Cube Mark One Run

[auntielizzie]

It seems to be one thing after another for me and my chickens lately (ever since I got the three new girls ). First Betty had a respiratory problem, which got better after antibiotics; then Mrs Beaky had the same respiratory problem which took several visits to the vets to sort, costing me £120 in fees. Then Betty had a recurrence of the respiratory problem, which unfortunately led to her dying quite quickly just a few days ago. Now, poor Betsy has a lump on her back

 

When I got the three new girls, Betsy did have a patch of feathers missing on her back, just above the tail. I assumed this was from being pecked by the other chickens in the big pen they were all in and I assumed also that when she had a moult that new feathers would come through and fill in the gap. All was well until today.....

 

The problem is that with the dark mornings and evenings, I haven't really seen much of the chickens lately. It's only at the weekends that I get to have a good play with them. Hopefully this means that the lump has appeared since last weekend, but I can't be sure.

 

I was having a good tidy up this afternoon and I just noticed as Betsy was chickening about that I could see a red bit sticking up through her feathers just above her tail. I picked her up to have a look and she has got a big uneven shaped lump, which looks quite red and sore on her back. It is about the size of a hazelnut in its shell, maybe a bit bigger, but it is an uneven lumpy shape. You can put your fingers around it underneath. She doesn't seem to like it being touched. I am wondering if it is an infected preening gland, or something worse that she has had since I got her in September which I haven't noticed.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? Obviously we are going to have to take a trip to the vets (again) on Monday, but just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on what it might be.

 

I am really worried and upset by this and beginning to feel that I am doing everything wrong and not looking after them properly somehow.

[mimi5]

Oh dear poor you, what a run of it you've been having!!! I really understand how you feel, I was having a similar run of poorly chickens this time last year and then lost 2 girls to separate problems in the spring!! I even felt like giving up on chicken keeping!! I also get a bit nervous/worried everytime I change something, even now!!!

 

But the one thing I've learned since being on the forum is that if you keep chickens, sometimes these sort of phases happen to all of us!!! So don't feel alone!!! I totally understand the whole don't see your chickens properly till the weekend, ditto! The winter seems SO hard. This is only my 2nd winter, but it seems harder than last year and it's not over yet!!

 

But there is nothing better than sitting in the garden with the chickens bimbling around doing their thing....is there?? Of course I'm talking summer days here! Or collecting a lovely fresh egg, yum! Or even watching the girls and guy having a communal dustbath!

 

Hang in there, I hope you're vet is supportive and that your girl is soon on the mend!! Let us know how things go.

[good_egg]

Don't know anything about lump I'm afraid. But so sorry to hear you are having a hard time. Hope it's something simple and vet sorts out on Monday. Hugs.

[Egluntyne]

Are you sure that it isn't her preen gland?

[auntielizzie]

Well, it's been a funny old day today! As Betty had died in the week I wanted to do a deep clean of the coop. Easier said than done - all this wet weather has made my wooden coop very difficult to work with! It took me ages to push, pull, bash and otherwise forcefully remove the droppings tray from the coop so I could hose it down and disinfect. However, the getting it out was nowhere as hard as the getting back in again! Even OH came down to help! We had to sand down the edges in the end to get it to go in, by which time we were absolutely exhausted and all hot and bothered!

 

So, house finally all put back together again and squeaky clean with all new aubiose, fresh straw in the nestboxes and plenty of diatom - time to bring in the new bags of Garvo in from the car. First bag, got as far as the hallway and bag split and chicken food all over the blooming place!!! Out comes dustpan and brush, then hoover. Even hotter and more bothered by now, with an aching back too!

 

Next, clean water and fresh food put into squeaky clean and sterilised glugs and grubs. Hoorah, nearly there!

 

Now, time to examine Betsy! With quite some protest from Betsy, I put her on the "operating table"! I've got a bowl of lovely warm water and a cloth ready. I dip cloth in the water and place warm damp cloth on lump, the idea being it will soothe the area and help to draw out any pus if it is infected. Repeated about four times. Betsy quite enjoying it by now

 

The results of my examination and further research on the internet (Wikipedia) is that she has been moulting and what I can see is "The pygostyle is the main component of the structure colloquially known as parson's nose, Pope's nose, or sultan's nose. This is the fleshy protuberance visible at the posterior end of a bird (most commonly a chicken or turkey) that has been dressed for cooking. It has a swollen appearance because it also contains the uropygial gland that produces preen oil".

 

My conclusion is that she has been moulting (I can see some new feathers coming through - although the bald patch goes quite far up her back covered by longer feathers), which has exposed this never seen before strange-looking part of a chicken which I have never seen before and gave me quite a shock Still don't understand why it looks so red though - but it doesn't look infected and it didn't seem to be hurting her. Skin did look quite dry though. Anyway, hopefully no huge disaster looming, which is what I had feared (I hope ).

 

Sorry for this very long post - I can't stop when I get going

[suebee]

... Don't apologise for chatting on. My posts tend to go on a bit..... Hope your 'problem' turns out to be nothing abnormal, as your research may show! I must admit, the first time I saw an exposed preen gland, I was shocked, and thought it was a tumour, until I realised - on inspection - that they all had one in the same place! I don't know why it should be red, unless it's normal for her. Maybe it's cos she's been using it a lot during moulting and lots of preening?

 

Hope all remains well.