Lump on hen's chest

[callieisspooky]

My turkey hen is three years old. She has a lump on her chest that has been growing for a year at least. At first I thought it was her breastbone which she had plucked feathers from to brood, but it's gotten bigger and feathers are only missing on the lump. It's about the size of a lemon, and firm. Any ideas what it is?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Ideas are like belly buttons, we all have one.

My idea is that she has a foreign object imbedded in her keel bone and it keeps attracting new scar tissue.

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't know much about turkeys, but chickens can get breast blisters over the keel or breast bone that can become abscessed. They can form if a bird lays on the ground or on a roost most of the time. That could also be a tumor. You could try to lance it, and squeeze any contents inside. If you just get blood, it's probably a tumor, but if you get a yellow core or pus, it's an abscess. Let us know if you do anything.

 

[callieisspooky]

Sounds like a trip to the vet's. I'm terrified of lancing without painkiller. Thanks! Hoping it's not a tumor... But an abcess like that would probably have killed her long ago.