abscess on chicken's face

[TwoDogFarm]

Hi. I noticed that there is an abscess growing on my chicken's face right near her mouth above her wattle. It started on Friday and seems to be getting bigger. My parents have been taking care of my flock while I was out of the country the past two weeks, and they started putting electrolytes in her water and feeding her medicated feed. Today, I put some Veterycin gel on her eye and the swollen ball.

I'm thinking it may need to be lanced on the bottom so it can drain but I'm a little scared about doing that. Does anyone else know what this is or how to treat it? Thanks.

I've attached a picture.

 

[Kiki]

Is taking her to a vet an option?
Is the "thing" hard or squishy? Is she coughing or sneezing?
And do you see anything weird inside her mouth?

FWIW...the normal "medicated" chicken feed does not have "medicine" in it.
It usually only contains an ingredient that blocks thiamine intake....which is what Cocci like.
So medicated feed is not going to make one bit of difference.

 

[Mrs Howey]

Keep her away from the other chickens. You can put a warm/hot wash cloth on it for a bit every few hours (maybe have a mixture of hot water and Epsom salt in a bowl to dip the wash cloth in) that will draw out any infection. I cant say as to lance it or not. Maybe call a vet? Sometimes a vet will give advise over the phone.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her eye has bubbles like those in mycoplasma (MG,) a respiratory infection. There look to be 2 small marks on the lump which mite be from a tick bite. I would be tempted to lance the lump or possible abscess, and squeeze a little to see if you can express anything. Have you notices any cough or sneeze, gasping, or noisy breathing? Could she have also been pecked in the eye as well?

 

[TwoDogFarm]

I'm really not sure what might have happened. I was wondering if a snake or bee got her. Or if a rat bit her--we have tons of rats. I hadn't thought about a tick bite. Would it have been on that spot? I just got back in the country about 24 hours ago and just found out about this once I got state-side and could receive phone messages again. My parents don't have chickens so they've done their best trying to figure out what to do while I was away with thr help of our local feed store employees. They're the ones who recommended the feed. It had me wondering if it would help anything...but it's good to know the reason it is called medicated feed.

Here is another question them about medicine, since antibiotics for poultry have been recently banned...would oregano clear up any bacterial infection she may have?

So far, I haven't noticed any weird coughing or sneezing from her. It's extremely hot here and she's laying around a lot but it's hard to tell if it's from this lump or just from being so hot.

I haven't tried squeezing it to see if it's hard or squishy but from rubbing the Veterycin on it, it seems a little more squishy than hard. I haven't opened her mouth to see inside it. I can check that tomorrow though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is she drinking?

I see you have received good advice from @Eggcessive

I don't have a lot to add - you can try flushing the eye out with saline, just in case the bubbles are caused by debris. It's hard to know whether it's respiratory like MG or infection from debris or a peck.

It sounds like your parents have done everything they can while you were gone. I just want to ask - did they get medicated chick starter? If that's what they got - it won't hurt...most medicated chick starters have a small amount of Amprol/Amprolium which is a Coccidiostat. It is very mild and won't hurt her, so no harm there. She may actually have benefited from the extra protein if she normally eats layer pellets. You may want to offer her some poultry vitamins if you have them.

 

[Kiki]

How is your chicken doing today?