Unknown growth on the inside of chicken leg

[milleralk]

My favorite, sweetest 2-year-old Barred Plymouth Rock lady has a growth on her inner right thigh. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them. If it’s benign and there’s something I can do to help heal, or if it’s lethal and I need to do the most humane thing…

The lump was first noticed about 6 months ago. I gave her an epsom salt bath and tried draining it because it looked clear-liquid filled. But, there was more blood than I was comfortable with. I sprayed some Vetricyn, dabbed Neosporin, kept an eye on her for a couple hours, then let her rejoin the flock.

She’s been doing fine. Eating, drinking, acting normally. She has a bit of a limp when she runs over for treats, but that’s the only physical difference she’s showing. Unknown if she’s still laying.

I’ve kept an eye on it but have been trying to let nature take its course - seeing if she’d improve or decline. But, it’s obviously bigger, now with tough, black scab-like skin covering most of it. I’ve given her a couple more epsom salt baths and decided today to do some more digging around to try to alleviate some of the discomfort. (She’s also lost all the feathers on her breast from it rubbing.)

So I took a good long time today soaking, sterilizing, lightly scrubbing, and gently cutting away the blackness, and a patch of hard, white, dead tissue(?) underneath. I got to pink, slightly oozy/lightly bloody skin but there is still a good sized lump. I tried again to lance the most bulbous part of the growth. It was still just so bloody. Not warm, not smelly. She’s now peroxided, Vetericyned, Neosporined, gauzed, and bandaged. She can walk but she doesn’t want to because of the bandage. She’s got plenty of water with a couple drops of apple cider vinegar, has eaten food and treats with gusto, and seems ok, considering.

Any ideas or advice at this time?

First pic is when I first noticed the growth. Second pic is before I started cutting away at it. Sorry I didn’t get one during/after. She’s all bandaged up now.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[TundraFang]

Yikes! I have no idea but I'm watching.

 

[azygous]

The difference between a tumor and a cyst is a tumor is a rock hard mass with a blood supply and a cyst is fluid or fat filled and can be drained or cut out.

So you will have to tell us what was the texture of the mass as you cut it away.

My hat is off to you with bent knee for having the courage and tenacity to try to treat this thing.

 

[milleralk]

The difference between a tumor and a cyst is a tumor is a rock hard mass with a blood supply and a cyst is fluid or fat filled and can be drained or cut out.

So you will have to tell us what was the texture of the mass as you cut it away.

My hat is off to you with bent knee for having the courage and tenacity to try to treat this thing.

The area at about 10:00 on the second pic was definitely fatty/hard. The bulk of it was squishy and bloody.
So neither! Or both!

 

[Eggcessive]

An epidermoid inclusion cyst can look like that. It is benign, not malignant, and it can be filled with thick keratin, a waxy-like substance. Think of it as a massive blackhead or similar to bumblefoot. It would take a vet to diagnose what is actually is. So cleaning it out would be about the only thing you could do at this stage, if that is what it is. I am just guessing.

 

[Lizzy733]

If that was on my bird, I'd cut the whole thing away, ideally with a vet under anaesthesia and have the whole thing sent away for biopsy.

If it has fluid-filled pockets, you could try draining these first with a 22 gauge needle - might make it easier to see what you're doing when cutting in. With that size needle, it should self-drain without needing to plunge, unless it's thick or cheesy puss... In which case, it would need to be cut regardless.

 

[milleralk]

An epidermoid inclusion cyst can look like that. It is benign, not malignant, and it can be filled with thick keratin, a waxy-like substance. Think of it as a massive blackhead or similar to bumblefoot. It would take a vet to diagnose what is actually is. So cleaning it out would be about the only thing you could do at this stage, if that is what it is. I am just guessing.

Feather follicle cyst was my Google-diagnosis. It’s not thick and waxy inside though. It’s watery-bloody. And if I go deeper or along the edges, bright red, almost thick bloody.

 

[milleralk]

My favorite, sweetest 2-year-old Barred Plymouth Rock lady has a growth on her inner right thigh. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them. If it’s benign and there’s something I can do to help heal, or if it’s lethal and I need to do the most humane thing…

The lump was first noticed about 6 months ago. I gave her an epsom salt bath and tried draining it because it looked clear-liquid filled. But, there was more blood than I was comfortable with. I sprayed some Vetricyn, dabbed Neosporin, kept an eye on her for a couple hours, then let her rejoin the flock.

She’s been doing fine. Eating, drinking, acting normally. She has a bit of a limp when she runs over for treats, but that’s the only physical difference she’s showing. Unknown if she’s still laying.

I’ve kept an eye on it but have been trying to let nature take its course - seeing if she’d improve or decline. But, it’s obviously bigger, now with tough, black scab-like skin covering most of it. I’ve given her a couple more epsom salt baths and decided today to do some more digging around to try to alleviate some of the discomfort. (She’s also lost all the feathers on her breast from it rubbing.)

So I took a good long time today soaking, sterilizing, lightly scrubbing, and gently cutting away the blackness, and a patch of hard, white, dead tissue(?) underneath. I got to pink, slightly oozy/lightly bloody skin but there is still a good sized lump. I tried again to lance the most bulbous part of the growth. It was still just so bloody. Not warm, not smelly. She’s now peroxided, Vetericyned, Neosporined, gauzed, and bandaged. She can walk but she doesn’t want to because of the bandage. She’s got plenty of water with a couple drops of apple cider vinegar, has eaten food and treats with gusto, and seems ok, considering.

Any ideas or advice at this time?

First pic is when I first noticed the growth. Second pic is before I started cutting away at it. Sorry I didn’t get one during/after. She’s all bandaged up now. View attachment 2847634View attachment 2847662

Here’s how it looks at bandage cleaning this morning.

 

[Lizzy733]

I would still recommend 'bursting' it. Sounds like it's full of pooled blood - a blood blister. Once again, a 22 gauge syringe would be ideal as it makes only a very tiny hole to allow the fluid to drain from, but it can also be lashed and allowed to bleed out with a scalpel or other sharp knife. That level of swelling will undoubtedly be painful for her and reducing the size could alleviate some of that pain and, once again, make it easier to see what's in there if you decide to excavate it like a bumble foot.