FLYSTRIKE!! I need info *GRAPHIC PHOTO

[FlockFromPa]

So I've just noticed in the past couple days my rooster had some black stuff on his feathers..didnt think much of it. I've been super busy. Turkeys and chicks are hatching and I have 2 little ones and lots of other animals. So tonight I decide to investigate further and he has FLYSTRIKE! I've never dealt with this before..so I'm not sure where to even start. Theres so many different opinions online. So heres what I'm thinking..try to wash it out with water then use diluted betadine in a syringe to flush it out more? And after that use vetricyn spray? Does that sound suffice? I really have no idea. Or is it wrong to make him suffer thru this? Hes been my main roo for over 4 years now so were pretty attached to him. He seems pretty normal to be honest. Crows and eats and drinks. He does spend some time by himself tho. Please let me know any pointers. What's the easiest way to get maggots off of him? I planned to do this first thing in the AM. I will try to attach a picture

 

[Crestcrazy2]

Oh man, hope he gets better

 

[pozees2]

Sorry you're dealing with this. We dealt with the same issue a few years ago with a Cochin who had sliced open his belly with a spur that curved upward, and he had fly strike in the wound. We put him in the tub with warm water and permethrin and washed out as many of the maggots as possible, as gently as we could, with the sprayer from the shower head. We then sprayed the wound with vetericyn and kept him in a wire crate in the house. Repeated the next day, got more maggots out, most of them were dead. At that point his crop had ceased to work and he had crop stasis, so we dealt with that at the same time, sure we would lose him. He pulled through and lived another 3 years. I can't tell you this is exactly the right thing to do, I just know it's what we decided at the moment and it worked.

 

[FlockFromPa]

Sorry you're dealing with this. We dealt with the same issue a few years ago with a Cochin who had sliced open his belly with a spur that curved upward, and he had fly strike in the wound. We put him in the tub with warm water and permethrin and washed out as many of the maggots as possible, as gently as we could, with the sprayer from the shower head. We then sprayed the wound with vetericyn and kept him in a wire crate in the house. Repeated the next day, got more maggots out, most of them were dead. At that point his crop had ceased to work and he had crop stasis, so we dealt with that at the same time, sure we would lose him. He pulled through and lived another 3 years. I can't tell you this is exactly the right thing to do, I just know it's what we decided at the moment and it worked.

Thank you so much. This gives me hope..I'm gonna do just about the same thing in the morning and hope for the absolute best

 

[FlockFromPa]

Oh man, hope he gets better

Thank you I appreciate it

 

[RiverOtter]

I flush the wound with lots and lots of homemade saline - an empty dishsoap bottle works great for such things. Then flush gently with a very mild insecticide. Put him somewhere more flies can't get to him and repeat twice a day.

 

[FlockFromPa]

I flush the wound with lots and lots of homemade saline - an empty dishsoap bottle works great for such things. Then flush gently with a very mild insecticide. Put him somewhere more flies can't get to him and repeat twice a day.

Do you pick the maggots out when you do this? I'm trying to find the least stressful way for him. Although he is very laid back I know this will be a chore by myself. Hes not acting sick at all at the moment so it's not like he will just sit there for me. What kind of insecticide? Would DE kill the maggots? Is that okay to put on a wound I have no idea how deep..

 

[RiverOtter]

I have zero faith in DE, and I certainly wouldn't put it on an open wound, although admittedly, in the relatively dry environment of outside the body and with such a soft-bodied insect as a maggot, that would be one of the few times I'd expect it to work.

I use Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew, the active ingredient of which is spinosad, which is the same active ingredient that is in Comfortis. Since Comfortis is meant to be eaten, I'm reasonably certain that spraying some on the outside of a chicken won't be toxic, although I could be wrong (for what it's worth, my beasties all lived through it)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bonide-Cap...MImp2iuLnT6QIVA4vICh2sawAvEAQYAiABEgIhT_D_BwE

I find that the pressure of squirting the saline into the wound with a clean dishsoap bottle flushes out most of the maggots without need for picking. Those it doesn't are either very small or pretty deep, and are either killed outright, if not by the salt, than by the insecticide or irritated enough to back out, and the next flush gets them.

I usually finish with BluKote, because I always have it and something about it seems to discourage flies.

Sadly, I had a lot of experience with this last summer. It seemed everyone looked for ways to get hurt, animals who lived together for years started fighting and every tiny scratch got flies unless I did the whole routine instantly and managed to keep a bandage on it.
.... animals do not want bandages.

But everyone recovered just fine, usually about 5 treatments (two and a half days) and the cut, big or small, was healed enough to not attract new flies and whatever beastie had it stopped chewing/pecking/scratching at it and opening it again. I treated a couple of friends animals too, mostly just because I had the stomach for it. (It was a REALLY bad year for flies!!)
As gross as it is, it's usually not serious so long as you treat it.

 

[Heffalump]

Any update?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your rooster. Soaking him in a sink or dish pan, even in a bucket of warm salt water 1 tsp of salt per each quart of water for 15 minutes twice a day until all maggots are hatched and gone would be good. The spray mat help to flush them out. Pictures of what you are seeing can be helpful if someone can take one. Vetericyn Wound Spray, Chlorhexidene or weak betadine can be good to spray on the wound twice a day. Treat flies in your coop with permethrin spray. Check other’s vents for soiled vents, and clean them up. Warm weather, poop on vents, and flies are a risk for flystrike. Here is a good article to read:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/