What Killed Lorelei.. Layman's Necropsy(WARNING!!-GRAPHIC PICS BELOW)

[rooster-red]

Sorry Cyn, I know it sucks to have to do a necropsy on a beloved hen like that, but at least you know what killed her and that there was nothing you could have done to help her.

My hat is off to you & Tom for going ahead with this and posting these pics to share this information.

 

[dlhunicorn]

...interesting development in the treatment of Infectious Bronchitis:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/quigley-announces-successful-poultry-study,392557.shtml

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Thanks Cyn, for doing the autopsy on your beloved hen. I had a SLW who died 2yrs ago about 2mo after she passed one of those ugly masses of fatty tissue. We cut the mass open and it looked like an onion. I was new to chickens and didn't know the BYC existed at the time. Had no clue as to what was going on. I did give her antibiotics on the chance it would help. Now I know what it was and what probably killed her.
Thanks dlhunicorn for the link on new IB treatment. It would be good to get some help on this problem.

 

[Pine Grove]

Quote:
Anything respiratory that effects the left air sac has the potential to cause damage to the ovary and oviduct. Salpingitis for one(as in Speckledhens pic) often follows outbreaks of CRD, Same with New Castle and I. Bronchitis

 

[dlhunicorn]

What I understood from the Merck link is that the MG/MS (CRD) was a complication following Infectious Bronchitis bleh...glad I have never had to deal with this.... I wonder if that company will be allowed to market the anti-viral?

 

[Pine Grove]

Sometimes IB will go through a flock with only a sniffle here and there,Hardly any respriatory distress at all.. It will slip by and you wont even know it

 

[allen wranch]

All lab results are in on my Welsumner hen with the mass in her oviduct. I deleted my other posts so that everything would be in one spot.

Necropsy results – Severe caseous salpingitis (exudate in the oviduct)

MG – Negative
AI – Negative
MS – Positive

From Merck Vet Manual
M synoviae was first recognized as an acute to chronic infection of chickens and turkeys that produced an exudative tendinitis and bursitis; it now occurs most frequently as a subclinical infection of the upper respiratory tract. M synoviae infection is also a complication of airsacculitis in association with Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis.

KB Culture– Positive for Colibacillosis , Escherichia coli

Excerpts from Merck Vet Manual:
Colibacillosis occurs as an acute fatal septicemia or subacute pericarditis and airsacculitis. It is a common systemic disease of economic importance in poultry and is seen worldwide.

Systemic infection occurs when large numbers of pathogenic E coli gain access to the bloodstream from the respiratory tract or intestine. Bacteremia progresses to septicemia and death, or the infection extends to serosal surfaces, pericardium, joints, and other organs.

Sporadic lesions include pneumonia, arthritis, osteomyelitis, and salpingitis.

Total Cost $33.80

Based on the pictures of Cyn's hen necropsy, it is very likely she had the same thing.​

 

[speckledhen]

Im glad you know about your hen and thanks for posting the necropsy results. From what I saw of Lorelei's organs, it was not Colibacillosis. There were no lesions on the heart and liver like you are supposed to see there. Naturally, I'm not a vet or a vet tech, but I read what I should see if she had many of the diseases people fear with their birds. If Lorelei had IB or MS, she was completely asymptomatic except for losing weight and not laying eggs. There wasn't so much as a sneeze from her the entire time. I just dont know. I'm not saying it definitely isn't that, but those are contagious. No one else is ill nor have they ever been. That puzzles me, if it was what your hen had. Rosie and Ruby seem fine now after the molasses flush and olive oil in their crops. I believe they may have eaten something they shouldnt have and/or the 11 grain scratch had some seeds in it that were mildly poisonous. I dont think it had anything to do with Lorelei, just too different.

***Just wanted to add that if one more hen goes the way of Lorelei, I am afraid I'm going to insist on a necropsy at the poultry lab. I do not relish cutting into my girls like that, no matter what the reason. Carla, what did they recommend you do with your flock? To hear some tell it, about 90% of the flocks in the U.S. already have MS/MG.

 

[speckledhen]

Here's a photo of what we found inside my Ruby, my head hen. It's the same as Lorelei:

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Dang it Cyn I am so sorry. Hang in there hugs to both you and your hubby.