Lump on side of face

[Cazzeyd55]

this lump started to appear recently and it has grown over the past week.. it is not a cyst… she is my favourite hen hen and it is starting to to effect her quality of life… can it be fixed?

 

[alinas2010]

I’m sorry about your hen. How is she doing? Just in initial appearances, you can see her face is quite swollen on the side with the lump. Is there any bad smell about her head? How are her eyes - any bubbles or discharge?

Inspect her ear on the side with the swelling very thoroughly; is it plugged up with gunk? It could be infected and that’s what’s leading to the swelling. If that is the case you will need to clean out anything plugging it up. Let us know if you see anything and we can help give you some tips on cleaning it out.

Another possibility is that this is an abscess. Is this a scab:

Did she get an injury that is infected perhaps? Or did something bite her, like a bug? How long has the swelling been going on?

Another possibility is some sort of tumor. Check all of the things mentioned above and report back with your findings.

Is her other side swollen at all? You mentioned it’s affecting her quality of life, how is she acting?

Also welcome to the site, sorry it is under these circumstances.

 

[Cazzeyd55]

Hi, Thankyou for your help. Her ears are clear, we are going to get a needle biopsy done I think

 

[alinas2010]

Hi, Thankyou for your help. Her ears are clear, we are going to get a needle biopsy done I think

You’re welcome. You might try a warm compress and see if you can remove any scabs and then coax pus out of the wound if it is a wound. Keep us updated, I’m curious to know what a vet says.

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice from alinas2010. Does the lump fell firm or slightly squishy? Can you see an opening to her ear where the dark feathers are above the lump? This can be a common place for abscesses, peck wounds or stings, and skin cancers. Squamous cell cancer is common there, and may have a crater like appearance. There are some pictures in these links:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/squamous-cell-carcinoma
Here is one at the bottom of the page:
https://bitchinchickens.com/2022/10/06/avian-pathology-cases-15/