All I can say is "GROSS!!"

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Maggots do not eat in the sense you think of as bite and chew. Maggot secret a substance that help turn what they eat into liquid and they suck up or drink that liquid goop.

Digestion happens over a period of a few hours. The chicken's body processes and passes the maggots from the crop through the body with the gizzard grinding every thing up so it can the be absorbed through the intestines and pass on to elimination.

The maggots would have to in the crop and not moving through the system of the chicken for a matter of a days or more before it could secret enough juices to even begin to harm the chicken's crop.

Your theory doesn't hold water.

 

[Wynette]

I agree completely with you, Eric - I'm constantly trying to think of ways to uncomplicate my life, rather than making it MORE complicated!!

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
Actually, there can be virtue in leaving maggots in wounds:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1024_031024_maggotmedicine.html

Apparently the blowfly larva only eat dead tissue but not live tissue.

Gross, but true!

 

[Wynette]

Oh, speaking of that - my step-daughter is a B.S.N. (Bachelor of Science/nursing), and she works at the University of Iowa hospital - they use, on a regular basis, LEACHES for wounds that require more blood flow, such as skin grafts. YECH! She says they actually sanitize them in the lab somehow...GROSS!

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

My two cents, but I think the only way a maggot can kill a chicken is if they are in an open wound on the chicken.

 

[riderbecky]

Quote:
Actually, there can be virtue in leaving maggots in wounds:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1024_031024_maggotmedicine.html

Apparently the blowfly larva only eat dead tissue but not live tissue.

Gross, but true!

I appreciate that there are two schools of thought regarding the whole maggots good for wounds....etc. I've read enough to make the personal decision that allowing maggots in wounds is dangerous. I don't expect everyone to hold to that notion though so thank you for your input. However, I'll err on the side of caution and remove maggots from wounds on my animals and debride any dead flesh by hand and or take the animal to the vet.

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
Ever noticed how our little friends wear automatic hip-boots just for the purpose of slogging around in fetid maggot bins?
I noticed this when I saw them walking through fresh cow patties (yum) looking for larvae, then they came out with nary a speck of poo on their belly feathers.

 

[chickenannie]

This morning I found a giant shiny green beetles in the water trough and flicked it out onto the grass. Didn't ya know, those chickens ran and fought over that beetle until one gulped it down.