Chicken with large head wound after being attacked

[luvsungs]

Oh my. Your problem just got more complicated.
They are fly eggs.
A flystrike. These are quickly growing into maggots. The good thing is that since your bird is inside you MIGHT only have to deal with one wave of them.

You need to get them off immediately. It’s imperative. Because they will eat the raw flesh.

Do you have any one that can help you?

Do you have a sink sprayer at you kitchen sink?

Do you have any peroxide at your house? Cotton balls?

I don’t usually recommend peroxide but it might help you kill the fly larvae.

I'm currently home alone and I can't find anything other than the Betadine. I do have a sink sprayer at the kitchen sink, but we have a few flies around the house. I'm really not sure what to do.

 

[staceyj]

Ok. You can do this by your self!
Wrap the chicken in a towel like a burrito, with only its head sticking out.

This is great for any chicken injuries because if you can hold their wings snug to their body they stay calm.

 

[staceyj]

Then you can hold her in your arms like a swaddled baby!
You don’t need a helper really.
Get a stack of towels to have on hand and a pair of tweezers that you will kiss goodbye to, since I doubt you’ll want to use them ever again on your eyebrows after this.


With the chicken swaddled up it would be much easier to rinse as much of those maggots as possible off of her head. Like I said in a previous post it would also be very helpful if you could just snip away any of those maggot infested feathers.

The thing with maggots is that they grow by the minute practically. So the quicker you get them off of her the better.

 

[staceyj]

After you give the bird a haircut you’ll have to painstakingly pick the maggots off with the tweezers. If you have any rubbing alcohol you can pour a little in a small cup ( that you will later throw away )
And periodically dunk your tweezers in there to rinse them off.

 

[staceyj]

I'm currently home alone and I can't find anything other than the Betadine. I do have a sink sprayer at the kitchen sink, but we have a few flies around the house. I'm really not sure what to do.

Try to smack those flies.

They are definitely your enemy at this point.

 

[luvsungs]

Ok. You can do this by your self!
Wrap the chicken in a towel like a burrito, with only its head sticking out.

This is great for any chicken injuries because if you can hold their wings snug to their body they stay calm.

It looks like there are hundreds and theres a hole right above the beak. I can't tell what's feathers and what's not anymore. Isn't there something else I can do? I'm only 15 and my parents are out of town, I'm way in over my head at this point.

 

[staceyj]

Oh honey.
Let’s just take a minute here to breathe.
You have been a trooper so far.
Omg I’m so proud of you.

Do you have a trusted friend or Friend and her mom you could call?

Is your family coming back Tonight?

Do they even know about all this that’s happening?
It’s not your fault.

 

[luvsungs]

Oh honey.
Let’s just take a minute here to breathe.
You have been a trooper so far.
Omg I’m so proud of you.

Do you have a trusted friend or Friend and her mom you could call?

Is your family coming back Tonight?

Do they even know about all this that’s happening?
It’s not your fault.

My parents are coming back tonight, but I don't know if they can do anything. This is their first time dealing with a chicken attack too. I already explained what happened but I just don't know how to help until they get home. This is all so stressful. Your advice was really helpful, thank you so much

 

[staceyj]

Really the only removal of the maggots is by picking them off one by one.

When an animal gets them in other parts of the body certain insecticides are helpful but in this case it could cause blindness.

I am so very sorry for what you are going through.
Please , I’m sorry I was tough in my first post. I thought you were an grownup who just needed a little kick in the rear to get going.
Traumatic events are pretty paralyzing and it helps sometimes to have someone clap their hands and shout “OK let’s get moving! We can get this problem solved!”

 

[Eggcessive]

You could make up a warm cleaning solution with a quart of water, about a tablespoonful of betadine, a teaspoonful of salt, and a 1/2 teaspoonful of Dawn or similar dishwashing liquid. Using Staceyj’s directions for holding her in a towel, try to rinse off the maggots. The salt and soap will kill the maggots awhile the betadine will help to disinfect. Then rinse off at the kitchen sprayer when all maggots are gone. Apply the Neosporin to help smother the maggots. This may need to be repeated again later in the day, and tomorrow if more maggots hatch or appear.

If you feel the chicken is too far gone or suffering when your parents are home, euthanizing her may be kinder. Good luck and hopefully you can help her. Here is a good article about flystrike and maggots:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/