Lump on Rhode Island Red's face

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by Ronnie Bagley
(Chatsworth, ga)

Question

Lump on Rhode Island Red's face: I noticed today that one of my Rhode Island Red hens has a large lump below the eye behind the gills on the left eye.

It just looks like a big knot, no oozing or sore or anything. do you have any idea what this might be?

Answer
I’m not sure what you mean by “gills” or “behind the gills on the left eye”. I couldn’t find a reference for chicken gills, so maybe you are talking about the ears?

Chicken’s ears are located a bit past the eyes, towards the back of the head, with little feathers partially covering the opening, in many breeds.

Chickens have 2 nostrils at the top of their beak, where it meets the feathers below their eyes, also called “nares”.

This sounds like a cyst. I just had this happen with a rooster last year and no one I found had ever heard of such a thing.

Mine started with a cyst in one ear and a few days later there was one in the other ear. They both seemed to go a way on their own, but there was some swelling left on one side, so I treated him with an injectable antibiotic safe for poultry.

Cysts are like a sealed pimple. Some foreign material has been located in the body by the immune system. The chicken’s body responds by sending white blood cells to attack it.

A shield is formed around it and often there is infected material inside. Some go away on their own.

I was unwilling to try to open the cysts on my rooster, and drain them due to the closeness to the eyes and brain.

I was concerned I might spread the infected material inside and do him more harm than good. I don’t have a good chicken vet, but if you do I would suggest letting him/her take a look at this.

I’m sorry I didn’t understand what you were describing. If I was way off, please write back with additional descriptions.