You may recall that I put Magic's Dad into the outside aviary early last week

 

Here he is, a picture of health ... or so I thought

Imagine my abject horror when I discovered him dead as a door nail in the seed catcher on Sunday morning.

 

Fortunately my good friend Gary Armstrong had previously offered to conduct an autopsy should I have any suspicious deaths.

 

Here's a step by step guide of the autopsy performed this morning:

 

1. External examination of the dead bird .... sharp keel bone and dark brown feacal matter

2. Pluck the feathers, if they come out easy a sure sign of unnatural cause of death

3. Shallow incision from under the wings along the rib cage

 

4. Peel back the rib cage to reveal internal organs.

5. In this case the heart, liver, kidneys and testes were in healthy condition

6. A sample of the lower intestine was taken but the microscopic analysis proved negative for cocci and inconclusive for megabacteria.

7. The gizzard was dissected. Instead of being a healthy ocher colour it was dark brown in colour. The gizzard processes the digestion of seed and has little tentacles that grind down the seed, in this case there were no longer any of these.

8. A sample of the gizzard was taken and megabacteria cells were observed.

Autopsy Conclusion:

 

Magic's Dad was introduced straight into the breeding cabinet from another breeder in May but was hosting megabacteria which was exasperated by the stress of breeding. His immune system was low when released into the outside aviary and on his last legs.

 

Cause of Death: Megabacteria.

Edited September 8, 200816 yr by Elly

Very sorry to hear about Magic's dad Renee. Thankyou so much for this educational autopsy topic though. Some may get a little squeamish by the pictures but its all there to teach us. Gary is a very clever man, isnt he

Very sorry to hear about Magic's dad Renee. Thankyou so much for this educational autopsy topic though. Some may get a little squeamish by the pictures but its all there to teach us. Gary is a very clever man, isnt he

 

Yes, he is!

 

I just couldn't accept his death, I knew I'd taken excellent care of him and I wanted to know why he died. Especially because he had been lent to me by another breeder and I felt responsible for his well-being. Fortunately we have reached an acceptable compensation agreement without recriminations ....

Further information about Megabacteria copied from the MBC Forum, courtesy of Jeff, Leigh, George and Gary:

 

What is Megabacteria?

(George)

I don't claim any particular expertise in disease names but according to a presentation by Professor Phalen to the World Budgerigar Organisation at the Grand National, Las Vegas Nevada in October 2005, the name of the yeast is "now officially Macrorhabdus ornithogaster."

I know it was called Avian Gastric Yeast for a while. That name along with the earlier Megabacteria is still used by many people.

 

How does it kill?

(Jeff)

Mega is ever present. It is a secondary disease. It will take over and kill your birds if they are weak or not cared for.

 

Generally, if we treat for Psittacosis, Canker and Cocci all will be good.

 

Once Mega has ravaged a bird it is hard to salvage the bird.

 

How can it be treated?

(Leigh)

I DIDN'T know that Megabac was a yeast, I thought I had read in a post somewhere that it was a Spherical Bacteria, and there was also mention of a Gram- Rod.

 

This is why I was more than a little confused when the Vet gave me FUNGILIN to treat the birds. Fungilin treats Fungal blooms caused by Yeasts. I have always known this and using it to treat what I thought was a true Bacteria had me scratching my head!

 

This now answers the about the use of cider vinigar, Yeasts will always bloom in the absence of sufficient acid, thus the need to keep their environment at a low pH which Cider Vinegar will do

 

Any preventative measures?

(Gary)

I used to add only two drops of apple cider to the drinking water (1 Litre) and the PH was LOWERED to 6.4 on the acid side.

 

(Jeff)

I use KD in the water two days out of 10. This is a Marshall Product. See the links in All things Budgerigars.

 

(Leigh)

The treatment the Vet gave me for the Megabacteria is Fungilin Lozenges crushed in suspension which is administered orally via syringe (not crop needle) at the rate of 0.2 ml twice daily for twenty days.

This is not a cure for Megabac as there is no real cure, it is to hold the Megabac at bay long enough for the Doxy to have a proper effect.

Once the Psittacosis has been eradicated from the birds system, the immune system should be able to keep the Megabacteria at tolerable levels.

Edited September 8, 200816 yr by renee

Very interesting indeed, I am going to put a warning on with the title for those squeamish of heart.

Renee- I am sorry to hear of this .... At least you know that it wasn't something that You didn. Thank you for sharing with

the picture as well ...

Squeamish is me!! but i was able to look at the photos the second time through

Very interesting and sad at the same time. I am so sorry you lost him.

Thanks for sharing wit us

Squeamish is me!! but i was able to look at the photos the second time through

Very interesting and sad at the same time. I am so sorry you lost him.

Thanks for sharing wit us

 

Yes, well my legs went weak at the knees a few times throughout the autopsy but my determination to find out what killed him proved stronger.

 

I have decided to add a couple of drops of apple cider to the water from now on. I won't be giving my flock for the 45 day doxy treatment till Feb. Evidently Magic's Mum must have the megabacteria as he was feeding her and the chicks as well, but Mega is a secondary infection and so long as I can increase the PH levels of the crop I should keep it at bay. I'm also considering giving all birds citrus, maybe orange lobes.

How horrible to lose such a gorgeous bird you were so fond of

Sorry for your loss...

I agree though, great autopsy photo's very detailed, although I don't think I'll be trying it myself

I don't think I'll be trying it myself

 

I have done autopsies on my birds but I need some more training. Will have to see Gary about that

I don't think I'll be trying it myself

 

I have done autopsies on my birds but I need some more training. Will have to see Gary about that

 

I'm trying to get Tony (my hubby) interested I have offered him the autopsy kit for a Xmas pressie - he is, so far, non-committal!

I don't think I'll be trying it myself

 

I have done autopsies on my birds but I need some more training. Will have to see Gary about that

 

I'm trying to get Tony (my hubby) interested I have offered him the autopsy kit for a Xmas pressie - he is, so far, non-committal!

I cannot imagine Tony changing his mind and saying YES to this

I'm so sorry for your loss. Hugs xoxo Thanks for sharing this and the pictures. I did struggle to look at all the photos closely (a quick scroll did the trick!), but it is very beneficial to those who are interested.

I don't think I'll be trying it myself

 

I have done autopsies on my birds but I need some more training. Will have to see Gary about that

 

I'm trying to get Tony (my hubby) interested I have offered him the autopsy kit for a Xmas pressie - he is, so far, non-committal!

I cannot imagine Tony changing his mind and saying YES to this

 

.... I have ways and means ....

That was a very good post with very good pictures. Thank you very much.

Poor bird, interesting pictures .

Bumping the topic for MBC forum viewers.

That is so sad Renee. Greg has done an autopsy on a couple of my birds and one we dicovered it had tumours on the kidney.

So even though it looks awful it does need to be done

Dont show those pics to the kiddies !