Tumor on upper back by wing (?) or something!

[burbankchix]

Okay, this is about tumors again....hope someone has an answer! I have a 4 month old Buff Brahma and about 1 month ago we noticed that her right wing looked "higher" than the left. She was dust bathing and flapping her wings well, but my husband thought her wing might be broken. I picked her up and lifted her wing, no problem. Then I noticed that that there was a lump right in front of where the wing is attached to the body. She looks like the hunchback of Notre Dame. This is not on the front like a full crop, but on her back...it is hard...I haven't tried to move it around. She is a smallish bird, a little bigger than a bantam, nowhere as big as our Light Brahma, so I'm wondering if this is a tumor, could it account for her small size. Any ideas would be welcome. I will try to get a good picture to post on this. Thanks!

 

[CMV]

Pics would be helpful in a case like this. Could the lump be some sort of abscess? Chickens get them pretty often.

 

[burbankchix]

Okay, I think we found out, it's scoliosis. Deformed Spine? anybody ever hear of this for a chicken?

 

[CMV]

It happens in all animals on occasion. It is usually not anything to worry about unless it gets progressively worse over time. In extreme cases scoliosis can crush the internal organs over time, but that is the most extreme case you can get. I doubt your bird has anything even close to that level of deformity. Scoliosis is considered a genetic defect, so I wouldn't choose to breed that bird in the future. Your bird should be able to live a good life and have few problems related to her condition.

Good luck with her.

 

[burbankchix]

Thank you so much for the info. We don't have any roosters, so we won't be breeding, only collecting eggs. My biggest fear was that it might be cancer and we weren't sure of eating her eggs! The deformity is on her upper right just at the point the top of her wing attaches. It doesn't seem to bother her, she can fly and do all normal chicken things. She just looks like a hunchback, and she is half the size of her light brahma counterpart. We'll just keep her happy until she dies a natural death, hopefully!