large skin lesion

[Gonda]

Has anyone seen this before in your birds? This is the 2nd time in half a year that one of my birds has a large, raised skin lesion. This 22 week old rooster has had this for over a month and it has consistently been dry, with a black crust. The lesion has grown gradually and the surrounding skin is forming a crater. The surrounding skin is not red or infected looking. I've checked carefully with a flashlight and never see anything live or crawling in the lesion. It just seems to be dead black tissue. The rooster has been doing well, but in the last while his comb is less red, he's not gaining weight anymore, and he's now starting to become less active. This same young rooster had a problem very early with his legs. He was sitting back onto his legs a lot, and had a bit of an awkward walk. That resolved and he now walks and runs quite normally, he's been quite active, crowing, aggressive towards the hens (acting just like his brother, who is now much bigger).

The other bird had a large, raised abscess under her vent, which was also a black dry scab, and that one healed. This was in July/August. The scab came off and there was clean tissue underneath. But she was sleepy, constantly falling asleep during the day. She hung in for weeks, and then died a rather strange death, standing upright on her legs with her head falling to the side. I finally put her down as it was taking too long.

The hen and the rooster were/are not of the same hatch, different ages. They both came to me from the same breeder.

Has anyone seen anything like this? Any idea what might be going on? Is this possibly a deficiency of some sorts?

This is what it was like a month ago:

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

"Necrotic dermatitis is caused either by staph. or clostridium infection and is associated with immunosuppression (usually by CAV or IBD). Scabby-hip is usually from overcrowding, poor litter conditions, poor feathering or scratches. Dermatitis or granulation in the neck may be a vaccine reaction, or contaminated vaccine."

From:
http://www.canadianpoultry.ca/chapter_v.htm

Sorry I have no experience with this- just have a link that might be helpful.

 

[Gonda]

Thanks for your effort and for the information. I had also come across this information. I don't believe this is due to vaccine contamination, as they didn't have vaccines prior to this developing, and not in those areas (neck, below vent).

And they are truly in good, clean conditions, not overcrowded. So I think it's safe to rule this out. It does look like "necrotic" something, though, doesn't it? In both cases it was a hard, dry black surface. Except the hen started with a hard lump, which then formed a black surface, which came off. So they're not exactly the same. This one started out with the black crater.

 

[Pickaduck]

I have absolutely no idea what it is - but it looks so scary. I don't know if there are any vets in your area that treat chickens but you might want to take him to a vet as I'm thinking something like that is beyond the scope of home care. But since I have no idea what it is and have never encountered this I'm really just guessing - I hated seeing this thread get buried without more responses so I wanted to offer my opinions.

If it's necrotic I'm not sure what you can do as it will likely continue to get bigger.. and being on his throat I'm not so sure that it could safely be removed like a scab.. if it's getting bigger, he's no longer thriving, and a vet isn't an option it may be time to consider culling.. I'm so sorry.

Please keep us updated!

 

[flashover1969]

It almost looks like some tumors I have seen. Only way to tell is have a vet (or yourself) send a tissue sample off to lab.

The necrosis is a secondary infection. Some antibiotics will help with the secondary infections, but you need to find out if the growths are malignant or benign.

 

[Gonda]

Well, it's over. I put him down. He was quite inactive today, and lethargic this evening, breathing faster, poor guy. At least it went fast in the end. He did seem quite well until a few days ago. I wish I knew what it was. If it occurs in other chickens, I'll have to have some tests done. I'm hoping we have a strong, healthy flock of survivors now. We've had some setbacks lately, and hopefully, this is it now. I have to console myself with the fact that if he'd been healthy, I would have sold him by now and he could have ended up in someone's soup. A better end, maybe, but still an end.

I did research necrotic dermatitis a bit further. Can't find any pictures of it. The descriptions I read don't seem to fit. And I looked up Cutaneous Marek's, but it didn't fit that description either.

If it was a tumor, where would the tumor be, and why the external necrotic tissue? This did manifest itself in a different way than the abscess on the hen this summer. That started out with a hard, irregularly shaped raised lump (under her vent), and formed a black scab, which then lifted off, leaving healthy tissue. This one was a crater with black tissue right from the start, which grew. The hen was sleepy for weeks, and this guy only started to show signs of slowing down this week, and then went down fast.

Thanks, those of you who responded with your suggestions.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I am so sorry for your loss. He's in chicken heaven, eating mealworms for sure.

 

[flashover1969]

I'm sorry for your loss. I would suggest having a necropsy as this may provide some extremely valuable information for future use. It could be Marek's, or it could be something else, but the only way to know is send your chicken to a lab. There should be a place that will do it for free.

 

[Gonda]

There is a place that will do it for $10 but only once a year. I've used up that option this year. To have it done now would be $70. So if I have more cases occur, I can have a necropsy done in 2012. It would be nice to do it now but I'm afraid it's not an option right now.

Thanks again!

 

[reza]

hi
this is physical damage followed by staphilococal infection that seen in area suuh hip - and beneath of throat of chicken