Oil Gland Growth

[carolMI]

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to this site - Love it! Saw a post back in June 2013 about a growth at base of tail that was identified as an oil gland. A couple of my Silkie hens (not all) have this but one is quite large. I'm wondering if the gland is plugged and the "oil" is backing up. The tip of the node looks crusted over - maybe a warm water soak would loosen it up so I can unplug and drain it? The hen keeps pecking at it so it must bother her. Here's a photo. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[CMV]

When you see the bird pecking at it, she is likely just spreading the oil around into her feathers, so it may not be bothersome at all and you are misconstruing what you are witnessing. Warm soaks can't hurt and may actually help it out if there is a problem. I might also try to apply some kind of oil-based moisturizer (olive oil?) to it to lubricate it from the outside. The skin does look pretty dry there. If it were not functioning properly then the birds feathers would look really tatty, dry and disheveled. How is she looking? I know it is hard to tell with silkies and their crazy 'dos, but how does she look in comparison to the other birds? Her feathers would also be getting really waterlogged when they get wet.