Cysts? on neck and face

[EllaM]

Hi all

My chicken lost some of her feathers under/on the side of her neck and behind her crest.
It wasn't really an issue but today we found some smallish (about 1cm across) cysts things
which what looks to be gray scabs on the top. We tried softening them with a wet q tip but it
sort of just made the edge go brown. They don't appear to be hurting her, but I imagine they would
be pretty annoying and they certainly are for us (you know that feeling when you want a wart
or mole gone.) The one on her neck is redder than the other.

Does anyone know what they are???


Thanks!!

 

[EllaM]

Oh and here are pictures

 

[MelissaTXRn]

I would try to squeeze that out.

 

[StudioHens]

Hot tweezers and a needle....squeeze all the puss out and then keep it clean. Chickens are tough birds but I would keep an eye on the redness and swelling. Once its cleaned out completely you can use contact (eye) solution to rinse it and sugar to prevent bacteria from growing. Rinse it at least twice a day.

 

[Eggcessive]

The one on her ear looks to be in the ear, so be careful about lancing that. I don't know if those are abscesses, cysts, or possible tumors. Did she have a Mareks vaccine? Mareks can cause lymphomas all over the body. Could she have been pecked or scratched those places causing infection? Do you live in a warm climate that would have mosquitoes and fowl pox this time of year?

 

[EllaM]

Thank you so much for all the answers but the one on her neck fell off last night so I'm guessing they other one will as well.
I cleaned it out as much as I could without hurting her and put some betadine (antiseptic) on it. It's not on her ear, just
behind it. We live in brisbane and it's pretty hot and humid. Never seen anything like them before on other chickens though.
Our chickens all get along pretty well so I don't think it was from a peck or scratch.

 

[noey]

My chicken has the exact same thing in the same place on her neck. Hers bleeds every few days too. Did you ever figure out what this was? Please let me know what happened to your chick with this cyst. I'm worried that it could be something serious... any info you can give me would be helpful (even if it's not pleasant). Thanks.

 

[EllaM]

Hey there! Glad to say a couple days after squeezing all the stuff out and putting antiseptic on the remaining zit it simply went away! And they haven't returned at all - poor girl who had the zits is still healthy and happy today

I assume they were just some sort of infection that wasn't serious - at any rate I would try to clean it up and disinfect your chickens ones ASAP in case it could turn into something nastier

 

[noey]

Thanks so much for writing back! I really appreciate it and will follow your suggestion : ).