Ended Official BYC Article Writing Contest #8 - Write and Win!

[casportpony]

Don't beat yourself up... It's happened to many of us.

-Kathy

 

[BantyChooks]

A hug for you, Ralphie:

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@duluthralphie I just dealt with fly strike on one of my hens last week. You need to get some SWAT fly repellent ointment and put it over that wound! We washed out all of the maggots we could find on my hen for two days and they just kept coming back seemingly from nowhere. One application of SWAT and within a few hours, all maggots were either gone or dead in the ointment. Doesn't have to be a huge amount, just a thick enough layer to completely cover it so that when the maggots try to crawl up through it for air, they get covered in it and die.

This is the stuff, so you know what to look for:

https://www.amazon.com/Farnam-Repellent-Ointment-Horses-Clear/dp/B00061MSIA

I found it in the fly trap area near the medical stuff for horses and cattle at my local TSC.

You also need to get him in and away from flies so no more can lay eggs in the wound, like casportpony said. Good luck!




Editing to add, I don't work for the company that makes SWAT or anything, I was just so impressed by how well it worked that I swear by it now. Just saying.

 

[BusyBanty]

When I worked one summer as a vet asst we got a dog in with a maggot wound and it was horrifying to behold, oh my word!!! He did not pull through but it was very bad. We all took turns pulling out maggots with forceps all day. They had to keep flushing the would with saline solution, and of course antibiotics. Good luck.

 

[duluthralphie]

I think Bert is going to live, We got all the maggots out and he seems to be healing well. He is up walking around and even acting perky.

I am not sure a VET or strict organic person would like what we did but he lived! We are happy. We are thinking of putting him back in his run with his flock again he is doing so well.

Thanks for the suggestions and well wishes.

 

[Bantambird]

Hey, whatever works. Isn't a business where doctors work called a practice for a reason? Even the ones with degrees are making educated guesses based on experience and knowledge, but it all comes down to finding what works best.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hey, whatever works. Isn't a business where doctors work called a practice for a reason? Even the ones with degrees are making educated guesses based on experience and knowledge, but it all comes down to finding what works best.

Thanks, and you're right.

With Bert I did not have to worry about eggs and he will never be meat as he is too large, too old and too much a pet. My main concern was saving his life.

I used Sevin right into the wound and peroxide rinse to drive it in and foam the maggots out. My wife and I were both gagging during the process it was not pretty. But Bert is alive and ready to go back into his run.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thanks, and you're right.

With Bert I did not have to worry about eggs and he will never be meat as he is too large, too old and too much a pet. My main concern was saving his life.

I used Sevin right into the wound and peroxide rinse to drive it in and foam the maggots out. My wife and I were both gagging during the process it was not pretty. But Bert is alive and ready to go back into his run.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Hi! Here's my third and final article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-keep-chickens-cool-in-the-summer

 

[duluthralphie]

I wrote the Bert story..It is ugly, but at least it is another one down...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/maggots-not-just-a-chicken-snack-anymore-but-a-deadly-injury