chicken cloaca covered, maggot infested! help!

[horsegirlll]

whole story:

i brought my chicken up to the house last night since she was laying on the ground in the coop in her own poo, she couldn’t get up. i cut some of the feathers off near her bum since they were covered in faeces and noticed a dark spot. i didn’t have time to do anything, so i put her to bed in a cat carrier with food and water. i woke up this morning and cleaned out the chicken coop, came back up to the house and went to change the towel i put in the carrier with my chicken. i noticed she still had poo on her feathers, so i did a bit more of a trim, but while i was doing that i noticed the dark spot again.

(this next part is what i’m needing help with)

i put my chicken in the sink with lukewarm water and with gloves started to clean around her cloaca, dipping it in regularly to try drown the maggots i was seeing. i started to try and get the dirt(?) off and realised i could just pull it back, but i can’t tell if it’s a scab, skin or just a layer of faeces i should just peel off. i did see maggots under it when i lifted it up, but it looks like she has dark pink skin which makes me wary. what should i do?

 

[azygous]

First, use undiluted hydrogen peroxide to remove all the maggots. Pour it over them, and pick off the ones remaining with tweezers. Then soak her butt in a basin of warm Epsom salts with a splash of Betadine or dish soap for about fifteen minutes.

Then debride the wound. That means pull away all scabs, dried blood, dead tissue, but be very careful not to pull on anything that extends into the cloaca as that might injure the hen.

After doing that, post more pics of what it looks like, describing what the photos don't reveal since they are viewed by us in just two dimensions. Is there a smell? Any watery discharge?

Is this hen responsive? Is she alert? Have you given her some electrolyte water with extra sugar to revive and stabilize her? If not, do so.

 

[horsegirlll]

First, use undiluted hydrogen peroxide to remove all the maggots. Pour it over them, and pick off the ones remaining with tweezers. Then soak her butt in a basin of warm Epsom salts with a splash of Betadine or dish soap for about fifteen minutes.

Then debride the wound. That means pull away all scabs, dried blood, dead tissue, but be very careful not to pull on anything that extends into the cloaca as that might injure the hen.

After doing that, post more pics of what it looks like, describing what the photos don't reveal since they are viewed by us in just two dimensions. Is there a smell? Any watery discharge?

Is this hen responsive? Is she alert? Have you given her some electrolyte water with extra sugar to revive and stabilize her? If not, do so.

we don’t have any undiluted hydrogen peroxide, are there any substitutes for this situation?

 

[azygous]

Pick them off one at a time.

 

[azygous]

Or you can soak her in soapy water, see if that causes some maggots to fall off, and then get what remains with the tweezers,

Do you happen to have any Ivermectin wormer? It's a sedative that knocks out worms, which maggots are a close relative of. But Ivermectin is very toxic to chickens in more than just a very small amount. But what you can do is take a Q-tip and wet it in the Ivermectin and then touch it to each maggot. It will quickly put the maggot to sleep and it may then let go and fall off. But you cannot let any get on the chicken's skin or she could overdose.

 

[horsegirlll]

Pick them off one at a time.

i ended up using dishwashing soap and a few drops of apple cider vinegar in the bath, pink Himalayan salt in the water and saline solution for the maggots, but i think i had already gotten 99% of them off just after i posted the thread.
she seems really unsteady standing and walking around, for whatever reason she keeps leaning back so she’s pretty much sitting.
she gets up for food, which i’ve mashed and put milk and warm water into. i’ve had to put water on her beak though.
she actually did just snap out at a fly, but she isn’t keeping her eyes open for very long.
we’re sitting outside right now, drying her off.
i can’t smell or see anything odd.
while i was trying to pick off the dead skin, she did flinch at times, which made me think whatever is on her is still attached. it looks like old skin with the wrinkles on it. i did manage to pull out a little, but there was some blood.
i’m not really sure if she’ll make it, but i do want to try. she’s a rhode island red and been top of the pecking order since 2018, so i don’t think bullying from other chickens is an answer with her

Or you can soak her in soapy water, see if that causes some maggots to fall off, and then get what remains with the tweezers,

Do you happen to have any Ivermectin wormer? It's a sedative that knocks out worms, which maggots are a close relative of. But Ivermectin is very toxic to chickens in more than just a very small amount. But what you can do is take a Q-tip and wet it in the Ivermectin and then touch it to each maggot. It will quickly put the maggot to sleep and it may then let go and fall off. But you cannot let any get on the chicken's skin or she could overdose.

i ended up using dishwashing soap and a few drops of apple cider vinegar in the bath, pink Himalayan salt in the water and saline solution for the maggots, but i think i had already gotten 99% of them off just after i posted the thread.
she seems really unsteady standing and walking around, for whatever reason she keeps leaning back so she’s pretty much sitting.
she gets up for food, which i’ve mashed and put milk and warm water into. i’ve had to put water on her beak though.
she actually did just snap out at a fly, but she isn’t keeping her eyes open for very long.
we’re sitting outside right now, drying her off.
i can’t smell or see anything odd.
while i was trying to pick off the dead skin, she did flinch at times, which made me think whatever is on her is still attached. it looks like old skin with the wrinkles on it. i did manage to pull out a little, but there was some blood.
i’m not really sure if she’ll make it, but i do want to try. she’s a rhode island red and been top of the pecking order since 2018, so i don’t think bullying from other chickens is an answer with her

 

[azygous]

In the last 24 hours has she had any sugar water? This would raise her glucose and might revive her, give her energy, restore her appetite and strength.

 

[Stealth Squabs]

I would give her "magic water", a few small chips of garlic clove(antibiotic) a capful of apple cider vinegar with the mother in it for gut health and resilience, and a drizzle of molasses for energy in a quart of warm water, so the molasses dissolves. The blackened portion above the trimmed feathers looks like necrotic tissue (dead) that will need repeated soaks to remove you can put a drop or two of tea tree oil in the water you soak her in, as it has antibiotic properties. As the necrotic tissue softens, try to work it loose without disturbing the new regenerating tissue beneath. Best of luck. Give the girl some meal worms for making it this far!

 

[azygous]

My eyes are old and they compete with retinal membranes and fireworks, so it's difficult for me to figure out what I'm seeing in a two dimensional image, so please help me out of you can.

My big question is this. Is the vent and cloaca involved in this injury? Does the injury extend inside the cloaca?

Or is the injury apart from the vent? How do you surmise the injury occurred? The answers will have a bearing on how much debriding is possible.

It's an encouraging sign there is no smell. That means you likely aren't dealing with gangrenous tissue, at least not yet.

It's important to try to revive her with sugar water. If that doesn't perk her up, she may be suffering from a systemic infection from this injury and require an oral antibiotic to save her.

 

[horsegirlll]

whole story:

i brought my chicken up to the house last night since she was laying on the ground in the coop in her own poo, she couldn’t get up. i cut some of the feathers off near her bum since they were covered in faeces and noticed a dark spot. i didn’t have time to do anything, so i put her to bed in a cat carrier with food and water. i woke up this morning and cleaned out the chicken coop, came back up to the house and went to change the towel i put in the carrier with my chicken. i noticed she still had poo on her feathers, so i did a bit more of a trim, but while i was doing that i noticed the dark spot again.

(this next part is what i’m needing help with)

i put my chicken in the sink with lukewarm water and with gloves started to clean around her cloaca, dipping it in regularly to try drown the maggots i was seeing. i started to try and get the dirt(?) off and realised i could just pull it back, but i can’t tell if it’s a scab, skin or just a layer of faeces i should just peel off. i did see maggots under it when i lifted it up, but it looks like she has dark pink skin which makes me wary. what should i do?

My eyes are old and they compete with retinal membranes and fireworks, so it's difficult for me to figure out what I'm seeing in a two dimensional image, so please help me out of you can.

My big question is this. Is the vent and cloaca involved in this injury? Does the injury extend inside the cloaca?

Or is the injury apart from the vent? How do you surmise the injury occurred? The answers will have a bearing on how much debriding is possible.

It's an encouraging sign there is no smell. That means you likely aren't dealing with gangrenous tissue, at least not yet.

It's important to try to revive her with sugar water. If that doesn't perk her up, she may be suffering from a systemic infection from this injury and require an oral antibiotic to save her.

My eyes are old and they compete with retinal membranes and fireworks, so it's difficult for me to figure out what I'm seeing in a two dimensional image, so please help me out of you can.

My big question is this. Is the vent and cloaca involved in this injury? Does the injury extend inside the cloaca?

Or is the injury apart from the vent? How do you surmise the injury occurred? The answers will have a bearing on how much debriding is possible.

It's an encouraging sign there is no smell. That means you likely aren't dealing with gangrenous tissue, at least not yet.

It's important to try to revive her with sugar water. If that doesn't perk her up, she may be suffering from a systemic infection from this injury and require an oral antibiotic to save her.

someone mentioned that what i’m seeing may be dead skin, which i think is the case. it covers the top of her cloaca, but doesn’t actually come inside of it.