Gross out alert Could it be roundworm or fly blown?

[CarolynPerth]

I will try to get a photo but I don't have good light right now.

My ISA hen has been unwell a while, I couldn't work out why she was losing weight and had fowl smelling stuff leaking from her vent. So I have treated with sulfa D in cas eit is cloacca. The vent looked clear and I was cleaning her bottom regularly. Today I noticed brown sludge on the bottom of the box I had put her in (thinking she was about to die any day now I've just kept her warm and offered food and water). I got her out to give a bath and found maggots in the water - I am sure they are maggots not worms they crawl like larvae.

After cleaning her up in a neck deep warm bath and cutting away the feathers I found a large round cyst like lump. It looks like it could be a hernia? It seems like her intestine is poking through the skin and in the surrounding crease are maggots. It also looks like this is where the brown gunk is coming from, not her vent which seems clean and no sign of worms or maggots.

I know sheep in Australia get fly blown but can chickens? I don't know how to clean her and I am afraid of popping this cyst thing in case it is part of her intestine. It is about 1 inch below the vent to her left.

HELP!

 

[CarolynPerth]

Well I did find some information on this board and I will follow the instructions given for cleaning out a wound infested with maggots. I am still mystified by the round lump and I am praying it is not intestine poking through a wound in the skin. She is hanging in there and very quiet but she is probably cold so I have her wrapped up warm. For now I have dusted the area with the pyrethrum dust we used for lice. When she warms up from the bath I'll try gently flushing out the maggots and not disturb the cyst like thing. Fingers crossed

 

[JakRat]

Oh my! Do you have an avian vet near by? def keep her food and water clean. Is the cyst hard? does she squirm if you touch it? Chickens can have weird health problems that sometimes just go away, but I would def go to a vet if you can. Good Luck!

 

[cobrien]

does the cyst feel warm/hot to the touch and is it inflamed/red? Perhaps she got a wound, it got infected, maggots came, the gunk started oozing out, abscess formed....but it could be a tumor or maybe hernia as you suggested...or could it possibly be an egg that is stuck? I'm not sure what to recommend. If I'm understanding the situation right, I would use a syringe with warm H20 and betadine and inject into the would/hole where the gunk is coming out. try to keep the wound open so that it drains. Maybe antibiotics in case it is an abscess? If egg bound there's lots on BYC to treat that, it involves soaking their vent in warm water, inserting lubed finger to try to get out.

 

[CarolynPerth]

I have got rid of the maggots (thank goodnes we don't have screw worm flies in Australia, I was worried that they were eating her flesh). I'm pretty sure now it's all cleaned up that it is a hole in her abdominal wall which is oozing feaces. She smells really bad and the poo smells worse than regular chook poo. It is slightly red around the outside. I've dressed the area with a bandage until I find out more. If she was a human I'd say it is a fistula.

 

[wasatusay]

Remember maggots will not eat living tissue only dead tissue. Hope you find out whats going on and keep us posted.