Flystrike and Now my hen can't walk

[Raybyrae]

Please help!

Last week I discovered that my favorite hen had flystrike. I gave her four salt baths and removed all the maggots. This all happened just 1/2 an hour before I had to leave town for 3 days. I wasn't able to give her the care I would if I was home, so I returned her to the coop and let our friends know to keep a special eye on her. When I returned, she seemed to be all healed up and was eating and drinking and keeping up with the others pretty well. Two days ago I noticed that she was laying in the coop a bit more than usual but we also just restricted them to a smaller part of the yard so I wasn't too concerned. I checked her wound and she was still healed up and getting around okay. Yesterday I had to leave town again and when I got home today went out to the coop to find her laying there. I though maybe she had gone broodie but she hadn't. She can't stand up. I thought maybe she was dehydrated and not eating well due to her recent sickness. I couldnt' get her to drink or eat, So I brought her in and put her in a bath. (She likes baths and I knew she would drink from it.) She did. Right now I have her in the house. My daughters and I made her a soft mix of high protein feed, with meal worms, garlic and apple cider vinegar. We've been using a dropper to give her water and food. She doesn't take either very well and she seems to be getting weaker. She likes to cuddle and she's purring but she has no use of her legs and doesn't seem to have good control of her wings either. I don't know what to do.

 

[DownARiver12]

Im sorry that this has happened. I don’t have much advice but I’ll bump your post in hopes someone else can help.

I think you are doing a lot by keeping her warm and quiet. I wouldn’t put her back in the coop. Maybe place her in a cardboard box in a warm spot with a soft towel to lie on? I have had one hen die of flystrike and didn’t know what it was until it was too late. She was very old and I think that didn’t help. How old is your hen?

 

[Raybyrae]

Thank you for responding.
I've got her in a box on a towel and have her covered too.
I'm sorry that happened. I didn't know what it was. It took a lot of research and I couldn't find much about what was going on.
She is just over 2 years old.

 

[Eggcessive]

Many chickens that suffer flystrike have underlying illnesses, such as reproductive infection, internal laying, and others. Does she normally lay eggs? Can you feel her lower belly to see if it is enlarged or if it has fluid inside? Check her crop to feel if it is empty, full, soft, hard, or puffy. Is she eating and drinking. Pictures of how she sits or stands can be helpful sometimes.

 

[Raybyrae]

Her neck seems a bit swollen because she is holding her head to the side and she's been stretching it out and opening her mouth real wide a lot but it doesn't feel like there's anything in her front where there is usually feed. She kind of acts like she's got something caught in her throat. She shakes her head a lot like she might have something in her ear but I don't even know where to look for her ears. I don't know the last time she laid because she has a habit of laying off somewhere and we have to go on a hunt to find her eggs. The last I found her laying was about 2 weeks ago, just before she got sick.
Her belly doesn't seem swollen.
When her wound healed from the flystrike, it turned into one big scab all around her vent but she is pooping and peeing.
She still won't eat or drink on her own.
Now I'm giving her a mashed mix of high protein feed, garlic, coconut oil, activated charcoal and apple cider vinegar with a syringe. She wasn't holding her neck up this morning and when I gave her that mix she got real perky and started trying to stand up. She still can't use her legs but she tried standing up when she heard her rooster crowing a bit ago and flapped her wings a bit

.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does her neck seem twisted to the side? She seems very weak. Have you tried adding vitamins to her water or food? Human vitamin B Complex is good 1/4 tablet daily crushed or grated into feed. That might help her appetite. Does her crop feel full and puffy or empty? You can learn to tube feed her if you would like to try that. As long as her crop is working and emptying normally, it is easy. If she soesn’t get any better, what do you plan on doing? So sorry that she is so weak.

 

[Raybyrae]

Sometimes her head seems twisted to the side but then she'll seem to have a spurt of energy and hold it up for a bit. Right now she's beak down sleeping. I've not tried the vitamins. I'll do that. I've not thought of the alternative. Right now I'm just believing and praying she will get well. She still trying to get up and has a will to live. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would offer some scrambled chopped egg, chicken feed mixed with water, tuna, canned cat food, or any favorite foods.

 

[Raybyrae]

Great idea! I was just eyeing the tuna in the cabinet this evening wondering if she would eat it. She won't peck at anything I put in front of her. I think she wants so bad to stand up and eat and just can't get on her feet. She did bite at a fruit fly while ago but missed. Maybe I should try earth worms, or something that moves. She's very stubborn about taking the food from the syringe. We may have gotten 8mil of food in her today.

 

[Raybyrae]

She's eating! I've had some meal worms sitting in front of her all day. She just starting pecking at them. It was a small handful but she ate them and then fell asleep. I think the Vitamin B really helped a lot. She perked up quite a bit after giving it to her. Thank you!