A large lump on hen’s leg

[yuchen]

As shown in the picture, my hen has a large lump on her leg. Two days ago, there were some white spots on her skin, but they disappeared yesterday and she seemed to recover. Her appetite is normal. Could the lump be caused by avian pox, or is it a different disease? How should I treat her?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@azygous might be able to help.

 

[azygous]

Your photos don't show any lump as far as I can determine. If you can't get better photos, how about providing a more detailed description of the lump?

There is a thing called squamous cancer that chickens often get. It begins with a swollen spot with raised tissue around a black scab. I have a rooster with this. Take a look at my thread and compare what your chicken has. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-not-injury-confirmed-to-be-a-tumor.1543307/

 

[yuchen]

Your photos don't show any lump as far as I can determine. If you can't get better photos, how about providing a more detailed description of the lump?

There is a thing called squamous cancer that chickens often get. It begins with a swollen spot with raised tissue around a black scab. I have a rooster with this. Take a look at my thread and compare what your chicken has. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-not-injury-confirmed-to-be-a-tumor.1543307/

Thank you for your reply. After reading your thread, I don’t think she has squamous cell carcinoma. The lump hasn’t hollowed out in the center, and it looks more like a scab than necrosis. The lump is about 2 centimeters in diameter, it’s not hard, and there’s a brown scab in the center. In addition to the large lump, there’s also a black scab on her leg, and I saw it bleeding yesterday.

 

[azygous]

Thank you for clarifying. That lump looks to me like an early cancer. One way to know is to treat it as a wound and see if you can get it to heal. I would keep an antibiotic ointment on it. If it shrinks and heals over, then you aren't dealing with a cancer. If it stays the same or grows, then you know it's cancer.

If this is a wound, you need to check the roosts to be sure they aren't too high and she's injuring the leg trying to get up each night.

 

[yuchen]

Thank you for clarifying. That lump looks to me like an early cancer. One way to know is to treat it as a wound and see if you can get it to heal. I would keep an antibiotic ointment on it. If it shrinks and heals over, then you aren't dealing with a cancer. If it stays the same or grows, then you know it's cancer.

If this is a wound, you need to check the roosts to be sure they aren't too high and she's injuring the leg trying to get up each night.

Thank you!