Flystrike - how long to recover? Photos included!

[Kayla's Lunch]

Hi everyone! I discovered one of my chickens, Bella, had flystrike below her vent on Thursday when it was time to put them in the coop for the night. She has been inside since then. I have been soaking 1-2 times/day. I use the kitchen sprayer to spray the area to get the maggots out. I spray with Vetericyn and put either Neosporin or Bag Balm on it. I read so many different recommendations that I wasn't really sure what to do. She had quite a few maggots in her first soaking. Since then hardly any. Last night, she had 2 that were fairly big, about 1/2" long. She is eating and pooping, but lethargic. This is my first encounter with this issue. I've included pictures. I don't really know how the flystrike got started, but I am assuming the wound that I see is from the maggots. How serious is this? Does anyone have any idea on how I should proceed? As long as she is sluggish, I will keep her inside. We take her outside and monitor her for a few minutes so that she can see the other chickens and they can see her. If she starts acting more like herself, can I put her back outside? How do I protect the wound from flies? Any help is appreciated!


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[berryncherry]

Hi everyone! I discovered one of my chickens, Bella, had flystrike below her vent on Thursday when it was time to put them in the coop for the night. She has been inside since then. I have been soaking 1-2 times/day. I use the kitchen sprayer to spray the area to get the maggots out. I spray with Vetericyn and put either Neosporin or Bag Balm on it. I read so many different recommendations that I wasn't really sure what to do. She had quite a few maggots in her first soaking. Since then hardly any. Last night, she had 2 that were fairly big, about 1/2" long. She is eating and pooping, but lethargic. This is my first encounter with this issue. I've included pictures. I don't really know how the flystrike got started, but I am assuming the wound that I see is from the maggots. How serious is this? Hi everyone! I discovered one of my chickens, Bella, had flystrike below her vent on Thursday when it was time to put them in the coop for the night. She has been inside since then. I have been soaking 1-2 times/day. I use the kitchen sprayer to spray the area to get the maggots out. I spray with Vetericyn and put either Neosporin or Bag Balm on it. I read so many different recommendations that I wasn't really sure what to do. She had quite a few maggots in her first soaking. Since then hardly any. Last night, she had 2 that were fairly big, about 1/2" long. She is eating and pooping, but lethargic. This is my first encounter with this issue. I don't really know how the flystrike got started, but I am assuming she had a poopy butt and the wound that I see is from the maggots. How serious is this? Hi everyone! I discovered one of my chickens, Bella, had flystrike below her vent on Thursday when it was time to put them in the coop for the night. She has been inside since then. I have been soaking 1-2 times/day. I use the kitchen sprayer to spray the area to get the maggots out. I spray with Vetericyn and put either Neosporin or Bag Balm on it. I read so many different recommendations that I wasn't really sure what to do. She had quite a few maggots in her first soaking. Since then hardly any. Last night, she had 2 that were fairly big, about 1/2" long. She is eating and pooping, but lethargic. This is my first encounter with this issue. I've included pictures. I don't really know how the flystrike got started, but I am assuming the wound that I see is from the maggots. How serious is this? Hi everyone! I discovered one of my chickens, Bella, had flystrike below her vent on Thursday when it was time to put them in the coop for the night. She has been inside since then. I have been soaking 1-2 times/day. I use the kitchen sprayer to spray the area to get the maggots out. I spray with Vetericyn and put either Neosporin or Bag Balm on it. I read so many different recommendations that I wasn't really sure what to do. She had quite a few maggots in her first soaking. Since then hardly any. Last night, she had 2 that were fairly big, about 1/2" long. She is eating and pooping, but lethargic. This is my first encounter with this issue. I don't really know how the flystrike got started, but I am assuming she had a poopy butt and the wound that I see is from the maggots. How serious is this? Does anyone have any idea on how I should proceed? As long as she is sluggish, I will keep her inside. We take her outside and monitor her for a few minutes so that she can see the other chickens and they can see her. If she starts acting more like herself, can I put her back outside? How do I protect the wound from flies? Any help is appreciated!


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Flystrike can be quite serious and may possibly bring death. The best way to treat flystrike is to remove the maggots as soon as you can. It appears that the infestation is not as critical, but there may be more maggot eggs ready to hatch. One of my chickens had flystrike, and it was a pain bathing her and slowly removing each maggot with a stick.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

To me, this looks relatively mild. At least, comparing to the flystrike I've seen the internet, and their chickens recovered. When my hen got flystrike, it looked similar in diameter to yours, though not quite as deep. Even so, yours doesn't look too deep either. My hen was good to be back with the flock by the end of the week! So it was very mild. The wound wasn't completely healed but it was hidden enough and scabbed enough to not attract any curious beaks, and it was dry and clean enough to not attract flies. I just used my best judgment.

When I got all the maggots off of my hen I also got some Vetericyn and sprayed that on her butt 3 times a day; morning, noon, and night. Once I let her with the rest I did that maybe once or twice a day (I don't remember but for sure once a day). Since your wound is a little worse than mine I think the neosporin is a good idea, as long as it has no pain relievers in it. I think what you're doing in that aspect is enough.

As long as it is open and fleshy like it is I wouldn't put her back outside, even when she starts to act better. The flies would be more likely to reinfect her, and it could also catch the other chicken's eyes for them to peck at it.

Since my hen took a week to be good enough to go outside, I'd say maybe yours possibly 1.5-2 weeks? That's really just a guess, but maybe my chicken's recovery time can give you a point of reference!

Just make sure to keep getting all the maggots off, like you're doing. Hopefully those two last night were the last of them.

I hope this helps!

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Flystrike can be quite serious and may possibly bring death. The best way to treat flystrike is to remove the maggots as soon as you can. It appears that the infestation is not as critical, but there may be more maggot eggs ready to hatch. One of my chickens had flystrike, and it was a pain bathing her and slowly removing each maggot with a stick.

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately after soaking, I sprayed with the kitchen faucet sprayer and that washed away the maggots. I really didn't want to pick off maggots! I was never so thankful for a kitchen faucet sprayer!

 

[berryncherry]

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately after soaking, I sprayed with the kitchen faucet sprayer and that washed away the maggots. I really didn't want to pick off maggots! I was never so thankful for a kitchen faucet sprayer!

Good thing you caught it quick!

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

To me, this looks relatively mild. At least, comparing to the flystrike I've seen the internet, and their chickens recovered. When my hen got flystrike, it looked similar in diameter to yours, though not quite as deep. Even so, yours doesn't look too deep either. My hen was good to be back with the flock by the end of the week! So it was very mild. The wound wasn't completely healed but it was hidden enough and scabbed enough to not attract any curious beaks, and it was dry and clean enough to not attract flies. I just used my best judgment.

When I got all the maggots off of my hen I also got some Vetericyn and sprayed that on her butt 3 times a day; morning, noon, and night. Once I let her with the rest I did that maybe once or twice a day (I don't remember but for sure once a day). Since your wound is a little worse than mine I think the neosporin is a good idea, as long as it has no pain relievers in it. I think what you're doing in that aspect is enough.

As long as it is open and fleshy like it is I wouldn't put her back outside, even when she starts to act better. The flies would be more likely to reinfect her, and it could also catch the other chicken's eyes for them to peck at it.

Since my hen took a week to be good enough to go outside, I'd say maybe yours possibly 1.5-2 weeks? That's really just a guess, but maybe my chicken's recovery time can give you a point of reference!

Just make sure to keep getting all the maggots off, like you're doing. Hopefully those two last night were the last of them.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply. Bella is much more lethargic now than yesterday. Did your chicken seem to get worse before getting better. She did walk around a bit outside, so she isn't totally still and it was really hot out. We soaked her and sprayed the wound at the kitchen faucet to make sure no more maggots have decided to call her home.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Thanks for the reply. Bella is much more lethargic now than yesterday. Did your chicken seem to get worse before getting better. She did walk around a bit outside, so she isn't totally still and it was really hot out. We soaked her and sprayed the wound at the kitchen faucet to make sure no more maggots have decided to call her home.

Hm, no she perked back up within 2 days and inporved the whole time, but again, mine was even more mild than yours. Maybe you could try giving her electrolytes. Also, if you don't see any more maggots, then maybe give the soakings a rest for now. All that might be adding stress to an already stressful situation for her. Since it sounds like there aren't many maggots popping up anymore then maybe using some tweezers and picking them off may be best for her.

Is she eating and drinking okay?

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Hm, no she perked back up within 2 days and inporved the whole time, but again, mine was even more mild than yours. Maybe you could try giving her electrolytes. Also, if you don't see any more maggots, then maybe give the soakings a rest for now. All that might be adding stress to an already stressful situation for her. Since it sounds like there aren't many maggots popping up anymore then maybe using some tweezers and picking them off may be best for her.

Is she eating and drinking okay?

She was eating earlier today, but not later in the day. She hasn't had any visible maggots. We didn't see any on her from the very beginning. We were rinsing off her poopy butt and saw them when they were washed off her. The wound has a little pocket area and I think that the few that we "soaked" off her, came out of the pocket. Another weird thing about her is that she floats in the tote that we use for the chickens. We have bathed/soaked other chickens and they never floated. Are chickens supposed to float?

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

She was eating earlier today, but not later in the day. She hasn't had any visible maggots. We didn't see any on her from the very beginning. We were rinsing off her poopy butt and saw them when they were washed off her. The wound has a little pocket area and I think that the few that we "soaked" off her, came out of the pocket. Another weird thing about her is that she floats in the tote that we use for the chickens. We have bathed/soaked other chickens and they never floated. Are chickens supposed to float?

I am hoping there aren't any maggots in that pocket causing her harm. Is there a way that you could pull that pocket back and look into it, without hurting her? Maybe you could squirt some hydrogen peroxide in the pocket and see if any come out. They hate that stuff, and it drew them out with my chicken.

As for chickens floating, yes, they can float for a short time. Once their feathers get really soaked they don't float. You can look up "chicken in pool" and you will see floating chickens. Not a good idea, since they will sink after a while. But yes, it's normal!

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Hey, how's Bella doing?