Chicken Flesh Eating Disease? Warning-Graphic pics

[winekntrychicks]

I am so sorry for your loss. You CANNOT blame yourself. You did what you could. One thing I have learned is chickens can be very fragile. I have never seen anything like that either. Make sure you bury her very very deep. My sympathies.

 

[Wild Prime]

I was a spectator to this thread throughout, I am so sorry you lost your bird

I have lost so many that were precious to me, and it never gets any easier. Thank you for being there for her when she passed. She was comforted by your presence.

 

[manoktok]

isolate your bird in a solitary confinement,give her some antibiotics and b complex injectable for 5-6 days..try spraying it with wound spray dichlorofenthion in its wound infested with maggots.and if she can't eat give her soft diet like raw egg (forced feeding).better not deworm if your bird is weak,wait till she recovers.

 

[Reurra]

Could it be this?

http://www.worldpoultry.net/backgro...g-economical-losses-–-part-2-8565-page-2.html

This next link is very graphic. The skin section is near the middle.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/178/escherichia-coli-infections

 

[lhamid]

Its possible she had what is called Fly Strike. A small wound attracts flies and they lay eggs. The maggots hatch quickly and feed on the host. I had a Silkie rooster that had it really bad. One day he was fine and the next day he was crawling with maggots. He was eaten down to the bone in one place near his vent. I bathed him in dog flea shampoo and sprayed him with Adams spray. I put him in a wire bottom cage and soon saw dead and dying maggots all over the cage bottom. I had to bathe him again and hand fed him with hand rearing formula (for feeding baby birds) until he regained his strength. It was horrible but he made it. He was sterile after this but lived a happy life. Don't beat yourself up. Its not your fault.

 

[country]

winekntrychicks & Wild Prime - Thank you for your sympathy & kind words. It helps to know that someone else understands how hard it is to lose one of these little guys.

I agree with the deep burial. I have a burial spot at the back of the property that none of my animals have access to. I also put rocks on top to discourage the predators from doing any digging.

manoktok - Thank you for the info. I'm going to save it & I'll check out the wound spray you suggested. I have several ointments for wounds but no sprays so it would be good to have some on hand. Apparently, what Pippy had wasn't contagious since everyone else seems fine, but I'll still be checking everyone very carefully from now on.

Reurra - Thank you, but I don't think that is what Pippy had. From what I read, that mainly shows up on the carcass after they're butchered. A broiler with all those scabs would never have made it to the processors to begin with - I hope. Plus, she wasn't living in any of the conditions they described that usually causes the skin lesions, & hers started under her wings, an unlikely place for injury. However, that's a great (also scary!) site & looks likes a good source for info. Thanks for the link.

lhamid - Thanks for the info, but I'm pretty sure that's not what it was. The only maggot eggs I found were laid around her rear where she had some feces clinging to her, & they were fresh - hadn't hatched yet. The only open wound she had was that fresh one where I'd rubbed the scab off while washing her. That was one of the strange things about this skin problem - no open sores! She just had scabs all over & they were all dry - nothing to attract flies.

That's good to know about the Adams. Wish I'd known about it a few years ago when one of my dogs got maggots. I'd been in the hospital about 5 days & when I got home I knew immediately that something was wrong with Wheatie when she came crawling to me instead of bouncing all around as usual. It took about 1 second to find the problem - nasty maggots. I'd heard that they only eat decaying flesh, but not in this case. They'd started at the top of her tail, probably a scratch there that attracted them originally, & they were all over her back, under her tail, & had already gotten inside of her rectum & vulva. I grabbed the hose & flea shampoo & got off everything I could, smeared her privates with vaseline, & then proceeded to pick them off of & out of her for several days. There aren't very many things that creep me out, but maggots are at the top of the list. UCK! Your little rooster was lucky you noticed that something was wrong in time to save him. With all the feathers, it would be really easy to miss the problem until it was too late.

 

[Earthologie]

Definitely very weird and perplexing! How horrible this must be for you! So sad!

I am not sure what it could be... I know you said you didn't see any mites...

******I think I remember reading once about some type of mite that comes out of the woodwork/cracks ONLY AT NIGHT to feed?

Maybe take a flash light out at night and check?

It is just bizarre... Especially if by day time the scabs were all dried up and no open wounds...****** Maybe the other hens have a little stronger immunity and didn't succumb? *Scratches head...*

I JUST FOUND THIS ON BYC:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ty-yellow-scabs-all-over-her-body-please-help

It seems similar! Spoooooky similar!

 

[Earthologie]

Leg mites... aren't those "invisible" to the naked eye?

Doesn't makes sense though... Since you treated her for mites....

This is just so perplexing!

 

[chickenmama316]

So sorry for your loss...I've never seen anything quite like it. In the future, if you're unable to get a bird packed up for necropsy on the same day it dies, you can double bag it in heavy duty freezer zip lock bags, refridgerate (don't freeze) the bird overnight and then ship in the morning. I actually prefer to do it this way so the bird is completely cooled before sending.

 

[Earthologie]

How does a person find out where birds can be sent for necropsies?