Lump on breast

[Mung]

I have discovered a large lump on the breast of one of my hens. I got them all in November and she was about 20 weeks old. I have been wondering recently if she is losing weight as she is much slimmer than my other birds, but she looks like a leghorn and I had decided that it was just her breed. She seems happy enough and is doing 'hen-like' things and doesn't seem to be in pain when I touch the lump. She is laying daily. I had read that it might be her 'crop', but it was there at about 3 this afternoon too. I struggled to see it this morning, but will make sure I catch her otmorrow to check.

If its her crop you should find that its not there in the morning, but visible after she's been out and about a bit. My bantams you could (as longs as they'd not stuffed themselves) gently massage it and actually feel the grains of corn or other food in it. It can stick out at the front quite a bit - but it should be symmetrical to the front, and where you'd imagine that their throat leads to... Hope its just this

Thanks for that mistlethrush. This morning there was hardly anything there and I felt quite relieved, but this evening it is huge again. I didn't manage to catch her to feel it, but I could see it as she was walking around. It is on the right hand side and is not central to her breast at all.
I did notice 2 very large (bigger than eggs) poos in the place that she sleeps.
Again, she seems totally chicken like and happy, although she has been perching a lot more today than usual.

They can look a bit lopsided sometimes. And if she's eaten a lot during the day, yes, they can be very prominent at night. And if there's nothing there in the morning, could be because she's not had a chance to eat anything when you see her...

Thanks. Is it totally normal then? It happens each day and now that I look more closely at the others it seems that they have it too, its just that they are fatter, more feathered birds and its not as prominent.

I think that some breeds feathering makes it look more obvious. And, of course, she could be more of a greedy guts than her companions too!