Fly strike- when to return?

[murphrandir]

Hello everybody, Tuesday evening I was outside doing chicken chores and saw that my buckeye had a particularly dirty looking bottom. I picked her up to discover that she had an abundance of maggots near her vent and the smell was atrocious. I soaked her in warm water and epsom, removed every visible maggot, trimmed all the butt feathers, and let her rest. The first day I also cleaned it with some hydrogen peroxide, and the next day I used Vetericyn a few times. I have been using Derma-GeL since, and I actually haven’t seen a single maggot since the very first night I discovered it. The wound was actually above the vent itself, and it doesn’t appear to go super deep. She’s eating and drinking and pooping normally, but I’m just curious when I should put her back outside. it looks wet in the picture, but that’s just because of the ointment.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm glad she's okay!

Has she been separated from the flock since Tuesday? If she's feeling and looking well enough to go out, you might want to crate her with the flock to start. My chickens will get weird if one of their flock-mates leaves for even a day. You wouldn't want her to be targeted while she's still recovering, and you REALLY don't want them picking at her behind.

I'm guessing the black blob is the Derma-Gel?

 

[murphrandir]

I'm glad she's okay!

Has she been separated from the flock since Tuesday? If she's feeling and looking well enough to go out, you might want to crate her with the flock to start. My chickens will get weird if one of their flock-mates leaves for even a day. You wouldn't want her to be targeted while she's still recovering, and you REALLY don't want them picking at her behind.

I'm guessing the black blob is the Derma-Gel?

The gel is actually clear. The black is necrotic tissue. It’s very rough feeling when it’s not covered in the ointment, almost like a scab. I actually let her out briefly today so I could clean out her crate and she sprinted over to her flock mates to conduct business as usual. But once I cleaned it out a returned her to the crate. I fear more about flies finding it again than I do her flock mates bothering her. They are generally pretty accepting if I reintroduce during free range. But yes, she has been separated since then.

 

[thecatumbrella]

The gel is actually clear. The black is necrotic tissue. It’s very rough feeling when it’s not covered in the ointment, almost like a scab. I actually let her out briefly today so I could clean out her crate and she sprinted over to her flock mates to conduct business as usual. But once I cleaned it out a returned her to the crate. I fear more about flies finding it again than I do her flock mates bothering her. They are generally pretty accepting if I reintroduce during free range. But yes, she has been separated since then.

Oh wow. The poor thing. It's insane how fast fly strike can happen and how much damage it can do!

I completely understand not wanting the flies to do more damage. If she smells "clean" and the wound is completely scabbed over, then I think it would be okay to reintroduce her.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My concern is, are there still fly eggs inside her that might hatch out into maggots? Keep an eye on her and be ready to remove any maggots that might hatch out every day. I am not familiar with Derma-Gel, is it antibiotic? If not, you can keep the area coated with an OTC triple antibiotic ointment as long as it does not contain any pain reliever, which is toxic to chickens. You can also spray the area twice daily with Veterycin or saline solution to cleanse the area first, then blot dry with a clean towel or paper towels.

 

[murphrandir]

My concern is, are there still fly eggs inside her that might hatch out into maggots? Keep an eye on her and be ready to remove any maggots that might hatch out every day. I am not familiar with Derma-Gel, is it antibiotic? If not, you can keep the area coated with an OTC triple antibiotic ointment as long as it does not contain any pain reliever, which is toxic to chickens. You can also spray the area twice daily with Veterycin or saline solution to cleanse the area first, then blot dry with a clean towel or paper towels.

I’ve been checking her several times a day for any more maggot activity, and I haven’t seen any. Yes, it is. I will link it below, I’ve really been impressed with it. My sister is a PA and I was looking for something that would be effective on necrotic tissue. Apparently this is veterinarian formulated, and the reviews were great.

https://www.derma-gel.com/human/app...Information by Dr A Anastasiou - 34 pages.pdf

 

[murphrandir]

Oh wow. The poor thing. It's insane how fast fly strike can happen and how much damage it can do!

I completely understand not wanting the flies to do more damage. If she smells "clean" and the wound is completely scabbed over, then I think it would be okay to reintroduce her.

I haven’t noticed the smell at all, not even on my gloves after I applied the ointment. I was really anticipating having to soak her several more times, but the day after I cleaned her out, all of the oozing was gone.

Full disclosure though, that first night was nightmare. I have never been more disgusted in my life. There had to have been well over 100, and the smell is something else.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Glad she is doing better. Thanks for the info on Derma-Gel.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would spray her vent and wound with permethrin ready to use spray which should keep the flies off of her. With a necrotic wound I might consider soaking her in warm Epsom salts water daily for 15-20 minutes to help soften it, and gently rub it with gauze or a clean rag to loosen it. Then apply your Dermagel wound treatment or plain Neosporin.