Chicken with neck tumours - symptom of Mycoplasma or Marek's?

[OwO]

I have a 7-8 year old hen who has had lumps inside her neck for the past year. She is in general is a good weight and seems happy. There is one big one which varies in size from a grape to a large marble I guess, and a few smaller ones. All are very round.

Before I noticed the tumours she had shown symptoms of Mycoplasma (swollen eyelids, bubbly/watery eyes, breathing problems) and I have read that Mycoplasma can cause damage to the thymus: (https://veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13567-020-00777-x)

Could that lead to growths on the thymus or the thymus becoming swollen? I have also read that Marek's tumours can originate on the thymus and then spread further, but she is not showing any other symptoms of Marek's and she has been like this for around a year now.

Another thing to note is she seems to have a problem with her feathers or skin - she is in moult at the moment and they do not seem to be growing back very fast and a lot are stuck inside their casings for weeks on end. When she is touched she will start preening as if the touching is irritating her skin, and she has a lot of feather cysts, as well as an ear infection currently. I plan to take her to the vet (she has already been a few times this year) but I wanted to hear some ideas of what could be going on. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any pictures of what you are seeing? Is her eye infected? I would look for gunk or infection in her ear. Cleaning it with QTips, hydrogen peroxide, and applying plain Neosporin ointment to the ear canal is how some treat ear infection. An antibiotic such as amoxicillin or Smz-tmp might also be good. Or see a vet.
The lumps are probably not related to MG, but may be ingrown feather cysts, or tumors from leukosis or Mareks disease virus. You could try to lance one and see if anything can be squeezed out. Many times it is impossible to know exactly what is going on without a necropsy by your state vet after death.

 

[OwO]

Do you have any pictures of what you are seeing? Is her eye infected? I would look for gunk or infection in her ear. Cleaning it with QTips, hydrogen peroxide, and applying plain Neosporin ointment to the ear canal is how some treat ear infection. An antibiotic such as amoxicillin or Smz-tmp might also be good. Or see a vet.
The lumps are probably not related to MG, but may be ingrown feather cysts, or tumors from leukosis or Mareks disease virus. You could try to lance one and see if anything can be squeezed out. Many times it is impossible to know exactly what is going on without a necropsy by your state vet after death.

Thanks for the reply! I also thought maybe the lumps could be feather cysts but they look different to the other ones she has and there's nothing at all visible outside her skin.

Here are some pics to show her swollen eyelid and gross ear. I have managed to get some gunk out and I have some amoxicillin she was prescribed a few months ago

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Bumping

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you clean the ear out, or use the amoxicillin? Peroxide can be put into the ear canal, cleaned with QTips, and then fill the ear with plain antibiotic ointment. As far as the lumps, I doubt if you could get a diagnosis until a necropsy could be done after her death. Feather cysts can be confirmed if you explore into the cyst or bump with a sterilized needle to look for a feather underneath the skin.

 

[OwO]

Did you clean the ear out, or use the amoxicillin? Peroxide can be put into the ear canal, cleaned with QTips, and then fill the ear with plain antibiotic ointment. As far as the lumps, I doubt if you could get a diagnosis until a necropsy could be done after her death. Feather cysts can be confirmed if you explore into the cyst or bump with a sterilized needle to look for a feather underneath the skin.

I used amoxicillin and it seemed to work, but now she's finished her treatment and it's come back so I'll have to do something different. I've been cleaning it every couple days but it keeps coming back. I have a vet appointment booked for Wednesday in the hopes they will give me some ear drops for her.

In the mean time which percentage hydrogen peroxide do I get?? I can find from 3% to 12% on Amazon. I'm fairly certain it's an inner ear infection since she is off balance and has her neck bent

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Look up ear canker
https://www.chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

 

[OwO]

Look up ear canker
https://www.chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

So basically just wait for the vet appointment so they can hopefully tell me what type of bacteria it is and then prescribe the correct antibiotics?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So basically just wait for the vet appointment so they can hopefully tell me what type of bacteria it is and then prescribe the correct antibiotics?

That would be best.

 

[OwO]

That would be best.

Okay, will do, thank you!