Injury? Malformation? What to do?

[Magelet]

I have recently discovered that one of my pullets has the protuberance shown.
It is located between the top of her right wing and the ruff of her neck. I have my finger just next to it here:

It appears to be air filled. It changes in size as she is moved, but not in time to her breathing. What is this? What should I do?

 

[Magelet]

My husband did some poking at it that I was not comfortable doing. He thinks it almost feels like a muscle mass (it was not so inflated). Through the skin something that looked kinda like chicken crumbles was visible. I have no idea what to make of this.

 

[Charlieboy]

I think that must be her crop.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

X2 I also think that's her crop. We had a pullet just about that age who had a bump that looked like yours does. And yes, I thought I saw something inside the bump. And it was her crop.
An easy way to tell is to just not feed her for a day and see if the bump goes down, then feed her and see if it comes up again.
If she's otherwise not looking sick, I don't think you've got anything to worry about.

 

[Magelet]

Seriously? Even though it is in her back? Next to her wing?

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Seriously? Even though it is in her back? Next to her wing?

The pictures aren't terribly clear, but I'll describe where my chick had a similar bump at a similar age.

On the right side, in what we humans might call a shoulder area. Clearly visible from above, and near the base of the wing. It appeared to be a lump about the size of a walnut.

I saw this when the chick was actually experiencing one of the early molts, and the feathers just weren't long enough to cover the crop when the chick had a big meal - which was most of the time. The chick just had to grow into her crop.

If your chick is acting ill in any way, then I'm probably wrong. If she's acting normal and eating heartily, then I wouldn't worry just yet.

 

[Tchib]

There's only one organ in there that feels air filled and that's the crop. It can wiggle about or be in odd positions but I've never heard of it being around the back. Could be just a bit freaky. Or it could be some sort of abscess or growth. I doubt it though as it's a pale fleshy color. Probably fine, you just have a very special chicky

 

[casportpony]

Seriously? Even though it is in her back? Next to her wing?

That's not the normal place for her crop, that's for sure.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Is there air in it?

-Kathy