Large lump on face?

[cspag]

Hey folks,

Have a 6 year old Buff Orpington who has developed this mass on the side of her face. Pretty sure it must have grown over just the last week at most, I keep a pretty good eye on them. But, I could be wrong. It feels rather solid, and isn't expelling any kind of fluid or pus. She's walking around mostly normal but seems a little weak. She makes motions to eat and peck around like she's hungry but doesn't really pick anything up to eat it. I've seen her drinking water still. Seemed perfectly healthy until I noticed this yesterday.

What the heck is this?

I haven't tried lancing into it or anything yet as Ive never seen anything like this before. Currently have her separated in a smaller coop by herself as I understand some causes could be contagious, but none of my other 4 display any problems.

I'm willing to get some kind of medicine, poke into the mass with a scalpel or needle to see what's up, stuff like that. Probably not going to take the chicken to the vet. Ultimately if she's suffering with no good outcome likely I could cull, don't really want to of course but thems the breaks.

 

[grayjay11o]

I would probably try and lance it and then put Vetericyn or Alu-Shield on it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey folks,

Have a 6 year old Buff Orpington who has developed this mass on the side of her face. Pretty sure it must have grown over just the last week at most, I keep a pretty good eye on them. But, I could be wrong. It feels rather solid, and isn't expelling any kind of fluid or pus. She's walking around mostly normal but seems a little weak. She makes motions to eat and peck around like she's hungry but doesn't really pick anything up to eat it. I've seen her drinking water still. Seemed perfectly healthy until I noticed this yesterday.

What the heck is this?

I haven't tried lancing into it or anything yet as Ive never seen anything like this before. Currently have her separated in a smaller coop by herself as I understand some causes could be contagious, but none of my other 4 display any problems.

I'm willing to get some kind of medicine, poke into the mass with a scalpel or needle to see what's up, stuff like that. Probably not going to take the chicken to the vet. Ultimately if she's suffering with no good outcome likely I could cull, don't really want to of course but thems the breaks.

What does the inside of her beak look like? Can you take photos?

Hard to know what that is. Cancer or Canker comes to mind.

@Eggcessive @dawg53 @casportpony @coach723

I would work on keeping her hydrated. She may be hungry too, once she's hydrated see if she will take some wet soupy food. I would also see if her crop is empty by morning just to stay on top of everything.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does she have a bad odor from her beak? Is there yellow gunk inside her beak? Canker (trichomonas) a protozoan infection, can be common in the beak, grows quickly, and smells very bad. It is treated with drugs such as Fish Zole, available online 250 mg daily given orally for 5 days. Canker is a disease carried by pigeons, and can spread to other chickens.

Wet fowl pox can look like that as well, apparently does not smell bad, but there usually is evidence of dry pox scabs on the comb, wattles, or face. There is no treatment.

Occasionally, cancerous tumors can appear around the beak as well. Those sometimes are caused by certain viruses.

Here is some reading about canker with pictures:
https://www.chickenvet.co.uk/oral-canker