Fatty tumor on a bird

[iopele]

Hi everyone, I've got a 10 day old true Araucana (rumpless with 1 tuft) and have been wanting to start breeding them. Just now we had them outside in their "play pen" for some sun and grass and when my son picked up one to bring it back inside, he said, "Mom, there's a lump on this one." Right in front of its right wing, it has a lump that looks like a fatty deposit. I used to work as a surgical nurse so I've seen a lot of lipomas in people, and it looks just the same.

My question is, does this disqualify this bird from the breeding program? I know lipomas aren't hereditary in people but don't know about chickens. I've got 10 chicks and only 4 have tufts, and Lumpy's one of the tufted ones. (We have a twisted sense of humor here so of course we named it Lumpy, lol) Anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks!

 

[DuckLady]

That is likely the crop being full. Your chick probably had a nice meal just before your son picked it up. The "tumor" should be gone in a few hours.

 

[iopele]

It's not the crop--I can feel the crop. This is a large fatty deposit just under the skin directly in front of the right wing, and it's soft and sort of squishy to palpation. I wish it was the crop because then I could be sure it'd go away!

 

[iopele]

It's now about twice the size it was when we first discovered it. It looks like there's a marble under the skin of the chick's breast.

I've got to take our German Shepherd for a heartworm test and rabies booster next week, so I'm going to see about taking Lumpy along for a look-see.

 

[iopele]

Does anyone know if I should have Lumpy out separately from the others? Lumpy doesn't seem to be in any distress (except for when we pick her up to feel the lump) and is eating, drinking, and pooping normally. Just in case it *was* the crop even though it's on the right breast area, I gave her some olive oil to help clear it--no change. It's still soft when we feel it and is very mobile, and doesn't seem to be hurting Lumpy at all. This is really odd. No one has any ideas?

 

[65browneyes]

Hmmmm.....I have no clue, but am very intrigued. I'd definitely take Lumpy along with the sheperd. Be sure to let us know what comes of this, will you?

 

[dlhunicorn]

...without a photo...no, I could not hazard a guess.

 

[iopele]

It's really hard to get a photo with all the fuzz, but here's the best I can do--this is from Thursday and the lump's about twice as big now:

 

[silkiechicken]

That sure looks like a very stuffed crop to me! I guess you can take her in though if you still think it's a tumor.

 

[iopele]

The picture doesn't show its location very well, but it's not on the throat. It's just under the spot where the right wing attaches. A lot of people have guessed crop, but that's just not it, unfortunately. I'll try to get a better picture... wiggly chick plus fuzz plus excited kids trying to take a picture = pics that are less than great, but I'm trying, lol!