# Bunty lost the fight - Warning Necropsy Pictures



## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi everyone,
Bunty, my miniature RIR, died Monday night.
We had been fighting to save her for 10 days.

Initially we took her in as she had lost interest in food and had diarrhea .
Then I realised how underweight she was.
She wasn't that eager to walk about which I put down to the scaly leg mite damage.
Once warmed up she got a little interest back in food, but I had to syringe drip water into her beak.
Original thread is here: http://www.chickenforum.com/f12/scaly-leg-sour-crop-10054/

Her crop blew up for a few days and I thought she just had a simple crop issue. That went down again so no problem there.

Then we thought we would treat for Coccidiosis as apparently that can thrive in a chicken that's a little under the weather.

Few days later we noticed an egg sized lump between her legs - this was new, perhaps bringing her inside had triggered her to lay again?
Assuming she was egg bound we did the fluids and calcium route, along with a hot bath.

I had decided to take her to my incompetent vet the next day as a last ditch attempt to save her, but she died peacefully that night.

This was my first Chicken death and I wanted to know what killed her, so I decided to do my own necropsy.

So glad I did. She had lots of egg yolky masses inside her that I believe is called Egg Yolk Peritonitis.

I took some pictures and was hoping that someone could look them over to see if I missed anything else obvious??


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

This was just after I had opened her up, I checked the windpipe too and that was fine.
I could see the yellow already...


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

Took the liver and heart out (which was tiny). The first yolk mass was wrapped around the intestines which I took out then moved all the intestines to one side to reveal a lot more yellow masses.


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

Final picture. Counted over 10 individual yolk masses. No sign of worms either.


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm proud I was able to do this and now I don't think she died of anything that could endanger my other girls (unless I missed something).
I know I made her last days warm and comfortable and that's all that matters to me. And perhaps I will have a little more experience in caring for a sick chicken.

I apologise to anyone offended by the graphic nature of the pictures xx


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

How old was this chicken?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What you've managed to do is post pics that will help those in denial about what is happening internally to their bird if the diagnosis is internal laying to understand. Maybe.


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

Nm156 said:


> How old was this chicken?


She was 3 1/2 years old ish


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

For those of you wondering, Bunty was cremated with full military honors!


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You would have to slice open the digestive tract or ceca to see worms; particularly large roundworms and cecal worms. Sorry for your loss.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

thanks for taking the time to post this. sorry for your loss. at least you know how to send 'em off


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Kitarna, I'm very sorry for your loss. Your necropsy pictures are very appreciated by me and most people. You are brave doing it on your first demise. I think it's good to try and find out why they died.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

So sorry for your loss. Thanks for being brave and doing your own necropsy. In this picture one can see very easily the infection in her repro tract.








Here is a close up of it








*Salpingitis*

Introduction

Salpingitis is an inflammation of the oviduct. It is a complex condition of chickens and ducks associated with various infections including Mycoplasma and bacteria (especially E. coli and occasionally Salmonella spp.). Infection may spread downwards from an infected left abdominal air sac, or may proceed upwards from the cloaca. The oviduct is a hollow tube joining the normally sterile environment of the body cavity with the cloaca, which normally has many millions of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The control of infection in this area is probably achieved by ciliated epithelium that mostly wafts a carpet of mucus towards the cloaca. Anything that damages the epithelium or disturbs normal oviduct motility is likely to increase the likelihood of salpingitis. Systemic viral infections that cause ovarian regression or damage to the oviduct or cloaca, are especially prone to increasing salpingitis.

Signs

Sporadic loss of lay.
Death.
Damaged vents, leaking urates.
Distended abdomen.
Some birds may 'lay' a caseous mass of pus (which may be found in a nest or on the egg belt).
Post-mortem lesions

Slight to marked distension of oviduct with exudate.
May form a multi-layered caseous cast in oviduct or be amorphous.
Peritonitis.
Diagnosis

Use the signs to select birds for culling and post-mortem investigation. 
Lesions. 
Bacteriology of oviduct.

Treatment

Birds with well-developed lesions are unlikely to respond to medication. Use of a suitable antimicrobial may be beneficial for birds in the early stages and if associated with efforts to minimise risk factors.

Prevention

Control any septicaemia earlier in life, use healthy parent flocks, immunise effectively against respiratory viral pathogens common in the area.

Source: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/134/salpingitis/


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Here is a picture of the tract


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

dawg53 said:


> You would have to slice open the digestive tract or ceca to see worms; particularly large roundworms and cecal worms. Sorry for your loss.


I did slice open the intestines to try and find worms but couldn't see any.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Kitarna, I am so sorry for your loss. I also appreciate what it took to do the necropsy, We just recently had our own first loss and I wish I had the courage to do what you did. Maybe in the future I will be able to. Thank you!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Hens, the best way for me is telling myself that without a head they are just a supermarket chicken. Thinking of it also as needed to keep your flock possibly healthier.


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## kitarna (Jul 23, 2012)

8hensalaying said:


> Kitarna, I am so sorry for your loss. I also appreciate what it took to do the necropsy, We just recently had our own first loss and I wish I had the courage to do what you did. Maybe in the future I will be able to. Thank you!


Sorry you lost Esther, you did so much to save her and well done for trying the tube feeding. It wasn't an easy decision but I wanted to know if I could have done anything else for her or if I may lose the rest of my girls.

It took me all day to pluck up the courage and research exactly how to do it. Luckily it was fairly obvious what was wrong with her once I had started.
I think it would have been horrible if I didn't find anything.

Good luck with the rest of your girls x


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## zamora (May 26, 2015)

Thank you for having the courage to do the necropsy and to post the findings here. I think that even if it's difficult, doing so will help us all learn and consequently they don't die in vain because we are better able to care for the ones that follow.


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