Cancerous lesion?? I can't figure out what this is! *Pics*

[snowhorse]

I have a 1 year and 3 month old Appenzeller Spitzhauben hen. I noticed she has been a little lethargic lately, and resting more during the day. I picked her up because she appeared to have an issue walking and found this huge cancerous looking lesion.

It looks like squamous celll carcinoma to me. It looks extremely painful and I thinking I need to put her to sleep soon as this I believe is only going to get worse. I have been trying to find pictures of anything that looks like but I havent been able to. So any kind of help would be hugely appreciated.

I mean if its treatable, she's my favorite gal and I would hate to lose her over something I can fix, I just don't see this being fixable.
She only weighs about 4 lbs as it is.

The lesion is located on her right side just inside of her leg.

 

[kickinchicken]

It could also be a cyst that has lots of dried up pus. Can you give her a long warm soak and see if the brown area loosens up? The center looks yellow and this leads me to think more cyst than tumor. If you are willing to pay the vet bill, perhaps you can have them grab a sample and send it to pathology. Costly, but if this is your pet and you are willing to pay the fees and not cull her unnecessarily, then this might be another alternative.

 

[snowhorse]

The center is raised, I just would hate to pick and pull on it and cause her more discomfort.

Would a cyst make her have trouble walking, and be lethargic, and puffy?

 

[welasharon]

It probably is painful. They don't have a lot of room/meat on the legs. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Good luck.
sharon

 

[snowhorse]

So I tried to soak it, and put warm compresses on it.

Its as hard as a rock. The skin around it softens up a bit.

I scrubed it with some betadine, and put alot of neosporin on it hoping that will help soften it up as well.

It's too expensive to bring her to a vet, so I am hoping that the neosporin will help.

 

[kickinchicken]

You are doing great. Just be patient and gentle. An abscess or cyst can make it painful and difficult to walk because the pus is putting pressure inside her leg. And the pus can cause her to act lethargic as it is an infection her body is fighting.

If you can, try to pick the center of the pustule after soaking the leg for 10 minutes in very warm salt water. Once you have the center picked off, you only need a small opening, gently press each side of the opening and it should expel the yellow pus. I would also start her on some antibiotics in her water. Other members will know what brand/type is available for chickens.

After pressing the pustule free of as much as the hen can stand, rinse with betadine solution (half betadine/half water)(full strength is for surgeries) dab dry with a sterile gauze, thinly apply neosporin, apply a gauze pad and loosely wrap with rolled gauze. You want the cyst to be able to drain. Clean TWICE a day for at least a week. Keep her on antibiotics for at least 10 days to kill off as much bacteria as possible.

I would keep her isolated and immobile in a dog crate for at least 3-4 days. Feeding should consist of her normal food as well as adding some yogurt, boiled/scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit/veggies.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I agree with kickinchicken. I would not put this girl down until I knew for sure that this wasn't just an infected abcess that could be treated. Yes it probably is painful to mess with it, but I would rather have a little short term pain than forever be dead! Find a good sized needle, sterilize it, then try to drain that thing!

 

[BirdWalkFarm]

Hello Snowhorse , I am new to this board and in fact just now registered when I saw your post . I didn't have much to offer as I am new to chickens but have enjoyed all the great information . The main reason I was lurking was to find what on earth my little white Cochin had on her . It was the exact gross looking sore your hen has . It was so hard and seemed to hurt her if you touched it . I was sure she was going to die . I couldn't find anything exactly like this on any of the posts but neosporin was suggested for injuries . We started giving her powdered antibiotics ( Duramycin) in her water , slathered the neosporin on the hard lump . I read where scarlet oil might help so I applied that for a few days . She still was not moving around very much and you could tell she wasn't well . My husband decided to inject her right next to the lump with penicillin , after about the third time the hard crusty thing came loose . It had a thick yellow cheezy looking plug (staph?) and my husband said the stuff looked like brains . I know this is weird but that's the way it was . When the thing came off it left a hole , we just put some liquid bandage on it so it wouldn't get infected . I had bought this little Cochin at a swap meet of all places and didn't know she was ill . She is fine now , not sure how long she had had this nasty thing .

I have learned alot from this board . I hope my experience will be of some use to you .

BirdWalk Farm

 

[snowhorse]

So I soaked her in Epsom salts last night for about 10-15 minutes.

It really didn't soften up much at all. I picked at with a sterile needle and actually broke thru it felt like. But nothing came out. I attempted to remove the raised part of it, and all it was was scab.

I worked on it for awhile, and even removed a feather right near the area thinking maybe that would open up. It aggravated the scab, and it started to bleed. I tried to open it up from that end and still nothing, it just bleed a little bit.

So I didn't want to stress her more than I already had. I gooped her up with more neosporin, because the neosporin seemed to soften it up from the day before.

I do need advice on what kind of antibiotic I should give her. The only thing I have at home is Doxycycline, which I give to my horses and have given to my ducks. But I don't know if it's okay to give to chickens. Any advice would be great. I will continue to update.

I am planning on soaking her again tonight.

 

[kickinchicken]

If you can, take some recent pics of the cyst. I am curious as to what the center looks like. Not all cysts are soft and mushy. The inside can be somewhat solid like a pimple.
I don't have any advice on the antibiotics but I have read that the feed stores carry chicken antibiotics to add to water. It just escapes me what the type of antibiotic was. Someone chime in on this please.
Its good that you are keeping it soft and clean. It may take some time to get this thing completely removed....if you can. As long as the hen is comfortable, and eating and pooping, you should proceed. How is her ability to walk? I think once you get her started on a round of antibiotics you will see an improvement in her demeanor.

Again...pictures! They tell us so much!