Soft,warm to touch mass in between wattles?!!

krystine819

In the Brooder
May 5, 2016
10
3
37
This morning as I was out feeding I noticed my oldest girl, Henrietta, had a large mass in between her wattles. I immediately separated her from the rest of the flock, since I was not sure what we are dealing with. I don't know exactly how long it has been there, and am feeling terribly guilty for just noticing it now. I suppose sometimes with so many birds it can be difficult to catch everything. Here is what info I have so far.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a large mixed breed. I am guessing a mix of a Cochin and a Black australorp or something? She is 4 years old. She doesn't seem to have lost any weight or anything, she's the same size as usual.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
There aren't any strange behaviors being exhibited, though I have been keeping her in a separate pen since I noticed the bump. The mass is soft and squishy and warm to the touch. There are some short little feather stubbys on it, but no scabs or other wounds. Her eyes are clear and looking normal, and her head does stinking at all. Her breath smells normal and there are no wounds or anything inside her mouth. Her crop is normal size and soft like it should be. A bit later I am going to let her out of her crate to free range and I am going to watch how she behaves. She seems to be eating and drinking as normal.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
As I mentioned, I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, so I don't know if this is something serious and I just noticed it early before any of the other symptoms have onset or not.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
I checked the other birds and I didnt notice any other bumps, or any strange behaviors that would lead me to worry.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No other signs of injury. I checked her mouth and looked down her throat as well as I could thinking she might have an abscess or wet pox. But there were no signs.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
???
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Yes she seems to be eating and drinking as normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
She hasn't pooped yet in her pen, I just gave her some food so we will see very shortly.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I have seperated her from the rest of the flock and added an extra bit of ACV to her water. I am trying to decide if I should administer and antibiotic ( the only thing i have on hand is penicillin) or lance the mass and see if there is an infection inside.
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?
There is no vet in my area who will work on chickens so I would like to do as much as I can for her. She is my oldest and sweetest girl and i would hate to lose her over something that was easily treatable.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
20171121_122216_resized.jpg 20171121_121259_resized.jpg 20171121_122220_resized.jpg 20171121_122336_resized.jpg 20171121_122340_resized.jpg 20171121_122440_resized.jpg
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Coop itself has a wood floor with straw on top and in the nesting boxes. Roosting bars are made of wood. The run is dirt and gravel.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I have no idea what I am dealing with and if it is something serious I would like to get to it before it gets any worse, since I certainly don't want her to suffer.

 

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No idea. Cyst of sone sort? Dies it seem to be causing her any disconfort? Is a cet an option? Wondering if they might drain it.
It doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. Thats whats throwing me off. It looks like it would be painful, but even when I grab it, the only thing that seems to bother her is the fact I'm trying to hold her head still. A vet is not an option, I don't have one in my little town that will work on chickens. I thought about maybe trying to puncture it and see if anything drains out, but I have ZERO experience with doing anything like that and Im scared I might make it worse. I hate to keep her in solitary when other than this big bump, she's acting totally normal. I did have one more thought last night; do chickens get ingrown feathers?
 
If you squeeze it does it feel like there's fluid inside? Like a balloon or just a little? Like was already mentioned perhaps you should drain it...
 
If you squeeze it does it feel like there's fluid inside? Like a balloon or just a little? Like was already mentioned perhaps you should drain it...
It does feel soft and squishy. Not like a balloon, its softer than that. It feels like there is liquid inside but i don't know if I should make a little incision in it with a scalpel or poke it with a needle. I was leaning towards the scalpel thinking maybe there was a sack of fluid or something in there I could remove in one piece instead of poking it and infection or whatever is in there leaking out everywhere.
 

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