Squishy Lump on Polish chicks head?! *PICS* WORRIED MOM

[DragonEggs]

My polish chick was doing very well, so after a few weeks of isolation I put her in with some young seramas. This went fine for a couple of weeks until one of my seramas decided it was a cockerel and became aggressive. It was only picking a few of her back feathers at first so I added an extra bucket and some perches for her to get away from him. The problem seemed to stop but then I came out to feed them one day and all of her back and crest feathers were GONE! Her left eye was swollen shut too. I took her out and put her in isolation in one of my brooders. It's been over a week and she hasn't shown any improvement, in fact she looks WORSE! Her eye is still swollen and will hardly open and a fleshy lump developed on her head. Occasionally it will scab over and I'll wash it really good with warm water and anti bacterial soap and the scab will peel off. I can see little feathers trying to sprout but they don't seem to be growing. I peeled the scabs from her back today and the flesh underneath looked very pink and healthy and the feathers were starting to grow back. I'm very worried about her head and her eye though. She eats, drinks and poops normal and has plenty of energy. Her good eye is bright and alert. I've been giving her duramycin and electrolyes in her water everyday since this happened and have been cleaning out her eye and cleaning her wounds and putting neosporin on them everyday. Her head and eye just don't seem to be getting better. Any advice or suggestions? Anyone have any problems like this before? None of my other birds are sick. Is this just a REALLY BAD case of being picked on? If so how long till she shows improvement? Here are some pictures of her head.

 

[DragonEggs]

Anyone?

 

[DragonEggs]

Any Polish Experts out there?

 

[Kedreeva]

I can't really tell from the pictures, but it looks like the normal bone crest on my chicks.

However, if you know it to be a lump on top of the bone crest lump, then my guess is that it's infected. Have you tried to lance the head lump with something like a really thin, sterile needle to see if pus comes out? She really won't like that, but if it's infected then it needs to be drained and cleaned, not just cleaned. Sterilize a needle with rubbing alcohol and then heat, and after it cools, poke it into the lump, pull out, and gently press on the lump. Have a clean bunch of tissues and some water ready to clean what-ever comes out, take pics of what comes out, and keep us updated.

And if it IS white gunk that comes out, you'll probably have to find the core of the infection before it will go away. Like popping a giant zit on your chicken's head. Poor chicken.

 

[hinkjc]

That looks like a normal vaulted skull of a polish to me. I have heard they are more prone to being picked on and the head crest seems to be the target. As long as she is active and doing well (eating/drinking/poop normal) I would not be concerned. Keep in mind crested birds are more prone to neurological damage when picked upon the head region. Keep the supportive care going until she recovers from her injuries.

 

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
It would be of less concern if the bird was in with other birds and trying to heal, where she could be getting re-pecked, but she's got it in isolation and the injury isn't healing. It would also be less concerning if the back injury was not healing either, because then we could just say 'slow healer, be patient'. But with a back injury healing and a head injury not healing even though there's nothing to re-injure it...

 

[DragonEggs]

I was feeling around and realized the lump was on top of the bone crest, that was when I got worried and posted. I had tried sterlizing a needle and lancing it but nothing came out, not even blood. It just feels like a squishy bubble. I checked on her today and noticed the sweeling has gone down on the lump and her back looks worlds better. However her eye is still swollen shut and that has me worried still. She's still active and healthy in other ways.

Im so paranoid.