I've only had chickens since 7/2015, so I'm new to all this. I lost one hen a few months ago that had a huge softball size tumor on her upper chest. She was a Silkie. Now I'm noticing several of my Showgirl hens and one of my Silkie roosters have one too now. Their's are about the size of a small egg to a plum. The person I bought them all from said they'd bought them from top breeders and they were supposed to have had all their proper shots. I feed them Purina pellets and they get fresh veggies and/or fruits daily. I make my own treat mix too. I need incite on what could be going on with them. Thank you for any help you can give me.
Do you have any photos? What side of the chest is the "tumor" on? Could it be you are feeling their crop. Do they have access to some type of grit in order to process their food? Without more information, my best guess is the one that died had an impacted or possible sour crop (if her breath smelled sour). http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/chicken-anatomy-crop-impacted-crop-sour.html
x2 We need a photo to see what you are talking about but I too suspicion you may be seeing their full crops. Are you offering grit? That may be something that is lacking if you are feeding anything other than crumble or pellet which digests without grit. Chickens need grit to be able to properly grind and pass food from their crops into the rest of their system, unless it is the easily digestible formulated feed. LofMc
One of the chickens (rooster) with the largest lump had suddenly went lame in one leg and died a week later. They are fed grit daily now but I had recently started feeding it. The person I got them from forgot to tell me and where I'm new to raising chickens of any brand, I didn't know. The lumps are higher up more closer to the neck and I haven't felt any other lumps on their bodies. It is very difficult to take any photos, I have no one to help hold them. I did find out that some of the chickens were bought in egg by the prior owner and were not vacinated. I was told they had been originally. Am I potentially dealing with Marek's? I had one that had died several months ago, she didn't have a lump or sour breath, her one leg became lame. I kept her going for about 3 months before she passed. The one I referred to that had the lump that did die, had it prior to me getting her.
Mareks can cause paralysis in one or both legs, wings, or the neck. The crop should be full in the evening, and mostly empty by the next morning before they eat. To find out for sure what is killing your chickens, you should contact the state vet or Dept. Of Agricuture for WV to get a necropsy done.
Are you pulling everyone's leg?[/better. What do you mean by that? I've only had my chickens since July 2015 and I made a quick decision to get them from a friend that had only 3 days to find a home for them. I have no prior experience in raising chickens. I was told they were vaccinated but it was only the ones that were gotten as chicks, not the ones that they incubated and hatched. Honestly I don't know if they were told the truth on the vaccinations or if they were, which vaccine was given. I'm learning as I go and am sure to make many mistakes, but that's why I ask for advice on here and not pull a JOKE on everyone. I tend to be a worrier when it comes to my pets, which is why I'm up at this hour (3:50am) keeping an eye on my chickens because we have 50 mph winds tonight and its snowing. I even keep a baby monitor in the coop so I can hear them better. The majority of the chickens I have are Silkie and Showgirl breeds.
Draw a picture of where lumps are located. If this was a Marek's outbreak it would have already run its course through your flock with mortalities more bunched together. You have lots ot photographs of birds, modify an image using your computer depicting lump location. You need to invest more effort in the written description concentrating on immediate situation rather than history of birds.
