Flystrike chicken recovery time

[celestecakes78]

Tuesday my hen was acting funny so i checked her over and sure enough she had flystrike. Whoa momma that wasn't a pleasant suprise! Shes gotten many baths and and ive tended to the yucky skin with vetericyn spray. I havent seen any bugs at all since Wednesday. My worry was that maybe she had maggots up in her vent and ive tried to check but no success and i def dont want to hurt her. Her skin is looking much healthier by the day and shes eating light and drinking ok, pooping is alittle liquidy so its getting stuck back on her feathers which i just keep cleaning off. Now its day 4 since all this started how much longer should i wait before i let her back outside in her coop? Are there anymore symptoms i should look for before i let her go back outside or can i assume the worst is over and stop being paranoid.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Tuesday my hen was acting funny so i checked her over and sure enough she had flystrike. Whoa momma that wasn't a pleasant suprise! Shes gotten many baths and and ive tended to the yucky skin with vetericyn spray. I havent seen any bugs at all since Wednesday. My worry was that maybe she had maggots up in her vent and ive tried to check but no success and i def dont want to hurt her. Her skin is looking much healthier by the day and shes eating light and drinking ok, pooping is alittle liquidy so its getting stuck back on her feathers which i just keep cleaning off. Now its day 4 since all this started how much longer should i wait before i let her back outside in her coop? Are there anymore symptoms i should look for before i let her go back outside or can i assume the worst is over and stop being paranoid.

Welcome to BYC.

You will need to wait until the wound if healed well before letting her back outside. Flies could possibly lay eggs on the wound and you would be back where you started.

Provide her with some vitamins in her water and encourage her to eat her normal feed. You can add extra protein to her diet like scrambled/hard boiled egg, tuna, mackerel or meat.


http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/07/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes.html

 

[ladyearth]

Our Goldie took close to a month...( but unfortunately she got sour or impacted crop before she went back outside) ......all thru late hot July and August of 2015. she was only 6 and 3/4 months old then.
Impacted crop prob cause Hubby gave her too much stuff like peanuts to keep her Happy and i gave her wet grass from just mowed. I didnt realize she would wolf down the grass clump....
She is a big girl the biggest of the bunch.. and inhles her food and treats....
she was used to just clipping grass off the top when they grazed.
the wound around her vent was so big... Her feathers only grew back some she still has a bare butt
Hubby blue coated it for quite a while.
But I still check her out and make sure no one bothers "Goldie Butt "at least while I am outside...
course they arent confined so they roam at least 1/2 acre...
just my two cents worth.... some on this suggested culling her. No way .. As long as we are able we spoil them ... I was determined she was going to be okay. Hubby was the "doctor" in most of this.
but I did most of the maggot removal. she was such a good patient. I guess she knew how bad it was cause Goldie, held still thru most of the maggot tweezing..
Later I syringed her butt with collidal silver while it was healing. Squirted her butt over a "tray" esp after her pooing. while on a little home made portable roost
.... The wooden roost left over when they were chicks..
she hated the water suirting and fussed But I hurried and then left her alone after paper towling the tray...
we did a lot of poop scooping the old vinyl floor while she was recuperating. First few days in the bathroom
then down in the walk out basement old kitchen area... near the big French door and windows...so she could see outdoors
we curtained off the rest of the basement.
she rarely got thru to the other part of basement
just a saying... good luck

 

[celestecakes78]

We put her outside for a couple hours yesterday to hopefully make her perk up and we brought her back in and sure enough she had eggs on her again. She got a good bath and i trimmed her feathers all around her butt area. She will be staying inside for awhile longer like you guys suggest. Its disheartening for me because shes 6 years old and her "sister" just passed away in her sleep in August so shes the last of my older flock. I want to do everything i can to give her more time but feel like a fighting a losing battle right now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We put her outside for a couple hours yesterday to hopefully make her perk up and we brought her back in and sure enough she had eggs on her again. She got a good bath and i trimmed her feathers all around her butt area. She will be staying inside for awhile longer like you guys suggest. Its disheartening for me because shes 6 years old and her "sister" just passed away in her sleep in August so shes the last of my older flock. I want to do everything i can to give her more time but feel like a fighting a losing battle right now.

I'm sorry.

Is the wound healing?
Is she eating/drinking?
Any photos?

If you are seeing eggs in such a short period of time, then she most likely still had some on her. They can be hard to get off sometimes.

Soak her in either Epsom salts, salt water, betadine, or soap and water in a warm bath - make sure the water is covering the entire wound. Look for maggot larvae and gently scrub the wound to debride/clean off the wound scab. Get out any pus. Tweezers may be needed to get maggots out. Repeat the bath again a couple of times a day and make sure all the maggots/eggs are gone. Apply a triple antibiotic ointment (bacitracin, neosporin, etc.) or Vetericyn to the wound.

Offer her extra protein like egg, tuna, mackerel or meat. It wouldn't hurt to add some poultry vitamins to her water.

 

[celestecakes78]

The wound has made great progress and it is still healing well with the help of the vetericyn spray. She is drinking ok but not eating much. Ive tried to bribe her with her fav snacks and she just picks at them without much interest. Her poop is watery not much substance to it but i assume thats from the not eating normal. Im going to try and give her scrambled eggs and see if she eats that.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The wound has made great progress and it is still healing well with the help of the vetericyn spray. She is drinking ok but not eating much. Ive tried to bribe her with her fav snacks and she just picks at them without much interest. Her poop is watery not much substance to it but i assume thats from the not eating normal. Im going to try and give her scrambled eggs and see if she eats that.

It would be normal to have some watery poop if she is only drinking and not eating much.

With her age she may be slower to recover. Did she perk up any when you took her outside?

 

[celestecakes78]

She did perk up a bit. She was scratching and foraging although i dont think she ate much because her crop wasnt very full when i checked her over.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She did perk up a bit. She was scratching and foraging although i dont think she ate much because her crop wasnt very full when i checked her over.

That's good that she perked up being outside with her friends. If you let her be near them for a few hours a day that may be helpful. A wire dog kennel works well for this. You can somewhat control the cleanliness of the bedding she is on and her buddies can visit her. She will need to heal well before going out permanently, but sunshine, fresh air and friends can make a world of difference.

It sounds like you are doing very well in treating her wound.

 

[chunkyonchia]

I'm glad you've been successful with fixing her. My chook died last week from flystrike. It's so horrible! I was bathing her epsom salts and spraying with betadine, while giving her antibiotics in her egg. She was only eating boiled eggs. I hope yours soon heals up and can return to the coop. All the best, it's so stressful!