Young pullet, gone now, want to know what was wrong

[Grace11]

Had 4 mo old BO Pullet, raised with several others same age. Came upon her in evening, crop empty and hunched. Put her alone with wet mash and water, next morning, still the same. She would eat scrambled raw egg with NutruDrench and some water, would eat nothing solid or anything else. Then she showed signs of Coccidia, so treated that with cocciadiastat from TSC, for 3 days, all other feed the same. she had gotten very thin, so put her down. Upon internal examination: crop empty-expected; Liver, normal size/color, heart same, gizzard was packed full of body type feathers and a couple little straw pieces with grit, looked at intestine: found Cecum full of hardish and distending plug of white plasticy looking but organic enclosing dark matter, it literally popped out when squeezed. Never saw anything like that before.
Any guess/knowledge as to what may have been wrong with this youngster? did she just eat too many feathers, i see youngsters eating them sometimes, these were more the body type feathers, they eat them not as much as the smaller kind but have never seemed to suffer from the bigger ones. Or maybe there was something wrong with her cecum? she was just 4 mos old when this occured, her sisters are all faring well.
thank you for the info!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

From your description, it sounds like she couldn't get any nutrition because of the blockage from the gizzard to the intestine.
That's pretty rare. You also said you found grit in the gizzard. Do you provide (#3) adult size grit free choice?
One of the main reasons chickens become feather eaters is because of a need for more animal protein. What do you feed your birds? (CP%)

 

[Eggcessive]

There may have been a cecal coccidiosis that caused thick casings and hemorrhage inside. The gizzard findings are interesting. I once had a low pecking order hen who eventually died, and she had a crop and gizzard full of material in her environment such as tree algae, twigs, dry grasses. She alsways have at least 3 locations in pside and outside for feed, water, and grit. But she somehow seemed to prefer eating things of no nutrition. Here is some info on Eimeria tenella a severe coccidiosis if the cecum:
https://thepoultrysite.com/disease-guide/coccidiosis-caecal-e-tenella

E.tenella in the cecum

 

[Grace11]

All my gals have free choice grit, I also fling it all over so none can miss getting at it. I feed cat food mixed in at least once a week, theres always bits and pieces of this and that they get, aimed at variety and xcellant nutrition. her cecum was not in the least looking inflamed as the one above, whole intestine was clear. mealworms once in a while. i aim for them to be healthy and have enough of everything they need. I forgot to look at the proventriculas, i have Mareks on the property, these birds were said to be vaxed for mareks so it was sort of an xperiment to see if it worked. its really disheartening to see your birds conking over 1 by 1 from it and its always the ones with the nice personalities. ive had at least several of my old gals that had tumours of the proventriculas, the variety here seems to be the tumour causing kind or the nervous system type. I cannot have silkies, they all die or have to be put down. i get tired of having to kill my gals.
every single batch of youngsters gets the best protein chick starter i can find. im just gonna chalk it up to she must have had a particular need for protein and she was eating feathers to get. but that cecum has me bothered cause i had never saw one like that before. and after looking at the site, I might just stick everyone on the Coccidiostat just to make sure.
thanks you all!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good on you for at leas performing a home necropsy.
What state are you in? Occasionally obtaining the services of your state poultry lab is well worth the cost.