Lumps

[Chickenbesties]

7 days ago I noticed my 21 week old hen had a small lump under her eye. Each day it has gotten bigger and bigger. Now it's so large that her eye is shut. She also developed another lump on her neck. Everything else about her is normal, no mucus from eyes, no trouble breathing, eats and drinks fine, poop is normal. What is this? I have other chickens as well and they are all fine. I hope this isn't something that will spread

 

[Eggcessive]

Is the lump on the face hard or soft? Do you see any bubbles or white material inside the eye? Has there been any sneezing or other signs of a respiratory infection? With the lump on the neck, it could possibly be a virus that causes tumors, if it is not from a respiratory disease.

 

[Chickenbesties]

Is the lump on the face hard or soft? Do you see any bubbles or white material inside the eye? Has there been any sneezing or other signs of a respiratory infection? With the lump on the neck, it could possibly be a virus that causes tumors, if it is not from a respiratory disease.

It's hard, no bubbles or white material inside eye, eye looks normal it's just forced shut from the lump. No sneezing or any signs of respiratory infection.

 

[azygous]

I had a hen who lived to be nearly fourteen. She had a hard tumor over her eye, but it was slow growing. I suspect it was associated with lymphoid leucosis which is in my flock.

The tumor gave her no trouble until the last few months of her life when it appeared it was spreading to her brain, giving her chronic wry neck. Finally, I had to euthanize her when she could no longer function.

If those lumps are hard and they seem to be firmly rooted in place, they are tumors. We can't know if they are malignant. But since they are growing so fast, they probably are. You will know if she begins to suffer balance issues, leg weakness, confusion, problems finding her food and roosting. Then you may want to consider euthanizing her.

 

[Chickenbesties]

As an update for this morning, she seems to be more timid this morning. She is still walking around and eating and drinking. But not perky like she has been. More slow moving. Still no other symptoms besides that.

 

[azygous]

The tumors do not tell us she has lymphoid leucosis. There are other causes of tumors. They can be squamous skin cancer for all we know. That would be unrelated to an avian virus.

It is very important to have a plan to get a necropsy for her when she dies so you will know if this is from a virus that will affect your whole flock.

Flocks can live normal lives with the leucosis virus because most chickens do develop resistance to LL. If your flock does carry LL, you will probably not want to hatch chicks from within your flock. The mortality is very high for chicks hatched from hens who carry the virus. Bringing in baby chicks from an outside source is very doable. Those chicks will have a high probability of developing resistance and live normal lives.

 

[azygous]

What is your location? I can help you locate your state lab. You will get more than just photos from the lab. They will give you a detailed report of the findings which you can copy to your thread.

 

[Eggcessive]

What part of Canada? Most of the provinces have a poultry lab or agricultural center which performs necropsies. University of Guelph has one. Here is a list from a Google search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=chicken+necropsy+in+canada&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

 

[Duckduckchicken32]

@azygous

 

[Eggcessive]

If @azygous looks on this thread, she has some experience with lymphoid leukosis virus. That and Mareks disease are viruses that can cause tumors in chickens. There sre other no-virus tumors as well. Abscesses from pecks, ingrown feathers, or injuries are also possible. Is the bump on the neck near her ear opening?