Old chicken has suddenly grown a quite large tumor on its face

PrinceIonia

In the Brooder
Nov 18, 2022
2
17
19
Hi. I'm new here, so if I did something wrong I apologize in advance.

We have a very old Australorp chicken, I believe its around 7-8 years old. Recently there has been a disturbing tumor growing on its face. The tumor is not soft and squishy but instead quite dense and hard to the touch (not rock solid however). I'm not sure if its cancer related or something else, and I'm not sure what I should do about it either. Is there anybody who has any advice? Thanks.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Its an Australorp chicken, weight is average. Its quite old at around 7-8 years old.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
It is still walking around during the day when we let it outside to try and gather its own food, but its noticeably a lot slower than the other chickens. Probably due to its age. Its having issues swallowing food with the tumor.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
We noticed the tumor 2 days ago. My mother noticed it when she wasn't swallowing her food correctly.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. Not that we know of.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Doesn't appear to be any.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Completely unknown. Googling searches say that this is either some form of cancer or her face was cut and it got infected.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Chicken food from Tractor Supply and then just whatever they find outside in our backyard when we let them out of their pen.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Unknown. Probably normal or we would've noticed it already, but we can double-check for you if it's a pressing matter.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Nothing so far.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
The cheaper the better, which is probably treatment ourselves, but if the bill isn't too high we might go to the vet. The bird isn't in critical condition last we checked with was about 2 hours before this post.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
IMG_1729.jpg


12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Its a simple pen with an outside fully caged area and an indoor pen filled with heating, food, and water, which the food and water is replaced often. Theres plenty of straw and porches for the birds to stand on. We also have little nests the birds can enter themselves, although they choose not to when they sleep at night. We can supply pictures of the housing/pen if this is an important matter.

Any and all help is appreciated, thank you.
 
It's not uncommon for an old chicken to develop a tumor, and since you say it's hard and not soft, it's likely a tumor. It isn't that important to know if it's malignant or benign since your chicken is already in her later years.

I had a hen start developing a tumor over her eye when she was six. It grew slowly and only became a problem for her when she reached age thirteen. At that time, it started to put pressure on her brain causing wry neck. I was able to treat that for a few months, but eventually, she couldn't eat and I had to euthanize her.

These tumors really are not treatable. I doubt you could find a vet to do the surgery for anything your budget could handle, and it might not even help.

What I suggest is to check the weight of your chicken. Then keep an eye on her to see how well she's able to eat. If you monitor her weight, you will know if she's able to eat enough to sustain her. When she's losing weight and isn't able to get around due to weakness, then you need to be prepared to euthanize her.
 

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