Bone exposed?!

[Kashauli]

Hi everyone! We have several chickens- all are in good health and very spoiled. Myself/my daughter handle them regularly but I don’t typically do in depth checks unless I notice something unusual. Our one hen, who has always been the “runt” of the flock seems to have an exposed bone. I have never noticed this before. I picked her up today and while carrying her felt something unusual in her underside. I thought maybe it was feathers that got bunched up but no, definitely a bone. It doesn’t appear to be a new injury. Skin is not inflamed/swollen. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by it and is eating/drinking/laying eggs. I’m just a bit freaked out and have no idea what could’ve caused this- unless maybe she was always like this?! You would think I would’ve noticed something like that though. I’m just puzzled. Anyone else have experience with anything like this? She is just shy of a year old, Easter egger.

 

[coach723]

I can't see it well enough to tell really, but, it may be a breast blister. That is like bumblefoot but on the breast or keel. Happens when they sleep in damp or wet or soiled bedding, or are roosting improperly and putting pressure on the breast. So if that's what it is then you will need to clean it out and apply ointment and then try to figure out why it happened to her and resolve it if possible. Check her feet for bumblefoot, sometimes that can cause them to rest on the roost as their feet are hurting. Some heavy birds have trouble roosting properly and it can happen. If she roosts in the same place every time you can pad the roost there which can help, make sure it's something they can't get pieces off of and eat, some foam covered in an old bath towel can work.
This thread shows a pretty bad breast blister (graphic photos if you are squeamish), and treatment. I've treated some on birds with bumblefoot that were not as bad as this one. The shallower it is the faster it will heal.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ister-graphic-pictures.1096276/#post-16850510

 

[Kashauli]

I can't see it well enough to tell really, but, it may be a breast blister. That is like bumblefoot but on the breast or keel. Happens when they sleep in damp or wet or soiled bedding, or are roosting improperly and putting pressure on the breast. So if that's what it is then you will need to clean it out and apply ointment and then try to figure out why it happened to her and resolve it if possible. Check her feet for bumblefoot, sometimes that can cause them to rest on the roost as their feet are hurting. Some heavy birds have trouble roosting properly and it can happen. If she roosts in the same place every time you can pad the roost there which can help, make sure it's something they can't get pieces off of and eat, some foam covered in an old bath towel can work.
This thread shows a pretty bad breast blister (graphic photos if you are squeamish), and treatment. I've treated some on birds with bumblefoot that were not as bad as this one. The shallower it is the faster it will heal.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ister-graphic-pictures.1096276/#post-16850510

Omg I never heard of such a thing!! She does roost in the same place every night and leans up against one of the nesting boxes so this really could be it. Thanks so much for the suggestion for me to look into! No one had bumblefoot- I do check them regularly for that. But it could be because of how she sleeps!! (She’s an oddball) thank you!!

 

[coach723]

If it turns out that is not what it is, please take some pictures that are a bit easier to tell exactly where it is, and maybe wet the feathers around it so it can be clearly seen. Then hopefully help can be had, if it's something else.

 

[Kashauli]

If it turns out that is not what it is, please take some pictures that are a bit easier to tell exactly where it is, and maybe wet the feathers around it so it can be clearly seen. Then hopefully help can be had, if it's something else.

 

[coach723]

I can't feel it, but it sure looks like a breast blister to me.

 

[Kashauli]

I can't feel it, but it sure looks like a breast blister to me.

Soaked in Epsom salt soak this morning. Area loosened up and this is what came out came out clean, no bleeding etc. she seems fine and actually has a big appetite. Must have been causing some pain

 

[coach723]

Good job! That's got to feel better! That may take some time to heal, and you may need to flush it out again. Hopefully she'll fully recover with time.

 

[Breadsticks]

Did you find out what was the main cause of this? My hen was hurt badly by excessive mounting by my rooster and she had what appears to be a very very similar problem. I was scared half to death. She is still recovering. I've bathed her, dried her and applied antiseptic powder. My hen is also well cared for, loved and handled so this came as a nasty shock. If you can give me some reassurance based on your experience that would be wonderful.

 

[Kashauli]

Did you find out what was the main cause of this? My hen was hurt badly by excessive mounting by my rooster and she had what appears to be a very very similar problem. I was scared half to death. She is still recovering. I've bathed her, dried her and applied antiseptic powder. My hen is also well cared for, loved and handled so this came as a nasty shock. If you can give me some reassurance based on your experience that would be wonderful.

So in our situation, it was how she choosing to roost. We actually have another (her “sister”) who has been perching the same way and is developing the same type of blister. We are redoing the coop anyway for the spring and reconfiguring their roosting bars/options. I don’t know why they both decided to roost the way they did- birds of a feather I guess?! I totally understand why it comes as a shock! When you care for them and love them so much, you don’t understand how something like this could happen! I will say, our hens injury healed up VERY nicely and pretty quickly. We kept her separate from the others, I soaked her wound twice daily, applied ointment and a spray to it and wrapped her. Did that for a week. After a week I just started slowly tapering off of everything as I saw fit. I hope your hen will be ok; I’m sure she will be just fine! We have a rooster, too and they can be nasty buggers!!