What killed my hen?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am brand new to this forum and have a question. First of all, I have had chickens (Bantie/Silkie X) for many years and they normally die of old age or are victims of a predator - usually a mink sneaking into the pen during the night. Thankfully my new pen, built this summer, is predator proof. The poultry run free during the day on our two acres of property but the appearance of an interested hawk a few weeks ago made me realize it is time to build an enclosed run. They have spent the past three weeks inside and will remain indoors until spring due to the cold weather and deep snow we experience here in the winter.

I periodically check the flock (all 15 have names) to make sure there are no obvious problems and as of six weeks ago all seemed well. However, last week I noticed that one of my old hens was a bit unsteady on her feet and seemed to be having difficulty keeping her balance. She had never returned to roosting at night after raising a single chick this summer, preferring instead to sleep with her offspring in the nesting box. In hindsight, I now realize she was probably more comfortable in the box. When I picked her up I noticed she had lost a lot of weight since I'd last handled her and her belly was full of fluid. As a former nurse I am not squeamish about doing medical procedures for which I keep sterile equipment. Consequently I was able to drain a huge amount of amber tinged fluid from her abdominal cavity. She was obviously more comfortable after that, preened herself and had some supper. However when I felt a large, hard mass in her abdomen I knew her time was limited. Although she was sluggish and adopted an odd "sitting" posture, she ate, drank and had normal droppings until just before she died a few days later. When I opened her belly post mortem, I discovered a grossly swollen, very hard, pale liver with bloody fluid in the abdominal cavity. Some of the findings indicate Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome but she certainly wasn't overweight and the liver was hard, not soft. She had spent the summer happily running after her chick and always had plenty of fresh free-range goodies along with high quality poultry feed.

I am curious to hear if anyone has had similar experiences with their hens or have any ideas that might be useful in determining the cause of the liver abnormalities.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never experienced this with a chicken,but years ago I had a dog with very similar liver problems.The vet's prognosis wasn't good,although he did live longer than expected.My vet felt that he had always had a faulty liver since birth,it was mild enough for him to lead a normal life until he was 5 or 6 yrs when it got progressively worse.

At some point,a poultry vet is going to do some articles for this forum,he might be able to shed some light on your experience.

 

[Tim]

Hi Maryellen,

It's a really hard question as there appears to be a number of conditions that could cause these sort of symptoms with the Kidneys and I am no expert. My trusty book says that kidney stones can cause a loss of appitite and weight loss but Nephritis causes unthriftiness and kidney fluid. (caused by Infectious Bronchitus or Gumbboro) Lameness usually occurs from this.

None of this probably helps. I will look through my other books over the next few days though and post again if I get any ideas.

Lydia - the poultry vet (Jaques Bernard) is due to send his first article in soon, I asked whether he could write one every second or third month (that's all I can afford at the moment) but he's suggested some really interesting topics... including DIY Post Mortem!

 

[Anonymous]

I think doing a post mortem is a really good,sound idea.I wouldn't be able to pm my own birds though,quite happy to do anyones else's.I'd just be too attached emotionally to pm mine.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, it was the liver that was the problem, not the kidneys. Her kidneys appeared to be working okay as evidenced by her droppings.

A post mortem isn't that difficult - I usually wait until the next day. By then one pretty much realizes that whatever it was that made it a pet isn't there anymore. And one hopes that the findings may prove useful in the future. I only do it for the ones that die under unusual circumstances. Raised on a farm, I have dressed many chickens in the past (after someone else did the nasty deed) so I am quite familiar with their insides. But I definitely couldn't do it on a dog or cat.

Here is one instance where I'm glad I did a necropsy.

One evening last May my husband and I, while having our dinner, were watching Big Mama and Gracie, our two Embdens. They looked so beautiful grazing peacefully on the fresh, green grass. The girls always enjoyed a final swim before coming up for the night (we are fortunate to have a lovely river at the foot of our back yard) so I gave them an hour before going out to call them.

I knew something was wrong when they didn't respond to my voice or come waddling up for their bedtime treats. Running down to the river, I found Gracie swimming in circles and acting very strangely. It took me a few minutes to find Big Mama lying on her side in shallow water, hidden by overhanging trees. A mink had killed one of our chickens a few days earlier and I was convinced he had attacked the goose as well. However, although she was bleeding from the mouth, there were no indications of trauma to her body. Later, when I opened the chest cavity it was obvious she had died from an aneurysm, apparently fairly common in larger breeds of geese who are kept as pets. Embdens are intended for the dinner table so health problems associated with an extended lifespan aren't of much concern to breeders. Big Mama was 8 or 9 years old so she had lived a good, long life for her breed. I felt better knowing that she had died of natural causes, doing what she loved to do, and not in the jaws of a predator.

Added note: We immediately got a very lonely Gracie a new companion. She and Sophia have bonded well and spent many happy hours on the river this summer.

 

[Tim]

Oops - Kidneys / Liver - bit of a difference... sorry. Yesterday was a long day

A PM is something I haven't done before... I have prepared birds for the table so I guess it wouldn't be beyond me to pluck up the courage to do it.

I don't know what could cause the fluid around the liver. I looked up Fatty Liver Syndrome but all I found out was "Usually occurs with old birds that no longer take much excercise or lay eggs. The friable liver haemorrhages and birds will die, especially in hot weather". Not a great deal of help sorry.