Rooster With Very Large Swelling On His Neck/new Gruesome Photo!!

[chelmer640]

Any one with any info on how to treat this would be greatly appreciated. I have been giving him antibiotic in his water and using a hot compress, also peroxide and neosporin. He is eating but gurgles a bit and this thing has got some green puss on it. I was told by a feed store owner to try and pierce the swelling with a steralized needle and have done so, but it just bleeds. I don't know if he was attacked because he is in a secured cage, I suppose another Rooster could have gotten his head in the small wire opening, but none of my other pets show any sign of injury. I don't have the means to find a bird vet and we live way out in the country. I am afraid to perform frankenstein surgery on my pet because I am obviously not a trained pro. Any ideas on what I am dealing with. I even thought it could be a cist. If it's some sort of parasite or growth I don't suppose he can live like this. I just don't know what to do. I was hoping it would start going down, but it's so big and swollen. Any ideas?

 

[ruth]

You have several threads going on the same thing but I don't think I found any information as to where, on his neck, this "thing" is located. Is it under the neck, like the crop, or on the back of the neck? I'm "assuming" it is not his crop.

It does look quite awful. I would lance it and clean it out. Use a single-edge razor blade and make a small incision. Then flush with betadine and rinse. See what's in there and clean it out. You might need to make a small stitch to close it up.

I've had hens who developed golf-ball sized lumps on the back of their neck, near the top of their head, from roo love bites that abcessed. When squeezed, the lump felt kind of like a hacky sack. When opened up, it was all like cooked rubbery scrambled eggs that needed to be pulled out.

When a chicken gets an infection it isn't liquid. It will abcess and sort of turn to rubber or cottage cheese consistency. It won't come out with a needle prick. You'll need to lance, and then use tweezers to pull the gunk out.

Pack with neosporin after cleaning it out and, if it were me, I'd use a needle and thread and put a stitch to close it up. I've sewn up many, many hens for one reason or another and they all heal just fine. I've never given antibiotics.

On one of your threads SpeckledHen posted it could be ingrown feathers - which it could - so check carefully once you make your incision to be sure everything is cleaned out.

Don't worry about cutting open the skin, there are no vital organs there and there should not be anything but skin against flesh. Whatever is under there needs to be cleaned out.

Good luck.

 

[Cetawin]

ruth has given excellent advice...lance it and clean it out well....keep the peroxide away from it...hydrogen peroxide will damage the good tissue...so use a sterile saline or betadine...you can get them at the drug store easily. Then go forward with Ruth's instructions

 

[speckledhen]

Duplicate thread..please, no cross-posting.