Is this a lump on my hen?

[speckledhen]

Let us know what you find out when you handle her. You may have an nice new pet now!

 

[PortageGirl]

OP said there's a definate lump,,, sounds like more than just molting, though she may be doing that too.

Welcome to BYC Vugaris! Glad you joined and that you posted... sorry your hen is having problems.

When you go to take another pic, see if your friend can help you gently spread her feathers there so we can see what the skin looks like too.

It does seem to be in the area of her oil gland, it may help us tell more if we can see what's beneath her feathers.

Are you keeping her in a dog crate or someplace sheltered for now? Make sure she has some nice fresh water and some food. What are you feeding her?

Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens!

 

[speckledhen]

Another possibility I just thought of is that she has a wound on her back that healed over with lots of scar tissue or something along those lines; maybe she escaped from a predator? If your friend who handled her is familiar with chickens and says there is a definite lump, I have to say either an oil gland issue or a wound on her back.

 

[Vugaris]

She is doing great other than that lump. She is in a makeshift coop (large cardboard boxes and water proof tarps) until I can get a real dog kennel this weekend and set it up for her. Hopefully I will not go out and buy something only to have her sleep out in the open on top of it

I bought two kind of chicken feed from the market. "mash" (which I was told is the same thing as crumbles) and "scratch". I have the mash in a dish, and she was eating it earlier. She likes when i throw the scratch out for her, she really does use her claws to scratch into the soil.
And I have a nice little water contraption that I also got from the market.

I will be sure to update tomorrow. I hope there is nothing seriously wrong with her. The possibility that she got pounced on by a cat is a possibility... there are many ferrals around and she was living on her own for at least a week (according to the neighbor)

 

[speckledhen]

I'd go really easy on the scratch since it's like candy to them. Layer mash/pellets is the perfect thing for her right now. Has she laid an egg, or did you say that already? I'll have to go back and look.

 

[Vugaris]

No eggs. I was sort of hoping she would lay so that I could fix up a nest box for her and give her some fertile eggs to hatch (I can buy some off my friend)

Unless... this is not proper chick season? Otherwise I will just go with getting another adult hen

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not sure if she's even really laying yet. Hard to tell exactly how old she is. If she isn't, she will be soon. I think she may have been very stressed and if she is also molting, that will stop egg production. Many of mine are molting and not laying now. They'll start back after the feathers grow back in--takes alot of protein to grow feathers and laying eggs at the same time is very taxing for them.

 

[Vugaris]

OK so I have given her a good looking over today. We picked her up and took a close look at that "lump". Turns out that she is missing a lot of feathers there. I pulled back some of the feathers right in front of the lump and saw dozens of hard "quills", each about an inch long. My friend said they will not grow back, but I am not too sure about that.

So she does not have a tumor or lump, she is just missing feathers there. My friend says it looked like they were plucked out by something that pounced on her.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, they will most likely grow back if you up her protein for awhile. Glad it's not a tumor or similar issue! Quills are new feathers coming in. That area is often missing feathers if the hen is with a rooster, who tears them out with his claws/spurs while mating.

 

[PortageGirl]

Listen to the Speckled One! She's got the right info for you Vugaris! Those are growing in and will be fine!