Abscess

[Autumn Skye]

So when I went to put the girls in for the nite, I saw what looks like a ruptured abscess on one hens back. There has been a lot of fighting in the pecking order lately and I believe this happened as a result. My 2 top hens look great. Everyone else has some degree of feather loss. Any ideas for dealing with that would also be appreciated. I tried saddles & THAT made it worse! Anyway, this was NOT there this morning. I just saw the usual bald spot. So the abscess might have been there and I didn't see it & then it ruptured during the day. How do I treat that? Do I have to lance it? Or can I just keep cleaning it & putting Neosporin on it? It looks painful! And it is raised up still, so clearly there is more puss in there. Thank you in advance.

 

[Autumn Skye]

Also, as of tonite, she is eating & drinking like nothing is wrong.

 

[Gypsylion]

Hi! I'm bumping this thread b/c I have a silkie who also has a large abscess of some sort on her back and was glad to see your post, but alas no one has chimed in!

Anyone have any suggestions for treatment?

In the case of my bird, it was not from pecking (no feather loss and she's near the top of the pecking order) - I noticed it when it was about dime size maybe 2 mos ago and started putting salve on it every few days without much change but no effect on her behavior otherwise, then about a month later she suddenly stopped wanting to put weight on her left leg and when I picked her up to look more closely the abscess had more than doubled in size. She's now been inside in a hospital cage for a couple of weeks with more regular application of antibiotic ointment and liquid vitamins, but if anything it's still getting gradually larger.

ETA: it was dry when I first saw it, and has remained so the entire time until just yesterday there was a drop of gel-consistency yellowy-white liquid at one edge. The entire thing is now about 2-2.5" across, and about maybe 1/4" raised off her back/skin and the surface is all dried scab and has been the whole time.

It's not something I've seen before in over 10 yrs of consulting for nearly 200 flocks, and would love any input on whether anyone has seen something like this before, and how you treated it?

I have consulted with my regular vet remotely (we've moved farther out of town, so he's a bit too far for a visit, and our local vet is full for weeks). He wasn't sure whether the limping is related but it seems possible, and thinks it may need surgical removal, so I'd love to hear if anyone has any non-surgical success stories for something like this.

Pics to come...

 

[Autumn Skye]

Hi! I'm bumping this thread b/c I have a silkie who also has a large abscess of some sort on her back and was glad to see your post, but alas no one has chimed in!

Anyone have any suggestions for treatment?

In the case of my bird, it was not from pecking (no feather loss and she's near the top of the pecking order) - I noticed it when it was about dime size maybe 2 mos ago and started putting salve on it every few days without much change but no effect on her behavior otherwise, then about a month later she suddenly stopped wanting to put weight on her left leg and when I picked her up to look more closely the abscess had more than doubled in size. She's now been inside in a hospital cage for a couple of weeks with more regular application of antibiotic ointment and liquid vitamins, but if anything it's still getting gradually larger.

ETA: it was dry when I first saw it, and has remained so the entire time until just yesterday there was a drop of gel-consistency yellowy-white liquid at one edge. The entire thing is now about 2-2.5" across, and about maybe 1/4" raised off her back/skin and the surface is all dried scab and has been the whole time.

It's not something I've seen before in over 10 yrs of consulting for nearly 200 flocks, and would love any input on whether anyone has seen something like this before, and how you treated it?

I have consulted with my regular vet remotely (we've moved farther out of town, so he's a bit too far for a visit, and our local vet is full for weeks). He wasn't sure whether the limping is related but it seems possible, and thinks it may need surgical removal, so I'd love to hear if anyone has any non-surgical success stories for something like this.

Pics to come...

I'm not sure that I have any advice, but I posted that back at the beginning of June & it has just FINALLY healed. I honestly gave up & started spraying it with Blu-Cote when I saw that the hen herself (aptly names Godzilla) was pecking on it. I mean, come on! Lol. It seemed once I got her to stop pecking on it, it was able to heal. I watched it closely as my vet advised, and as long as it wasn't looking horribly infected it was just watch & wait. My vet was reluctant to give her antibiotics because of the egg withdrawal that goes with it & the abscess was small. My birds abscess was only about an inch in size. Your hens sounds much worse. I think she might need it to be surgically cleaned out.

 

[Gypsylion]

I'm not sure that I have any advice, but I posted that back at the beginning of June & it has just FINALLY healed. I honestly gave up & started spraying it with Blu-Cote when I saw that the hen herself (aptly names Godzilla) was pecking on it. I mean, come on! Lol. It seemed once I got her to stop pecking on it, it was able to heal. I watched it closely as my vet advised, and as long as it wasn't looking horribly infected it was just watch & wait. My vet was reluctant to give her antibiotics because of the egg withdrawal that goes with it & the abscess was small. My birds abscess was only about an inch in size. Your hens sounds much worse. I think she might need it to be surgically cleaned out.

Oooh... thanks so much for the update, and I'm thrilled to hear your girl is finally better! And Godzilla is a GREAT name for a chicken.

Maybe someone else will see this and have some other input for me... I'm going to post on the Chicken Vets FB group too and see what they have to say, since BYC seems to be a bit less responsive than it once was...

THANK YOU, and congrats!

 

[HollyWoozle]

@Gypsylion pics would definitely help! If there is pus in the abscess then it will likely need to come out for it to heal up.

 

[CloneFly]

Did you guys figure out what it was?? My 4month old Orpington has this abscess/lump on her back (similar to that in pic) and though I've been cleaning it regularly and applying antibiotics, it keeps refilling with pus. Not to mention it looks even more swollen than before. If you guys have any tips on how I could help her, it would be greatly appreciated!!