3 yr old hen with flystrike, are home remedies enough? [URGENT-- LEAVING FOR VACATION]

[proudestrooster]

Hello all! This is my first post, and I wish I could make it under happier circumstances. (This is sort of a long one. I've bolded the main questions I'd like answered)

I noticed yesterday morning the extent of my three year old hen's infection and have been doing as much as I can to fight it since. I'm unsure of her breed (we got her at a farm supply store chain). I washed the infected area with just water for about 30 minutes yesterday and managed to get all of the visible maggots out of her wound and it's cavities, but I still saw the micro ones crawling across the infected area. I tried washing her wound again this morning with betadine solution, but I'm almost certain it's expired and it didn't seem to have much of an effect on the maggots, even as one was drowning in a cup of pure betadine.

What are some alternate (besides betadine) methods of treating her infection/solutions I can use? I've seen glowing reviews for vetericyn and have ordered some from amazon (much to my dismay, alternate shipping methods weren't available at such short notice), but that won't arrive until tomorrow night, and I'd like to clean her wound in the morning.

This entire ordeal is underscored by my largest looming problem; I am leaving on family vacation in five days. In an ideal world, I would be able to confidently disinfect her wound completely, but I would never put her immediately back with the other chickens, and even if I were to, I would need a reliable and secure dressing for her wound so it's sealed and protected from the other hens. Fortunately, we have a sitter who we've worked with in the past whose knowledgeable with chickens and who I would feel comfortable leaving with some part of the wound care. How would you suggest both advising the chicken sitter and setting up conditions for our hen to stay in in the meantime?

The questions I'm scared to ask: Can I still save her? Would it be more humane to put her down before I leave for vacation?

I've included a photo of the infection below, let me know if I should get more/a clearer one. There's a noticeable indent where the maggots have eaten her flesh, and the wound comes dangerously close to her vent. Worse still, the maggots have eaten under her healthy skin at some points, to the point they've made cavities that make it impossible to grab them with tweezers. I'm planning to get a syringe (20cc) so I can reach into the cavity and flush them out, but I'm still unsure of what solution to use in the syringe. The texture of the open wound area is hardened but not scabby, and brownish-black no matter how much I wash it. The pictures are taken after poop cleanup on day two of treatment but before I trimmed the feathers in and around the wound. I also added a photo of a (surprisingly) healthy-looking dropping of hers, but if it gives you any insight I'd like to include it.

If you've read this far, thank you and I truly wish you well.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I’m not a professional at treating things like this but I’ve seen posts here about it. Pluck the feathers closest around the wound to help try and keep it clean. Every night try to soak her in a salt or soap bath. You can use table salt or epson salt. If you do that enough it will hopefully dry out the maggots and kill them. You can use permethrin spray to help as well. Try to use tweezers and get out any small maggots you see.
I am taking this mostly from a old post @Eggcessive made just to quickly help you right now. I @ them so hopefully they can fill in any of the things i missed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. Mostly what you need to do at first is to repeat the soaks to her bottom with warm water and weak Betadine. Betadine doesn’t kill them, but it is disinfecting the area. You have to flush and remove any remaining maggots with tweezers. A kitchen sprayer or a turkey baster would work with a little force to get them off. A plastic dishpan or bathtub would be good to have her in. The soaks usually need to continue for a day or two until no signs of maggots are seen. Then use plain Neosporin on the wound. With this type of wound, her abdominal wall could open at any time, and that would be the end of her. I’m not sure that I would leave this type of care to a chicken sitter. Or, that it will be healed much before 4 days. You could see how it goes for a day or two, and if she is still so bad, I would end her suffering. Treat flies in the coop and run with permethrin, pick up droppings that attract the flies, and keep bedding dry and stirred daily.

 

[Folly's place]

This is a disaster, and hours matter in managing this!
Tweezers, rinsing, and permethrin, all necessary to remove the maggots and kill them. It's already late for this bird, because there are still so many eating her alive.
There will be fly eggs and maggots elsewhere on her body, especially in a wider area than is obvious at first. Look for them!
She's indoors on pads or old towels, right? can't be out there where more flies will find her.
Often there's an underlying health issue, then fly strike, so it's possible that she's not going to live anyway, sorry.
Antibiotic ointment on everything damaged, Silvadene if possible, or Neosporin, or Maluka honey.
Mary

 

[proudestrooster]

Thank you all for your responses. Unfortunately, Mary was right, and the underlying infection wasn't realistically treatable, so we had to put her down.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss, but I felt all along that this was going to be necessary. Fly strike is so common in summertime, so prevention and treatment of flies is very important.