Tail injury with swelling.

[Exopoulterer]

If the matter is firmly attached, don't try to remove it. It's a fatty substance, not pus. I think you've got the pus out. Pus is not attached to the body and usually can be removed easily.

As for the antibiotic, unless this bacteria is E.coli and not staph, a topical antibiotic is all you need.

It doesn't stink and is so similar to what Dove had on her knee. The scab is just not as tough as Dovey's was but looked like the same stuff.

With some time, Dove pushed this thing off on her own with only some compresses and triple antibiotic applied. When I thought it might be a cancer tumor, I stopped trying to get in there and remove anything. It was the size of a large blueberry and didn't seem to bother her.

This thing in Scaley's tail is more like the size of a grape and it does bother her. The tail feathers in the area stick out and down but she can still flare her tail and lift it when she wants. I am just afraid that if it is one of those big hard feathers in there that it needed to come out. If she can push it out on her own without me digging it out, that would be great. I don't want to hurt her or give any antibiotics if it is not necessary. I would just compress, wipe with chlorhexidine, rinse, and apply ointment.

Can you look at the post I made about Dove's knee to compare? If you go to the end I photographed the cap that came off of her knee and how fast it healed once the cap was off.
Thread 'Cyst or mass on the outside of knee.' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cyst-or-mass-on-the-outside-of-knee.1676125/

Scaley was just doing the mini molt when I discovered this and those might be the old feathers that didn't come out to be replaced. The other girls did the full tail molt before sexually maturing. She is growing and maturing slowly and has finally started to get bigger despite being the same age as The other 2 girls that have been laying since September.

Scaley is pretty special. Her cushion feathers are not so round, (it is why I call her the Henster) and there is stress barring on her feathers. Very picky eater and was such a scrawny runty pullet until she finally started getting some size over the last month or so.

 

[azygous]

Dove's lesion resembles a staph infection rather than a skin tumor. Squamous tumors have a solid, growing wall of tissue resembling pop corn surrounding a fixed black crusty center than will not heal or scrape off easily.

Scaley's looks like a staph infection, too. Staph can be treated with topical antibiotics, but stubborn strains of staph can take a while to conquer. Just keep cleansing it and putting on the ointment until it heals.

 

[Exopoulterer]

I just brought her in to check it out and she is breathing heavily and keeps preening at it. It is bloody. She will preen at it, eat a couple pecks of treat, then appear to fall asleep on her feet.

I am about to clean it up now but very worried about her behavior.

I feel like I made it worse by messing with it.

 

[azygous]

If she's endured a lot of pain, she may be flirting with shock. Give her one cup of water with one teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda as her only source of water today and tomorrow.

Dip her beak a couple times to show her it's sweet so she will eagerly drink.

 

[Exopoulterer]

Ok.
She just aggressively tore apart a blueberry that I held for her to eat before I clean her wound. It always makes me feel better to see that. I have another one for after. I will prepare the water.

I guess I should prepare the sugar water and keep her inside now? I am kind of worried about her status as already the last in the pecking order.

 

[Exopoulterer]

Here is how she is doing. Looks sick.

 

[azygous]

Pain can have the effect of making a chicken act sick. Try the sugar water. It should have an immediate effect.

 

[Exopoulterer]

Pain can have the effect of making a chicken act sick. Try the sugar water. It should have an immediate effect.

The brat doesn't care for the water.
She had one small *nim nim nimmy nim* sip from a spoon but doesn't feel like drinking it after a couple beak dips. I gave her 2 more blueberries that she destroyed as I dipped the shredded things in the water. I hope that helps better than nothing.

She is in my bedroom in a crate with wet mooshy nutrena all flock pellets, some nutrena tidbits treat, grit, and some flaked and crumbled calcium just in case.

She doesn't lay but does like the calcium and loves hanging out at the nest box especially if a pullet is laying there. She likes to "fix" the next box too. I don't know if she will ever lay but it seems like she has always had an interest. She blushes really red but goes back pale and has not much of a comb.