Silkie Roo abcess, parasites, tumor???

[I<3maura]

Hello - I have a 1 1/2 year old silkie rooster who has been acting lethargic and off-balance for a few weeks. I did notice just a few mites and treated with Ivomec a couple weeks ago. He's also had baby vitamins and poultry drenge, alternating every other day. He is eating and drinking, although not as enthusiastically. He looks a bit dehydrated. He had some poop stuck to his hind feathers so I gave him a bath today and found 2 large lumps on his side under where the end of the wing lies. They must have been draining at some point because there was very dark, sticky stuff in his feathers. I cannot determine an exact opening (there were several raw spots) but clipped feathers and cleaned the area the best I could. These lumps are very hard, oblong shaped and my best description of size and shape would be like a Guinea egg.

He has been isolated but let out to walk around after the other chickens are put away for the evening. This past week has been a better one for him and he is a little more active. He is in the backyard drying from his bath now and is up walking around. We love this guy and any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Firefighter Chick]

how confusing! is it possible those are the eggs left from the mites? did you only treat once? I would personally get those feathers clipped down close to the skin as possible. are the growths on the feather like attached or are they nodules on the skin? do they move? I would clean up the area a bunch more and possible remove one of the nodules for closer inspection. It's possible a parasite caused a secondary bacterial infection. Can you give him a nice warm soak and get some of that stuff off of there? I would continue with the topical anti-parasitic (anti-mite) dip or cream that you used and alternate that with an antibacterial product. Perhaps someone else on here has some more ideas for you. good luck.

 

[Firefighter Chick]

perhaps if there was poo and mites on his bum he picked his own bottom raw.

 

[I<3maura]

Thanks for the replies. These lumps are on his side. His bum looked fine. The only other place that looked grimy was where his crest meets his comb and I scrubbed that pretty well and there was no skin irritation. These two lumps, right next to each other, are very hard and come to almost a point. I was hoping to get an opening and it would drain but there is no squish like an abcess. He's up and eating & drinking and looks pretty good after his bath. I used peroxide to see if there were live parasites in there as that will usually force them out (as in a fly strike). Nothing moved. If I were to give an antibiotic what would be the choice? I clipped his feathers (not easy!) but will try to get closer and give a better look at the nodules. I lost a silkie hen a few months ago with some similar symptoms but never found lumps like on this roo.