male" Isn't biology interesting!?!? Knowledge is power...keep researching Mountain Lori!! You're doing great!

 

[GiddyMoon]

I find these pictures absolutely fascinating. I get ribbed a lot becuase I have a fetish for skin diseases, birth defects, etc....this was really interesting to see...while I am so sorry for you and your hen..I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to put these up.