Skin infection on my rooster?

[blythe7887]

Skin infection on my rooster?

I have a fairly young rooster who appears to have a skin infection/dermatitis on the back of his neck.

Please see the pictures.

I am hoping for some help or advice on what this could be and possible treatment.

At first I thought that maybe I would lance it, but decided against it as I was worried it would just cause more issues.

Dino (My eight month old rooster) did not have this last night. I only know that because I and my daughter were trimming his wings.

He appears to be eating and acting normal. But the area is definitely swollen and hot to the touch.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks as though he might have some ingrown feathers, but other possibilities to check for would be a pecking injury or abscess, a tumor, or the cutaneous or skin version of Mareks disease. Ingrown feathers can be dug out with a sterilized needle after cleaning the skin with alcohol or iodine. If there are any remaining feather shafts that have been broken off, they need to be removed. There could be solid yellow pus inside that would need removing. Here is some info about ingrown feathers:
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/feathercysts.html

photo by Nimby Chickens--possible feather cyst from ingrown feathers

Mareks disease causing skin eruptions

 

[blythe7887]

So I'm at the vet with Dino, they took a sample, they took his temperature, and guess what? I don't think they really know much about chickens.

The vet believes it's just inflammation and irritation and wants to send us home with an anti-inflammatory, pain meds, and amoxicillin drops.

There's no infection, no air, nothing weird showing up in the sample. They can't tell if it's an infected follicle or not.

I'm just a little disappointed since it's a major university emergency veterinary hospital here in Philly. I thought they would know more about avians since they do deal with exotics and claim to have quite a lot of experience with different types of chickens.

Lesson learned, home husbandry from now on out.

Sigh.....

 

[runt325]

So I'm at the vet with Dino, they took a sample, they took his temperature, and guess what? I don't think they really know much about chickens.

The vet believes it's just inflammation and irritation and wants to send us home with an anti-inflammatory, pain meds, and amoxicillin drops.

There's no infection, no air, nothing weird showing up in the sample. They can't tell if it's an infected follicle or not.

I'm just a little disappointed since it's a major university emergency veterinary hospital here in Philly. I thought they would know more about avians since they do deal with exotics and claim to have quite a lot of experience with different types of chickens.

Lesson learned, home husbandry from now on out.

Sigh.....

I don't think those are for chickens

 

[Eggcessive]

A feather should be found under the skin after probing it with a needle, if it is an ingrown feather cyst.