Fly strike treatment with Cold Water, fast results

[Gargoyle]

We just spotted fly strike on one of our older hens. Isolated her and began treatment immediately. Washed her with warm saline water (epsom salt) and sprayed with betadine diluted in water. Then tried four times washing/flushing with the warm water solutions, as is recommended in a lot of sources. Hardly anything came out, and there was a huge amount of maggots and an even larger amount of eggs that hadn't hatched yet. Then my wife realized, the maggots thrive in warm moist conditions, so she decided to try flushing with cold water. Instant results, more than 95% of the maggots and eggs washed out immediately. They were rushing to get out and escape the cold. We flushed her again, pretty much all we could see were gone. Sprayed with the betadine solution (note that betadine dries out sore areas so they heal faster) and put her in the hospital cage. I checked an hour later, there were just a few little worms moving, maybe four or five. Wiped them very gently with a q-tip soaked in betadine (you don't want to pull or scrape hard, it will tear the skin) and rinsed with cold water, and didn't see any more signs of them. We'll check again every hour or two...

I haven't seen cold suggested anywhere as a treatment, but wow... the results were almost instantaneous.

Since we caught it before most of the eggs had hatched, we are very hopeful; although the ones that had hatched had already been eating the skin, and there was a good bit of bleeding.

 

[Theorrin]

cold isnt usually suggested as you dont want to shock the bird and lower body temperature from my understanding

 

[Gargoyle]

cold isnt usually suggested as you dont want to shock the bird and lower body temperature from my understanding

We didn't soak her in it, just flushed her vent.

 

[Gargoyle]

I want to emphasize- we used a large (1" diameter) syringe and flushed the wound with cool water; you don't want to bathe or soak the chicken in cold water. It worked extremely well. We checked again every couple of hours, and by evening there was no sign of maggots or eggs. She was eating heartily all evening, slept well, and this morning is doing much better. The wound and infected area was not the vent, it was just below there, and they had eaten off about a 1" diameter circle of skin and gotten underneath there. We're keeping it clean and flushing with Vetericyn, and she is healing up.

It is important to get all the worms and eggs out. A light vinegar solution, or very mild hydrogen peroxide solution can wash out the surrounding feathers to clear out any egg nests, and cut the fluffy feathers back to remove potential breeding areas. If you use a hair drier, cover the wound so you don't heat it up.

When using tweezers, be extremely careful- if the maggot is holding on to tissue, you can easily pull or tear the tissue while lifting out the maggot.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We just spotted fly strike on one of our older hens. Isolated her and began treatment immediately. Washed her with warm saline water (epsom salt) and sprayed with betadine diluted in water. Then tried four times washing/flushing with the warm water solutions, as is recommended in a lot of sources. Hardly anything came out, and there was a huge amount of maggots and an even larger amount of eggs that hadn't hatched yet. Then my wife realized, the maggots thrive in warm moist conditions, so she decided to try flushing with cold water. Instant results, more than 95% of the maggots and eggs washed out immediately. They were rushing to get out and escape the cold. We flushed her again, pretty much all we could see were gone. Sprayed with the betadine solution (note that betadine dries out sore areas so they heal faster) and put her in the hospital cage. I checked an hour later, there were just a few little worms moving, maybe four or five. Wiped them very gently with a q-tip soaked in betadine (you don't want to pull or scrape hard, it will tear the skin) and rinsed with cold water, and didn't see any more signs of them. We'll check again every hour or two...

I haven't seen cold suggested anywhere as a treatment, but wow... the results were almost instantaneous.

Since we caught it before most of the eggs had hatched, we are very hopeful; although the ones that had hatched had already been eating the skin, and there was a good bit of bleeding.

I want to emphasize- we used a large (1" diameter) syringe and flushed the wound with cool water; you don't want to bathe or soak the chicken in cold water. It worked extremely well. We checked again every couple of hours, and by evening there was no sign of maggots or eggs. She was eating heartily all evening, slept well, and this morning is doing much better. The wound and infected area was not the vent, it was just below there, and they had eaten off about a 1" diameter circle of skin and gotten underneath there. We're keeping it clean and flushing with Vetericyn, and she is healing up.

It is important to get all the worms and eggs out. A light vinegar solution, or very mild hydrogen peroxide solution can wash out the surrounding feathers to clear out any egg nests, and cut the fluffy feathers back to remove potential breeding areas. If you use a hair drier, cover the wound so you don't heat it up.

When using tweezers, be extremely careful- if the maggot is holding on to tissue, you can easily pull or tear the tissue while lifting out the maggot.

Great tips!
I hope your hen makes a full recovery, thank you for sharing