Cheek bump/growth on 3 month old Buff Orpington

[ShermanOaksCoop]

One of my young chicks has a bump about 3/8ths of an inch in diameter and thickness on her right cheek. I noticed it about two weeks ago, and it seems like it has grown since then, but just a little. The attached pictures show it pretty clearly. I haven't touched it, but it looks solid. I don't know if the dark area is dirt or discoloration. I have not looked inside her mouth to see if it is apparent there. She is active and eating fine.

We have seven other chickens, including another Buff Orpington of the same age, and all of them seem fine.

Do any of you have any idea what this is and how to treat it?

 

[chicks are life]

I would separate in a dogcrate With chick feed and some electrolytes in her water.

Is there a source of a wound?

 

[Kiki]

This could be from a respiratory infection...sinus swelling.
Is there something in the mouth?

There looks like something is in the mouth, can you open it and look in?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @ShermanOaksCoop Welcome To BYC
Is there any coughing, sneezing or runny nose?

Look inside the beak to see what's going on there as well.

It's hard to tell, it could be Fowl Pox, Canker or some type of sinus infection.
Fowl Pox:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/07/fowl-pox-prevention-treatment.html
http://animalsciencey.ucdavis.edu/avian/Fowlpox.pdf
Canker:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1080266/canker Picture#10
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/773308/canker-treatment POST #4

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

Thanks for the input. I'll look inside her beak tomorrow and report back.

I'm not inclined to isolate her. What I've seen on similar symptoms says that if the chicken with the growth is behaving like it's healthy, it probably doesn't have something contagious. Plus, I'm on the fourth week of introducing seven new chicks to the 3-year old lone survivor of the last brood. There are a lot of pecking order issues getting sorted out right now, and the growth on this Buff doesn't seem to be impairing her socially. (Just imagine if she was a teenager with something like that on her cheek! Ewww!)

 

[Eggcessive]

The inside of the beak should be checked for a growth, such as canker infection. It also might be an abscess from a peck wound or injury. Pus can solidify in those, and might need to be lanced and squeezed out. But I would make sure that there is not canker inside the beak first, which might be related, before lancing. Also make sure her right nostril is open and not blocked.

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

I looked inside her beak today. Inside the mouth and behind the bump, spreading out over the roof of her mouth and a little bit over the upper beak, was a fibrous dark brown tissue, which looked like a thick human scab. You can see the "tab" sticking out between the beak in the pictures as a dark area. I pushed the "tab" down and it started to detach, so I pulled out a piece about the size of a watermelon seed. She didn't seem to suffer much pain from the removal, and the tissue underneath was pink. There is still more of the brown tissue on the roof of her mouth.

Having done further research and googled some images, I think this is probably canker. I understand its contagious, so I'd like to start treatment soon. Is Fish Zole the treatment of choice?

 

[Eggcessive]

Fish Zole (metronizale, Flagyl) is used as one of the drugs to treat canker in chickens. Dosage is 250mg daily (split tablet into 125 mg and give every 12 hours for 5 days.) If you research "canker drugs for pigeons," you can also find some online stores who sell other drugs for canker that can be put into the water. You might prefer to give it directly though in case the chicken is not drinking well. Many people recommend removing birds with canker, since it can make the whole flock carriers. Acidified copper sulfate, sold online as well, can be given in the water 1/4 tsp per gallon for 3 days a month to control outbreaks in flocks positive for canker. Make sure your waterers are disinfected and filled with clean water daily.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Fish Zole (metronizale, Flagyl) is used as one of the drugs to treat canker in chickens. Dosage is 250mg daily (split tablet into 125 mg and give every 12 hours for 5 days.) If you research "canker drugs for pigeons," you can also find some online stores who sell other drugs for canker that can be put into the water. You might prefer to give it directly though in case the chicken is not drinking well. Many people recommend removing birds with canker, since it can make the whole flock carriers. Acidified copper sulfate, sold online as well, can be given in the water 1/4 tsp per gallon for 3 days a month to control outbreaks in flocks positive for canker. Make sure your waterers are disinfected and filled with clean water daily.

Excellent!

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

I got some API General Cure powder at the local PetSmart. Ten packets of 250mg metronidazol, and 75mg praziquantel. It was marked $18.99, but they matched their online price of $16.99, which is still way higher than online sources like Chewey ($10.99) However, that is still a lot better than the pricing I saw on Fish Zole.

There's a seller on ebay who is offering 25g of metronidazol for $14.99 with free shipping, so I'll probably get that, as well as some acidified copper sulfate, for flock maintenance going forward.

I was not very successful in getting the hen to eat the medicine. I mixed one of the packets of powder with some cottage cheese and rice, and she was less than enthusiastic about eating it. She might have eaten 10-20mg. I'll try mixing it with a little water and grow mash for breakfast tomorrow.

Does anyone have any better suggestions for getting hens to eat this? I saw a post on the turkey board saying the metronidazol tasted horrible. I have no intention of tasting any of this.

The hen still seems alert and active, and there was no sign the brown crud had spread or the lump gotten bigger.