Strange growth above eye

[myfivegirls]

When I brought home this Swedish Flower Hen rooster, I noticed that he had a "bump" above his one eye. I just thought it was swollen and would be okay. I've kept an eye on it, and it's gotten bigger. He has no nasal discharge, no eye discharge, not lethargic, and is eating just fine = no sign of respiratory illness that's commonly associated with swollen eyes. It doesn't look like it's infected or has pus - it's hard, not soft; it's very strange. I've never seen anything like this before, and even did a search and couldn't find anything just like it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you get this rooster from a breeder that you can call back? It doesn't look like the typical swelling of respiratory disease, but they can have a swollen eye without the other symptoms with mycoplasma or MG. I would be suspicious of an abscess or tumor, and a tumor would feel hard instead of squishy like an abscess. Puss hardens after time in chickens. If he were mine, I would probably give him 3 days of Tylan50 injections--1 ml or cc for 5 lb or 1/2 for less than 5 lb--injected into the breast muscle 1/4 inch with a 20 gauge needle. Use a sterile needle each time along with a 3 cc syringe. If a vet is a possibility, a tumor may be removed. Let us know about how this goes, and good luck.

 

[myfivegirls]

I got him from a lady who purchased them as chicks from a breeder. I got them when they were around 4 months old. I already contacted her and she hasn't ever seen anything like it before.
I'll have to ask her if she could give me the contact info for the breeder she got him from. I got him a few weeks ago, so it could be puss. The other Swedish Flower rooster had a puss filled wattle that I lanced, drained and has healed up nicely. It had hardened puss in it. What's strange is that all I can see of the swollen area is flesh-colored, no sign of puss unless it's under the 2nd layer of skin. My boss is a vet tech who likes weird things, so I'll take him to show her, to see if she has any suggestions. I do have Tylan50, so I'll see if she can show me how to inject him. I've also read you can do it orally, but have to be careful.
Yeah, I was wondering if it was a tumor, since he doesn't show any other signs of being "sick".
Thanks.

 

[Eggcessive]

Give us an update if you have anything new to add later. Did you ever find out what the infection in the wattle was from? A peck injury maybe? Swollen wattles and swelling around the sinuses and eyes can be signs of fowl cholera and coryza. MG swelling usually just affects the face and eyes I believe. Peck injuries can cause little abscesses about anywhere. There are some gruesome pictures of removing pus pockets from around eyes and the face here, but I don't know if I could do it myself. Here are links with pictures:
http://connerhills.com/sinus_infection_removal.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/847859/huge-swelling-in-waddle-below-eye/10#post_13701807

 

[myfivegirls]

The vet tech was pretty sure it wasn't puss from an infection, and she's had lots of experience treating infections in dogs and cats. She also noted that there was no peck marks or any sign of injury to that area, just as I had thought. She said it felt like it was most likely a growth or tumor. She recommended that he be for eating. I said, "Well, he's a $20 rooster and I bought him for breeding."

As I thought about it yesterday, this is my assessment:
Whether it's an tumor/cyst, genetic defect or infection, that's not something I want in breeding stock.

The other Swedish Flower rooster's swollen wattle was from a little "spat" with the other roosters, as he had a little bloody peck mark on his wattle before it swelled up. So, that doesn't count (in my "book") and he healed up just fine without any antibiotics, just draining and rinsing it did the trick.

I have one Dominique hen that a few years ago, had swelling around one eye. But, nothing like this rooster, just slightly puffy. I separated her, and was gave her one dosage of antibiotics. Then, I realized that I didn't want that "weaker" stock for breeding, so I was just going to cull her. Then, she suddenly got better and laid an egg (she'd stopped). The swelling went down and she seemed perky again. So, I ended up keeping her, even though her eye sometimes still wasn't "normal". I used her for breeding, and one of her daughters (several months old - already laying) had a similar eye issue (none of the other chickens ever had it), stopped eating and died. All of the other chickens have been very healthy, so I believe it was some genetic defect or weakness in her immune system. So, that hen is next on the list for culling.

I also had a Golden-Laced Wyandotte rooster that was a runt as a chick, but I really liked him, so I kept him and used him for breeding. Not a good idea, as most of his chicks had some sort of issue - crooked beak, slow growth, failed to thrive, etc. He does have two pullets that I know of that are doing fine, but they were the exception. He's no longer part of my flock, just keeping watch of a friend's laying hens.

I also had a very handsome Easter Egger rooster who I dearly loved and didn't want to get rid of. He produced beautiful chicks, but they were all on the small size, since he wasn't all that large himself. When someone came looking for roosters to guard their laying hens and offered to buy him, I took them up on the offer. It was sad to see him go, but his small size was counter-productive to what I'm breeding for.

I currently have another rooster that I'm most likely will have to cull. He's a Freedom Ranger/ Dominique mix who's a very handsome big boy, yet gentle and fits with what I'm breeding towards. He sired some chicks, then broke his one two this spring. The toe healed (although crooked) , but now he's not using his other leg and is hopping around. Hence, he probably won't be able to breed any of the hens. I hate to lose him, as I don't have any roosters quite like him. But, I have too many roosters to keep ones that are just "free-loaders".

So, even though I haven't been breeding for a long time, I've learned some lessons the hard way, and realize that, at least for what I'm breeding towards, any breeding stock that has any signs of weakness, illness, genetic defect should be culled or not used for breeding.

Therefore, my thought is to just go ahead and cut open the growth on the SFH rooster, and see what it is. Depending on what I find, I'm probably going to put him in the freezer, and write it off as a loss. I wish somehow I could recoup some of the cost, but no matter how I slice it, it's one of the risks associated with breeding chickens. I've read over and over that a good breeder has to learn to cull out the weaker stock ruthlessly, no matter how much it hurts or costs.

 

[Eggcessive]

The swedish flower hen genetics are probably from a small pool since they haven't been around that long in the US. If it is just a simple tumor, I wouldn't worry about breeding him, but Mareks disease can cause tumors, but there probably would be other symptoms in the past with paralysis. If you decide to go ahead and process him, I would definitely take a look at that lump before or afterward.

 

[myfivegirls]

Just a quick update on this rooster's status:
I tried to cut open and diagnose that "growth", but since I don't do well with blood, I almost fainted. Therefore, I didn't touch him again, just kept him separated. I never gave him any antibiotics.
I kept debating if I should just cull him, but being busy with everything else, time passed. One morning when I went to feed him, I did a double-take. The "growth" was gone and only the flaps of skin were left. The only thing I can think of is that it was a pocket of dehydrated puss, and it fell out. The remaining scar eventually healed up and feathers grew over it.
Today, he's a healthy, active rooster with no signs of this incident. While I originally thought he had a weaker immune system or something, I now think he's pretty tough to go through all this without any antibiotics or medicine to aid in his healing process.
Now, he's going through a pretty cold winter, but is weathering it quite nicely. I just separated all the Swedish Flower Hens, and he's one of the roosters. He's Definitely sweeter, gentler than the other SFH rooster that's smaller but often needs attitude adjustments.

Here's some pictures I took of the SFH rooster in December:



This is the side that had the "puss pocket", but is now all healed: