Growth on underside of my hen. What is it? (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

[watkinskr]

Pictured here is my 2(?) year old Marans, with some kind of hard mass on her underside. She is lying on her side, her vent is on the left side. Vent is fine. She's had a messy butt, so I brought her in to take a look and this is what I found. I bathed her in Epsom salt bath and put antibiotic ointment and VetRX on the mass. Anyone know what this might be?

 

[redsoxs]

That doesn't look good but then again I'm not a chicken doc. You might type 'hen swollen abdomen' in the BYC search box. I did and several old threads popped up. Things like egg bound and egg yolk perotonitis. Hope you find the answer soon. Best of luck!

 

[chickcrack]

If it's a hard mass my best guess would be tumour or internal laying. I just helped one of my barred rocks along 2 weeks ago with same symptoms. She had pretty messy loose poop and that hard bulge stuck out further than her vent so it was constantly a mess. She hadn't laid in months and just slowly declined. All I could do was supportive care. I had another go the same way at only a year and a half and had my neighbor do a necropsy. Large tumour. I hope I'm wrong but it's a fairly common issue in hens.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome to BYC.

It looks like it could be some type of abscess.
Is that ointment on it or is it oozing?
What does it feel like?
Does it smell?

 

[watkinskr]

The mass is hard, not oozing. No odor. I put ointment on it. It's not near her vent, but she hasn't laid all summer.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The swollen abdomen could be an internal laying/reproductive disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Ascites, tumors or cancer.
The little swollen lump could be an abscess.
Does she still get along ok, eating/drinking, pooping, etc.?
Does she roost or does she lay down alot?

Continue to give her a soak and apply the ointment.
Offer her some poultry vitamins in her water for a few days.

Let us know how she's doing.

 

[watkinskr]

Thank you, I'll keep working with her and keep you posted.