Washed dirty bum and found... A zit?

[Dayana]

Hi folks. I just adopted two 1 1/2 year old laying hens. Once I got to know her a little, I realized she had a dirty bottom. After looking up what to do about it, I washed her in warm water with Epsom salt. That got the poopyness off, but now she has a bunch of stuff on the base of her feathers, and has a big zit (I think) on her butt right under her vent. I was wondering if folks think it's s zit/infection, cancer, a cyst, or something else. I d love your opinion of what it is and what you think I should do?

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Hi folks. I just adopted two 1 1/2 year old laying hens. Once I got to know her a little, I realized she had a dirty bottom. After looking up what to do about it, I washed her in warm water with Epsom salt. That got the poopyness off, but now she has a bunch of stuff on the base of her feathers, and has a big zit (I think) on her butt right under her vent. I was wondering if folks think it's s zit/infection, cancer, a cyst, or something else. I d love your opinion of what it is and what you think I should do?

If you can (and you aren't squeamish) I would clean the area very well with either chlorhexidine, betadine or vetericyn. Then try to empty the cyst.

Chickens get a kind of hard pus, so you'll have to make sure you get it all out (if it is a cyst) to avoid another infection. Flush it out well and pack it with Neosporin (no pain killer). Keep the area very clean as she may get poop there again.

If it doesn't empty and it's just a hard ball, I would lean towards it being a tumor/fat and would just leave it be.

I'll tag some others here to see if they have any insight or advice too. @Miss Lydia @Eggcessive @sourland

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that I would try to open that after disinfecting the skin, and see if there is pus inside.

 

[Shezadandy]

It kinda looks like there are 2 or three lobes to it, hard to tell from the picture.

Hopefully it's just a badly ingrown feather or something like that- I would definitely open it - from the bottom edge - because of course Mrs. Chicken is going to keep pooping, and follow the advice above with using ointment and keeping it clean etc.

 

[Dayana]

If you can (and you aren't squeamish) I would clean the area very well with either chlorhexidine, betadine or vetericyn. Then try to empty the cyst.

Chickens get a kind of hard pus, so you'll have to make sure you get it all out (if it is a cyst) to avoid another infection. Flush it out well and pack it with Neosporin (no pain killer). Keep the area very clean as she may get poop there again.

If it doesn't empty and it's just a hard ball, I would lean towards it being a tumor/fat and would just leave it be.

I'll tag some others here to see if they have any insight or advice too. @Miss Lydia @Eggcessive @sourland

Thanks Rosemary! I ended up taking her to a vet, to get a read on a few things. It turns out she is probably quite a bit older than I was told.
The vet said to leave it based on the location, and to help pop it if it ruptured. I ended up needing to do the extraction a few months later, and i think it may have been some sort of feather, or some sort of tumor, since it had a feather like consistency. I separated her to keep her from getting pecked, packed it with Neosporin as you recommend, and then continued to clean her backside with a Chlorhexidine Disinfectant Solution, as the vet recommended, a few times a day until she was better.

 

[Dayana]

It kinda looks like there are 2 or three lobes to it, hard to tell from the picture.

Hopefully it's just a badly ingrown feather or something like that- I would definitely open it - from the bottom edge - because of course Mrs. Chicken is going to keep pooping, and follow the advice above with using ointment and keeping it clean etc.

I think it was likely an ingrown feather. Thank you for the reply. I posted more about what happened in a reply to Rosemary. Thanks so much!

 

[Shezadandy]

I think it was likely an ingrown feather. Thank you for the reply. I posted more about what happened in a reply to Rosemary. Thanks so much!

Thanks for the follow up! I'm glad it has resolved and I'm sure you're right that it was an ingrown feather. I bet she's glad that's gone!