hard crusted mass on th back of the neck

[nab58]

Cancer is not contagious from one animal to the next.

 

[RussianChickens]

That is correct

 

[chooks4life]

Quote:
The crusty stuff has been knocked off by her movement in her cage. It bled badly and now is a lump the size of a plum . Removing it would be difficult and I can not do sugary. Can cancer spread to my other chickens if they are in contacting her?
Some cancers are viral, but not generally spread through contact with the growth itself.

I don't know if it is in fact a cancer but any seriously aggressive growth stands a great chance of becoming cancer. Any disruption to cells (or even undisturbed cells) can become cancer if the body fails to check abnormal growth. This is especially true of areas of fast regeneration or development. The faster it grows, the worse it is as a general guideline but exceptions always exist. Some viruses and diseases disrupt normal cell growth and thus cause cancer.

In this case I would treat externally if you're not willing to cut into the good flesh around it to remove it (which would possibly not work either since you don't know where the base of the growth is within the bird). I would try something known to be anti cancer just in case it is. Even if it was not originally cancer it stands a good chance of becoming cancer.

How I would treat it is obviously based on my choice of animal husbandry methodology which involves natural remedies, because I've found they work for me. If the animal is not eating healthy enough foods you can't heal it, no matter the expensive and high tech treatments you use on it; so diet is the biggest decider in whether or not she can repair and fight problems. Diet isn't just what she's eating now, it's also what she ate as a chick which her adult body is built from, and what her parents and their parents ate --- it all makes a big difference. Anything that improves her health improves her immune system and that's what you need to fight this problem.

I would feed the bird raw fresh garlic since that has antiviral properties as well as natural antibiotics that do not allow viruses etc to become immune to them as they are dynamic, not static. It will also not kill the natural beneficial bacteria and cells unlike man-made antibiotics tend to. Also I would feed her herbs like sage, rosemary, etc, just because they have various properties that boost the immune system and help fight viruses and disease in general. Kelp would help regulate any hormones that are under or over performing and this is vital in helping the body tackle any imbalance. Externally I would use an anticancer ointment or similar, like the one I mentioned before, but there are many to research and possibly try, since cancer has many forms. I would even try Stockholm/ pine tar on it to begin with since it's treated everything from Golden Staph to gangrene to cysts to scaly leg mite infestation with my animals.

This is an unknown issue that requires a fair bit of research before a definitive diagnosis could be guessed at, and really only a lab test would likely positively identify what she has, but that may not be feasible for you so treatment will have to be played by ear and probably consist of treating symptoms since that's all we know of it. Unless of course someone who's seen this before has any info to share.

Quote:
Cancer is not contagious from one animal to the next.
This is mostly true, but not 100%; some cancers are caused by viruses or come as a direct symptom or side effect of a disease.

Generally cancer in the majority of its forms is not contagious and the ones that are spread through inheritance etc tend to be transmitted through the egg, not through casual contact. Some viruses do cause tumors. One disease I've heard of that often causes tumors and is contagious is Mareks'.


With the rabbit I mentioned before the cancers were caused by a variation of the Papilloma virus. I've read that Leucosis in chickens is hereditary viral cancer, too.

 

[nab58]

I think you mean viruses that can cause cancer are contagious, not the cancer itself.

 

[dimpledweather]

I've had her since she was a day old. She's been feed the store bought medicate chick feed until her adulthood then store bought layers feed. Besides the bugs and stuff she eats in the yard that's it. She is a year old now. I didn't start throwing her eggs away till a few weeks ago. And it was mentioned that the cancer or what ever she has could be passed through her eggs. Should I be concerned?

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: If you read my post you'll know what I mean.

Cancer is simply cells growing abnormally, in the most basic, simplified explanation. So a virus that causes cells to grow abnormally is basically viral cancer. Some cancers are actually called viral. The semantics of it are always arguable, but the viruses I mentioned that are known to have the symptom of cancer do not come without cancer, so basically, they are viral cancers. The extremely broad term 'cancer' does not define the classic symptom of the disease --- abnormal cell growth --- to being a cause or effect.

'Cancer isn't contagious' is something they taught kids when I was younger to prevent them thinking they ought to freak out about a cancer patient being in close proximity. It was part of a campaign to ensure the decent treatment of those afflicted with it. But it is not a complete truth, like much of what we were taught as children. Most causes of abnormal cell growth are not contagious, it's true. But some are.

Quote:
No, I think it would be extremely unlikely you would be at risk here, but only a lab can tell you for sure what it is.

The cancer being passed through the eggs thing is a reference to Leucosis which is hereditary viral cancer, but this shows up inside the abdomen, all throughout the digestive system but especially the intestines, and kills them very slowly. However Leucosis comes in several forms and affects several species. That's not Leucosis that your hen has. Leucosis is not transmittable to humans, to the fullest extent of my knowledge in that area. Neither are the other forms of cancer I mentioned.

If like the rabbit she has a form of the Papilloma virus causing external cancers, then that would potentially be contagious to other poultry, like several other viruses that cause cancer, but I don't know what she has. It would probably require testing. Her body should either overcome it or succumb to it, I doubt there would be a middle ground with something so fast growing.

Sorry, it's nothing I've seen before, so my advice is pretty useless. Best wishes to you and your flock.