A couple days ago, I found my 2.5-year-old Rhode Island Red hen dead on the droppings board when I let the chickens out of the coop in the morning. She had been acting completely normally the day before without any visible indications of illness. I have no history of any particular illness in my flock and have had no other losses any time recently.
I stored her in a fridge for a few hours before doing the necropsy. When I opened her up, I initially thought Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome (which it still may be). She had large amounts of fat in her coelomic cavity and her liver appeared hemorrhaged.
But a few things are throwing me off:
1) She had fat everywhere, not just her coelomic cavity. All her organs were encased in fat, including her heart and lungs. Is this also typical of Fatty Liver?
2) Her lungs were very gooey and friable. I have done necropsies before, and these lungs were different. They were so squishy and friable that they didn't hold the typical lung shape that I've seen during other necropsies. The lungs had no lesions or anything else--they were just very texturally strange.
3) Her liver had green spots in it surrounded by white patches - you can see this very well in one of the photos I attached. Note also just how bad of shape that liver is in. The discolored lobe on the bottom of the liver actually detached while I was gently handling the liver.
4) When I handled her liver, I felt little hard pieces in it. I dug them out and they looked like little dark-colored rocks. Obviously, they're not rocks, but that's what they looked and felt like. I think some of the green spots were actually these rock-like particles.
My chickens free-range (with no boundaries) and have layer feed available at all times. I don't feed them treats, so treats is not where the fat came from in this hen. They are definitely getting less exercise than usual simply because it's hot out.
Any ideas? Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome? Maybe cancer? Something else?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I stored her in a fridge for a few hours before doing the necropsy. When I opened her up, I initially thought Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome (which it still may be). She had large amounts of fat in her coelomic cavity and her liver appeared hemorrhaged.
But a few things are throwing me off:
1) She had fat everywhere, not just her coelomic cavity. All her organs were encased in fat, including her heart and lungs. Is this also typical of Fatty Liver?
2) Her lungs were very gooey and friable. I have done necropsies before, and these lungs were different. They were so squishy and friable that they didn't hold the typical lung shape that I've seen during other necropsies. The lungs had no lesions or anything else--they were just very texturally strange.
3) Her liver had green spots in it surrounded by white patches - you can see this very well in one of the photos I attached. Note also just how bad of shape that liver is in. The discolored lobe on the bottom of the liver actually detached while I was gently handling the liver.
4) When I handled her liver, I felt little hard pieces in it. I dug them out and they looked like little dark-colored rocks. Obviously, they're not rocks, but that's what they looked and felt like. I think some of the green spots were actually these rock-like particles.
My chickens free-range (with no boundaries) and have layer feed available at all times. I don't feed them treats, so treats is not where the fat came from in this hen. They are definitely getting less exercise than usual simply because it's hot out.
Any ideas? Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome? Maybe cancer? Something else?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
