Can a chicken have a heart attack?

Answer 1

Yes, they can have heart failures. The most common heart failure, commonly incorrectly referred to as a "heart attack" is a condition called Ascites (pronounced Ah-Site-ees). This is a condition commonly seen in meat production birds such as cornish cross "broiler" chickens and broad-breasted production turkeys where rapid growth is a common trait. Unlike your standard definition of a heart attack where the heart goes into distress (fibrillation) and then ceases movement (arrest), Ascites is caused by fluid in the para-cardial sack. This fluid applies pressure to the heart muscles, causing them to grow with the extra exertion it takes to move blood. Eventually the heart grows so much that it begins to separate the valves of the heart, causing an inability to create the pressure needed to move blood. Effectively, the valves leak and the heart ceases to achieve proper blood flow and death ultimately occurs. Most dead birds fall over onto their back into a posture which an experienced poultry caretaker will recognize as an indicator of Ascites. In contrast: when birds die of a slower means, bodies of birds tend to present on their side, legs stretched out vertical to the body and usually appear trampled or cannibalized when in a floor-type operation.