bad Please help with my new cochin hen

[HollysAB]

Hello, I just got a blue cochin hen yesterday and today she was covered in blow flies really bad when I checked on her. She is my first hen and I am trying to do everything right but she was bedded down in the grass and just covered in blow flies I picked her up and flipped her feathers up to look for a wound and her skin was a lil nasty looking and they were on it. What is wrong with her and what should I do? I brought her inside my house and put her in a rabbit hutch in my foyer to get her away from the flies. Please help.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Can you give her a bath and see if she has any raw skin? What was she like when you got her?

 

[dlhunicorn]

separate that bird immediately...
You MUST be on the watch out for maggots which I usspect the flies have laid in the skin area
keep flushing with sterile saline and be prepared to keep doing this and removing them once they start hatching ... BE VIGILENT!!! (Do a search on this forum using the keyword MAGGOTS and you will find more specific info there)
You can make up sterile saline by boiling two tsp salt in a gallon water for five minutes to use to flush...be careful your bird soesnt get in beak... salt is toxic and you dont want her swallowing this. In the meantime you can give her a bath using some kitten flea shampoo being careful to put her in a carboard box on a towel afterwards so she doesnt get chilled.

 

[HollysAB]

Thanks yes you are right I was up until 3 this morning with her and after cleaning her I found a hole near her butt/hip and it was packed with maggots I cleaned for hours and I just finished doing it again and flushing with peroxide and packing with antibiotic ointment but under the flap of skin (to far to reach) are more. Is she suffering and just going to die?? I so desperatlly want to keep her but do not want her to suffer. The lil hole is not big. Thanks guys

 

[SpottedCrow]

She may not die...you have to make sure that you get all the maggots out.

 

[HollysAB]

I do not know what else to do my finger/tweezers will not reach them under that flap of skin and I cannot get them to flush out.

 

[sammi]

I've heard that applying a little honey to the area outside the wound, will draw the maggots out..

 

[sammi]

scroll to bottom of page for dlhunicorn's post:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26500

 

[dlhunicorn]

dont despair and keep flushing every few hours ... salt is an irritant (I see you have been using peroxide and this can damage tissues so switch to the saline) >if you truly suspect there are more in there you can enquire at the ag supply store for a spray for horse or sheep or such used against fly strike (maggots) to kill them and spray with that (dont let them sell you blue kote or such it must be the insect6icide that kills the emerging maggots and such sold specifically for flystrike) or if you have ivermectin you can apply (once) a 1% dilution of that (make sure it is the water soluable one if you have to dilute) on the area.

 

[HollysAB]

I just wanted to let everyone know how truley thankful I am for all of your help. Sadly my one lil cochin hen died this morning

My husband said omg it was only a chicken but I wanted one for so long. Anyway thank you all I am so glad I found this site