Very strange growth with what looks like necrosis but also feathers??

[metarachel]

I have a 5 year old golden comet with a very strange growth on her neck. It might've been there for some time, but it was under her feathers and I didn't notice until recently. It's fleshy and feels firm, but it's kind of like a giant skin tag in that it's not growing under her skin but rather FROM it. It's about1.5 inches long and maybe 3/4 of an inch wide and 1/4 inch deep, and there's what looks like some necrosis at the tip and--more worryingly--also on the skin around where the growth is coming from. I don't see any signs of infection, but I've treated it with cream just in case. The weirdest thing is those black dots you see in the photo? Are pin feathers! (She's going through a molt right now.)

She doesn't appear to be in any distress, and didn't mind me touching the area gently. Her appetite and her curiosity are as strong as ever, given how unfathomably old she is for a production hen. The other girls don't pick on her at all, but she does free range, so it is possible that the wound at the tip of the growth came from some kind of animal encounter or accident in her environment.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Not sure what to do. Thank you!

 

[CloneFly]

I have a 5 year old golden comet with a very strange growth on her neck. It might've been there for some time, but it was under her feathers and I didn't notice until recently. It's fleshy and feels firm, but it's kind of like a giant skin tag in that it's not growing under her skin but rather FROM it. It's about1.5 inches long and maybe 3/4 of an inch wide and 1/4 inch deep, and there's what looks like some necrosis at the tip and--more worryingly--also on the skin around where the growth is coming from. I don't see any signs of infection, but I've treated it with cream just in case. The weirdest thing is those black dots you see in the photo? Are pin feathers! (She's going through a molt right now.)

She doesn't appear to be in any distress, and didn't mind me touching the area gently. Her appetite and her curiosity are as strong as ever, given how unfathomably old she is for a production hen. The other girls don't pick on her at all, but she does free range, so it is possible that the wound at the tip of the growth came from some kind of animal encounter or accident in her environment.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Not sure what to do. Thank you!

Have you tried lancing it? You can use an 18guage needle and gently poke it to see if anything comes out. If the blood looks "watered down" or there's pus coming from the inside, you'd likely need to open it up and clean it out/start her on some antibiotics. If there's just a drop of normal blood you can just clean it off and let her roam free. @Eggcessive would probably have more answers that I

 

[metarachel]

Have you tried lancing it? You can use an 18guage needle and gently poke it to see if anything comes out. If the blood looks "watered down" or there's pus coming from the inside, you'd likely need to open it up and clean it out/start her on some antibiotics. If there's just a drop of normal blood you can just clean it off and let her roam free. @Eggcessive would probably have more answers that I

I haven't yet; it didn't look or feel like an abcess or the like so I was very hesitant to cause her pain if I didn't need to.

 

[CloneFly]

I haven't yet; it didn't look or feel like an abcess or the like so I was very hesitant to cause her pain if I didn't need to.

They usually don't mind the small prick. If it's full of hard "pus" or fluid, it can help provide relief. From the color of the growth, it looks like there *might* be some gunk inside. It looks like a couple feathers around have been picked at- possibly hmby her? It's good she's still eating and drinking well. Does the growth seem to be itchy or of any discomfort?

 

[metarachel]

They usually don't mind the small prick. If it's full of hard "pus" or fluid, it can help provide relief. From the color of the growth, it looks like there *might* be some gunk inside. It looks like a couple feathers around have been picked at- possibly hmby her? It's good she's still eating and drinking well. Does the growth seem to be itchy or of any discomfort?

Not that I can tell. She's not picking at it or preening the area that I've seen, but she is going through a weirdly-timed molt, so that may just be part of that. I'll try aspirating it tonight when I have a second set of hands. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

It is hard to tell from the picture. Could you pull some of the feathers away from it and get another shot including the tip? The neck can be a common place for skin cancers, but it might be an ingrown feather cyst as well. I would make sure to watch to see if it gets larger.

 

[metarachel]

It's definitely growing My first thought was cancer. Would a feather cyst grow feathers from the skin like that?

I'll try to get a better picture when I have a second set of hands.

It is hard to tell from the picture. Could you pull some of the feathers away from it and get another shot including the tip? The neck can be a common place for skin cancers, but it might be an ingrown feather cyst as well. I would make sure to watch to see if it gets larger.

 

[Eggcessive]

I haven’t seen anything like this before. Let me do some looking for pictures online.

 

[metarachel]

I haven’t seen anything like this before. Let me do some looking for pictures online.

Thank you! I tried doing some googling but nothing seemed to quite match.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a picture of a feather cyst with feathers coming out of it:
https://bitchinchickens.com/2020/12/03/case-study-feather-follicle-cyst/