Jump to content
Angela & Ken

Huge lump on comb, now burst, help please. *Sad update

Recommended Posts

Our lovely old Maran, Bubble, who is around 7 or 8 years old, developed a very large, all encompassing lump on her comb last Sunday. We've been treating it with antibiotics and metacam for anti-inflammation but it got so large that it burst today, leaving a very large gape in the side of her comb. The other side seems to be going the same way.

 

We live in London and our vet isn't a hen specialist, but we took Bubble there today and he said he thinks it's a cancerous tumour and to end her life. We decided we were going to take care of that ourselves, so brought her home to put her to sleep. However, she isn't distressed, she's foraging, eating and clearly not in pain. Of course, if we keep her alive, we have to deal with the possibility of infection, due to the open wound (she's in a separate run and has been for a week), although we have antibiotics to take care of that. If it is cancer, it can only get worse?

 

Firstly, has anyone ever heard of this before? The lump was about a £2 coin size, if not slightly larger.

 

Secondly, we don't want to prolong any suffering, but she doesn't seem to be suffering.......9 months ago she had a hard lump in her abdomen, the same vet suggested putting her to sleep, but we gave her tlc, warm baths, antibiotics, etc, and within a week she was as right as rain again. So......are we being premature? How awful is it to lose a hen, or have to think about it. Having said that, we've lost a few now and don't want her to suffer. Any help you can give is much appreciated. Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much, both of you.

 

Unfortunately, Bubble's huge lump burst on the other side as well and it looked like there was a bullet hole in her head. Lots of blood. We would have just let her be, but with this hole it was open to infection (although she was separated from our other hens, so wouldn't have been pecked.) My husband and I felt we ought to do right by her and put her to sleep before it became a miserable time for her. There was no way we could heal the wound by covering it or keeping it clean. It was just getting worse, so my husband did the right thing and put her to sleep, quietly and with love. So upset. She was a diamond hen and much loved.

 

Thank you so much. I think it probably was cancer. Never seen anything like it before. Bless her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...