Barred Rock, 9mnths old developing cyst on back loosing feathers

[H3xan01c]

I realize there was an old thread exactly what I found on my hen this morning but I'm not sure if its standard to start a fresh case for each issue. Barred Rock, purchased as a day old in August. Started laying a couple months ago. I have 14 hens and have found that I usually get 13 occasionally all 14. I noticed this morning the feathers missing on her back and had time to take a look. I found this cyst like hard lump. gentle probing seems to feel like a hard marble sized lump. I will post this on a new thread as well. I have separated this bird from the others to determine what it is without exposing them more to it just in case. Any help is appreciated knowledge in numbers eh.

cheers,
Wayne

 

[H3xan01c]

this being the start of my 2nd year and 2nd flock I am new to the challenges and welcome any advice. I would cull any bird that was in pain or could cause a threat to the flock I have always felt that is part of the responsibility of caring for animals. Its part of the reason I took on the chickens so that I could teach that to my children. I had this hen away from the others yesterday and last night after reading about some possible causes I chose to see if it was an ingrown feather type of issue. I cleaned the area cut back a couple feathers then disinfected the area. I made a small cut on one side in the skin, very little blood. I then used a dental pick I had to probe in around the hard spot. The hen didn't resist much but was a little uncomfortable obviously. It turned out that the object was not round but cupped like a thick potato chip. I was able to gently pry it out and pull it out with some needle nose pliers. I rinsed out the wound, with distilled water, which seemed to be only a separation of the skin from the bird so I assume didn't enter the subdermal? layer. There was no blood. I used a cotton swab to disinfect again with hydrogen peroxide. she was left to heal overnight in the separate cage. she ate right away and drank some water. She seemed good this morning,no blood spots or redness and her wound is slightly covered. So I put her back in with the flock and watched for a while. She seemed fine and there was no attempts at pecking her back.
for reference here is a couple pictures of what I removed. I would suggest this seems like an easy procedure for anyone that confirms to have a similar experience. I will let you all know the progress in a couple days of the wound.
thanks again Wayne