HELP! This was on my friend's chicken! URGENT!

[Peacechick713]

Hello Everyone!

I just received a message from a friend of mine (Who are new chicken owners) saying that one of their chickens has an abnormal bup very close to it's eye. They said that it was hard to the touch and that it wasn't bleeding.

Any help on what it may be or how to cure it would be EXTREMELY appreciated. I'm just rally scared that this could be fatal.

 

[Jessdesk]

Is it the big red bump on the right side of the face? It could be an infected earlobe maybe If you don't want to take her to the vet you could prick it with a sterile needle to see if puss comes out.

 

[azygous]

It's probably not fatal or the chicken would be dead by now. So would my hen. She's had a similar tumor over her eye for the past five years, at least. She's obviously still very much alive and well, not seeming to feel much discomfort, if any. It causes swelling of the tissues around the eye from time to time, but she's not suffering by any stretch. Lady Di is going on ten years.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

It's probably not fatal or the chicken would be dead by now. So would my hen. She's had a similar tumor over her eye for the past five years, at least. She's obviously still very much alive and well, not seeming to feel much discomfort, if any. It causes swelling of the tissues around the eye from time to time, but she's not suffering by any stretch. Lady Di is going on ten years. View attachment 1187746

Just curious, @azygous ... is she still laying?

 

[Mary's Backyard Chickens]

Okay, be ready. Questions are going to start coming out of my ears.
Is she still laying? Is she eating? How about drinking? Does she seem like she feels tired, uncomfortable, weak or lethargic? Is the bump hard or soft?

 

[Mary's Backyard Chickens]

oh, I just read the part where it says hard to the touch.

 

[Jessdesk]

Sounds like a tumor or a cyst.

 

[Mary's Backyard Chickens]

Probably a tumor.
Chickens can get all sorts of tumors, some of which are caused by Marek’s disease (herpes virus) and others by mainly viral causes, particularly retroviruses. The chicken has the notoriety of being the first animal discovered with cancer caused by a retrovirus, this was in the 1930s. Tumors can be found almost anywhere in the chicken as lymphoid tissue is spread throughout the bird (unlike mammals which have lymph nodes). The main viruses, apart from Marek’s, are the avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses, plus squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Tumors caused by the Marek’s virus are the most common (the acute form is where birds may die suddenly with no symptoms and tumors may be found in the liver, gonads, spleen, kidneys, lungs, proventriculus, heart, muscle and skin). Retroviral tumors are less common (see below). Tumors in the skin (SCC) are occasionally seen. Retrovirus survival outside the body is only hours, so the disease is not very contagious to other members of a flock.
Due to the general spread of lymphoid tissue (where cancer cells grow the fastest) in a chicken, lethargy, lack of appetite and dullness are the most common symptoms with possibly diarrhoea, pale wattles and an enlarged liver. The lymphoid leukosis virus slowly transforms cells into neoplastic ones and the acutely transforming retroviruses do the damage faster, all of them using and damaging genes and causing tumours which can include fibrosarcoma, chondroma, endothelioma, haemangioma, nephroblastoma and hepatocarcinoma – affecting potentially almost all of the organs in the chicken’s body. The incubation period of lymphoid leukosis from infection to the developed disease and death is about four months. Losses occur from 5-9 months of age in egg-laying and breeding stock. Other leukosis viruses affect adults sporadically as the virus is ubiquitous in poultry worldwide and is passed down through the egg as well as transmitted by direct or indirect contact. Lymphoid leukosis (most common): enlarged liver, spleen, bursa, kidneys, ovary.

Erythroid leukosis (rare): moderately enlarged liver and spleen, leukaemia, liquid cherry red bone marrow.

Myeloid leukosis (sporadic): enlarged liver, spleen, kidneys, ovary, yellowish grey bone marrow.

Osteopetrosis (rare): thickening of long bones in legs and wings.

SCC can occur anywhere on the skin but is most commonly seen around the face and eyes with the subsequent swelling often being be mistaken for respiratory infection or an abscess. Sometimes, feather follicles can be affected.
Unfortunately, no treatment or vaccines are available for leukosis. Chemotherapy tends to be too toxic to birds to be useful. Control is based on high standards of hygiene and selection for resistance to the viruses by culling affected birds. The diagnosis via your vet and laboratory is by virological testing, post mortem lesions and the presence of tumors. The Marek’s vaccine mostly controls the disease.

 

[Eggcessive]

The mass or bump looks like the same coloring as her comb or wattle. Can you post a pic from the side? It might be a tumor, or something called a teratoma, a cyst that consists of tissue from other parts of the body. More pictures would possibly help.

 

[Peacechick713]

Okay, be ready. Questions are going to start coming out of my ears.
Is she still laying? Is she eating? How about drinking? Does she seem like she feels tired, uncomfortable, weak or lethargic? Is the bump hard or soft?

I don't know. I'll ask. She's too young to lay. I'll ask.

The mass or bump looks like the same coloring as her comb or wattle. Can you post a pic from the side? It might be a tumor, or something called a teratoma, a cyst that consists of tissue from other parts of the body. More pictures would possibly help.

I'll try and get a side picture.