Flystrike - how long to recover? Photos included!

[Kayla's Lunch]

I sent a post but it seems to have disappeared. Unfortunately, Bella died very late Monday night. She just kept getting weaker. I was hoping for a better outcome, but at least we were with her til the end. Thanks for your help.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

I sent a post but it seems to have disappeared. Unfortunately, Bella died very late Monday night. She just kept getting weaker. I was hoping for a better outcome, but at least we were with her til the end. Thanks for your help.

Oh no, I'm so sorry. It must've been worse than what it looked in the picture. She sounds like she had a good life and was well loved. You did your very best

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Thanks. Do you think it is possible that something was wrong with her that put her at risk of flystrike and is the real reason she died? She really didn't even have too poopy of a butt, so I'm wondering if there was something going on before the flystrike.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Thanks. Do you think it is possible that something was wrong with her that put her at risk of flystrike and is the real reason she died? She really didn't even have too poopy of a butt, so I'm wondering if there was something going on before the flystrike.

I honestly don't know. That may be a question for someone more knowledgeable than me. But, I'd say it is possible that there could've been something going on that weakened her. Shortly before the flystrike, did you notice any differences in behavior? Did anything around her change? Did she possibly have any other injuries on her body that you saw?

Something else that it could've possibly been was that pocket containing more maggots that went deeper into her body. Did you try to draw any out somehow? Did you see any more maggots pop up?

If everything was normal leading up to her flystrike, then I'd lean toward the possibility of more maggots in the pocket. But it's hard to know for sure. Maybe a necropsy exploring that pocket and the rest of Bella's body may have answered that question, but I think that's out of the question now.

Something that I am decently sure about is that that wound alone wouldn't have killed her. With the medical care you were giving her I just think it would've healed up okay. So I do think something more was going on that you couldn't see, but exactly what I can't say for sure.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I didn't notice anything different about her before hand. The pocket didn't seem like it could have had more maggots in there because they should have come out with all the water spraying I did into that pocket and the soaking. It really is a mystery to me.

 

[jonalisa]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I didn't notice anything different about her before hand. The pocket didn't seem like it could have had more maggots in there because they should have come out with all the water spraying I did into that pocket and the soaking. It really is a mystery to me.

So sorry about your hen.
I am dealing with the same issue and my hen seems to have the same type of round wound, although larger. I used the sprayer but once I got the majority off, I also needed to use tweezers. I found that many of the maggots retreated into the 'well' around the wound and I had to pull the center mass away from the edges in order to get the maggots that retreated there. There were some that had burrowed underneath a very thin, transparent membrane inside this area and I had to use the tweezers to tear a hole in the membrane to reach these maggots and pull them out - spraying water wasn't enough to dislodge them.

I feel your pain - this was a real education.

 

[Michigan Chicken]

Hey, how's Bella doing?

interested, following

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry for this outcome. One of our hens got grabbed by a neighbor's dog recently but we thought she only lost feathers. Nearly a week later we discovered she had a good-sized hole on her back between her wings, and it had some maggots in it. Some were burrowing under the surrounding skin. I washed her good with warm water with Dawn dish soap, clipped feathers so I could see the damage, and picked out maggots with long -shafted tweezers. Dried her good with paper towels, coated the wound with Original Neosporin and sprayed with Veterycin, which forms an antimicrobial gel moisture barrier coating. Still treating nearly two weeks later but wound is healing well. Margins clear, dry and pink, skin adhered to muscle, wound much smaller. She shows no discomfort during treatment. For flystrike, it is critical to remove all maggots and fly eggs as soon as possible. I wear nitrile gloves and use tweezers because yuck! But if you can't do it, euthanize. Don't let your bird be eaten alive!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I sent a post but it seems to have disappeared. Unfortunately, Bella died very late Monday night. She just kept getting weaker. I was hoping for a better outcome, but at least we were with her til the end. Thanks for your help.

interested, following

Post was on JULY 5, 2021

 

[paramedicaa]

Once you are confident all maggots are gone, use Alushield. Her wound was 100x worse and she’s back with the flock 3 weeks later. Completely keeps out flies, yet allows the wound to breathe and heal. That’s only 4 weeks between photos.