Air Bubble Under Skin

I went to check on the turkeys chicks(they've been ill with maybe mycoplasma and are on Tylan), and when I opened the lid on the brooder box they got all excited and one of them flew up on the edge of the box. When I picked it up to put it back in, it's chest felt kind of strange. I thought that maybe the turkey had a huge drink and it's crop was expanded and off center. So I parted the feathers to look, and was shocked to see a huge air bubble under the skin. The heat light was behind the turkey and it was lit up like a candled egg and you could see the blood vessels in the skin. It kinda creeped me out. I've never seen anything like this before. The turkey doesn't seem to be in pain.

Should I do anything, or just let it 'deflate' on it's own. I don't want to cause injury that may cause infection.

I will be interested in your answer. I had a lady I sold chicks too a couple weeks ago call and ask me about the same thing, I figured sour crop but sounds almost like it is not the crop on yours but actually a bubble under the skin? Strange.

It sort of feels like an under inflated balloon. Soooo weird. And bazaar seeing the red heat light shining through with the blood vessels...

I was thinking if I had a syringe needle, but I don't...

If its notf impeding her movement, a ruptured air sac will slowly resolve on its own. If it is bothering her, you could use a fine gauge needle to relieve the pressure, though you would need to do it morning and evening.

Eeeeew, I think Uno had a thread about a chick that had something similar. It got bigger and bigger and bigger, think she put the chick down. She thought it was a huge air bubble beneath the skin too. Maybe she will chime in. Good luck, hope it is nothing. And..have a great day, CynthiaM.

Yeah, I can chime in, but not with anything too helpful.

I've had air under skin in two situations.

One was a coyote mauling and the chicken's lungs were punctured and air was escaping and being trapped under the skin. In this case it ended with a dead chicken as the internal trauma was too much to recover from. Those puncture wounds were impossible to see and by the time I reaized the bird was all puffed up from leaking air, it was game over.

The other case is the one CynthiaM refers to in which a chick had a crop problem and for reasons that were never clear, her crop produced gas and that gas leaked out and into the surrounding tissue. This bird got bigger and bigger and bigger. Reached the point where her plugged up crop plus the air was so huge seh could not move properly. I put her down.

Silkie, in your situation I'd take a wait and see approach. If this chick seem healthy and thriving in every other way, I would take no steps, not even the needle thing. This might be a glitch that will resolve on its own. So as long as the chick is eating, poopingm sleeping and moving around like everyone else, I'd say leave it be.

Thank you, ladies!

The little one seems to be doing ok for now. I'm just going to leave it and see what happens.

Can't mycoplasma cause skin lesions? Any chance based on the symptoms that would be the cause?

I'm not to sure.

I looked up images of Skin Lesions on chickens and it doesn't look anything like that. It looks and feels like an air bubble. It's not fluid filled.

I think you are seeing a ruptured air sac. A ruptured air sac if often caused by trauma but in your case, the most likely cause is the mycoplasma infection. I had this problem in a hen that was badly mauled around the neck by a fox. I was able to resolve the problem by draining the air frequently to allow the air sac to reseal and heal itself but I'm not sure if that is the best approach in your case considering what you are dealing with.

"Chickens, like other birds, are peculiar in having an extensive system of air sacs, or thin-walled pockets, that circulate air from the lungs into other parts of the body. The system of air sacs extends around the internal organs and into some bones, called "pneumatic' bones, that are hollow. While the lungs are rigid, air sacs air flexible. All but one come in pairs. The largest pair is in the abdomen, surrounding the intestine." The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow.

Until I had to deal with my injured hen, I knew nothing about air sacs. Very interesting little piece of anatomy.

Here's a good link:
http://www.worldpoultry.net/chickens/breeding/breeders/rising-pressure-from-air-sacculitis-6961.html

Hope this helps a bit.

This morning the air bubble was much worse. It had grown so that it was on both sides and all underneath so it was like a little turkey balloon.

We ended up culling it.

Thanks for your advice everyone.

Lilfarm, thank you so much for that info on the air sacs. It's pretty interesting.