A CHAPTER V POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS 1. Making the Examination POST-MORTEM examination should always be undertaken if there is any doubt as to the cause of death. Poultry rearers who are not already familiar with the normal appearance of the internal organs of a fowl should take the first opportunity of studying them. should be Post-mortem examinations done in a systematic manner; but, if desired, a very speedy examination may be made by rapidly removing, or bending back, the breast bone of the unplucked bird. It will be more generally satisfactory, however, to devote time to the operation, and it is suggested that the work be carried out on the following lines: I. Nail the body of the dead fowl on a board in the position shown FIG. 30.-POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 1 Fowl nailed on board; lines A B, A C and B D show where to cut. in Fig. 30, having first partly or wholly plucked the bird: 2. With a sharp knife cut along lines AC, BD (Fig. 30), and bend the breast bone backwards, exposing the internal organs. (Fig. 31.) As the breast bone is raised it will be necessary to cut through the mesentery and other connecting tissues. Break it back at D, cutting through the flesh and the muscle with sharp scissors. 3. Remove heart, liver, gall-bladder and spleen, making neat severances and without injury to any of the other organs. If the heart or large blood vessels be injured in the operation, blood will flow out and interfere with the work. 4. Cut through the œsophagus, below or above the crop, as most convenient, and also cut through the large intestine near ΙΟΙ the cloaca. Without disconnecting the parts, lift out the gizzard, intestines, and other portions of the alimentary canal, carefully tearing away the membranous tissues of the mesentery. 5. Spread the organs out and examine each one carefully and critically, making sections if necessary. (Fig. 32.) 6. Cut open gullet, crop, stomach, gizzard, intestines, and cæca and examine the contents. 7. Examine the lungs, cutting off a portion and throwing it into water, when it will float if healthy, but sink if congested. 8. Cut through the skin of the neck. Sever the windpipe near the head, and also where the bronchi enter the lungs. With scissors cut it open, and examine for molds or gapes or for exudates indicative of various |