What is this on my chickens face??

[kurby22]

It could be an access. If it were me I'd try hot compresses. Thats what I've done for abbesses, and infection in the past.

Yeah I’ll try that tomorrow! The other bumps seem to be better and she doesn’t seem to feel at all badly…how do you keep a hot compress on a chickens face?? She hates me holding her head or touching her face :-/

 

[Weeg]

I wonder if you can treat it like you would bumblefoot - compress (instead of soak), remove scab, pack with antibiotic?

Not a bad ideal. Worth a try.

 

[Weeg]

Yeah I’ll try that tomorrow! The other bumps seem to be better and she doesn’t seem to feel at all badly…how do you keep a hot compress on a chickens face?? She hates me holding her head or touching her face :-/

When I do a compress, I fill a thermos with fairly warm water. I like to add about a dropper full of calendula oil as well. It helps to draw infection out of wounds, etc. You can get it as a drawing salve, but I like to buy it as an oil. You can purchase it at your local health food stores most times.
Then, I take a wash cloth, or paper towel and dip it in the water. Hold it there until it cools down, then dip again. A 10-15 minuet compress should do it, or until the scab is softened.

 

[kurby22]

When I do a compress, I fill a thermos with fairly warm water. I like to add about a dropper full of calendula oil as well. It helps to draw infection out of wounds, etc. You can get it as a drawing salve, but I like to buy it as an oil. You can purchase it at your local health food stores most times.
Then, I take a wash cloth, or paper towel and dip it in the water. Hold it there until it cools down, then dip again. A 10-15 minuet compress should do it, or until the scab is softened.

Ok thank you! I will try that out and see how things go! Poor girl…

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'm anxious to learn what your vet says. I've got a rooster that has a lump in the same area and same side and it's been there for at least a month, probably two, with no other symptoms. His mouth, throat and eyes are all clear, although he is ever so slightly cross beaked with a wierd almost bulging pallet (since hatch). This is so odd. I didn't mess with his very tiny dot he had in the beginning and it's went away completely. Like you, my very first thought was a respiratory illness but now I'm worried about it being a cancerous growth. In your experience, do you feel like it's worth digging into the lump? Does your hen act like it's painful at all?

 

[Chickeeaholic]

Well she looks worse now than last week so I think we will be headed to the vet this week. Blah…looks like an abscess? I put some chlorohexidine on it in hopes it would help some :-/

Poor girl

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You never probed the scab to see what was underneath?

If you are seeing the vet in just a few days, I would just keep it cleaned and moist with triple antibiotic ointment and wait to see what he has to say.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Auggie had just started molting and he's never been easy to handle his face although he is a very good rooster. His dot/scab was tiny and I did take a very close well lit look and tried to scrape it away but it wasn't raised at all. It was like one of those teeny tiny pore like feather follicles. I guess that's still a possibility.

 

[kurby22]

I'm anxious to learn what your vet says. I've got a rooster that has a lump in the same area and same side and it's been there for at least a month, probably two, with no other symptoms. His mouth, throat and eyes are all clear, although he is ever so slightly cross beaked with a wierd almost bulging pallet (since hatch). This is so odd. I didn't mess with his very tiny dot he had in the beginning and it's went away completely. Like you, my very first thought was a respiratory illness but now I'm worried about it being a cancerous growth. In your experience, do you feel like it's worth digging into the lump? Does your hen act like it's painful at all?

I have never had to open up a scab to look for infection. My vet did it last time when my quail had bumblefoot…and they never had infection, just the scab on the foot. I took her first scab off and there was nothing underneath and when I get a chance to feel it more it feels sort of firm and I don’t feel any kind of hard infection lump. Now that the scab is bigger, I will try the warm compress and then take off the scab and see what I find underneath. I think I’d try to do it myself if it was on her foot, but her face feels too advanced for me and Dr Smith is always much better at it! I will update as I learn more…she doesn’t seem to be in any pain and doesn’t care when I mess with it. I swear it’s a never ending list of things with my chickens lately…I am not a fan of worrying about them all the time!

 

[picklestheduck]

I will update as I learn more…she doesn’t seem to be in any pain and doesn’t care when I mess with it. I swear it’s a never ending list of things with my chickens lately…I am not a fan of worrying about them all the time!

Me neither!! I hate worrying too! Hopefully your hen gets better!!! As for not wanting to be handled, you can use treats such as meal worms and just do positive reinforcement. So maybe pick her up but don't ALWAYS touch her sore spot. Pet her elsewhere. If you only ever touch her sore spot/injury, she might begin to associate you with pain. By doing other things with her and just petting her anywhere but her injury, she will probably come around. After a while I think they realize you are only there to help not harm. (Its ok!!! I did it at first too! I've started doing positive reinforcement a lot more, and my flock is doing better being handled.) Good luck!!!