Last Thursday (May 16) we discovered a growth on one of our Ameracauna chicks which was not there the day before.She is 3 months of age (hatched Feb. 15) and the smallest of her flock. This growth is neither soft nor hard and appears to have small feathers growing out of it. It is also making her eye tear. Other than this she is perfectly healthy. We cleaned it once with hydrogen peroxide but that didn't do anything. What is it? What can we do for it? We have her in isolation and are giving her extra vitamins in her water. Please help us as we do not want to lose her. By the way, this growth is on her left side between the top of her beak and left eye. Thanks, in advance, for your help. By the way, is there any chance it could be a bee or wasp sting since they are always eating them? She is in isolation because we didn't know if it is contagious and the others were picking on her and making it bleed.

Hope someone can help you, I haven't a clue. CJR

hmmmmmm. That's a tough one.
I suppose chickens can have warts, moles, or skin tags.
Does it look like it's infected?
Have you tried plucking the little feathers that protrude from it?
Could it possibly be a clogged tear duct?
I'm pretty sure if it was a sting, that it would be swollen, red, and hard; and that her eye would most likely be swollen shut.

We have eliminated the bee sting idea. It is getting bigger and seems to be getting harder. We could try to pull some of the little feathers, but they are so small and so close to her eye. It is about the size of a marble and now getting very close to her left nostril. The outside is starting to look infected and very red. We will try to post a picture this weekend.

Bill and Dale, I have the Marek's virus on my place and vaccinate all my chicks, but have a number of older birds that were never vaccinated. Last year, I lost two cocks with the paralysis form and two hen with the tumor form. Both tumors were on the head and neck--no feathers. When they reached size larger than a marble, both hens died. Seemed to have no stuggle prior to death. I assume it was one form of Marek's.

This is not necessarily what your hen has, but only my experience with a facial and a neck tumor. CJR

If you believe that it is infected, try lancing it with a sterile razorblade and let it drain.

We took your advice with the sterile razor blade and all that came out was dried pus-like material. It is definitely infected. We are going to wait a day or so to see what happens and then we're going to take a sterile syringe and needle and try to withdraw any fluid (if there's any in there). Thanks for your help.
Dale

You might try washing the cut area out with peroxide and applying some triple antibiotic ointment to help keep things clean. You will probably want to do this over several days or a week while watching the progress. Any new swelling or redness would be a sign to open things up a little more aggressively and clean it out. Good luck.

We tried taking a sterile needle and syringe today to to try to withdraw what's in the growth, but all that came out was some blood. It is a very sensitive area to her and she hardly let's us touch it. We've been cleaning it every day with peroxide and applying neosporin but the scab area is turning black and the growth is getting larger every day. She still seems to be healthy although she does not eat very much. Any ideas as to what this could be? We are willing to try anything so we won't have to cull her. Thanks.