Flystrike - please help

[kathy32]

Thanks in advance for any help regarding this.
We went away for 10 days and the day we came back one of out older hens was acting sick. When I looked at her her back side was covered with maggots. They were centered around a marble sized abcess of some sort, which is not open. I have never dealt with or seen flystrike before. Its been extremely humid and hot. I brought her inside, bathed her with Dawn, and removed every maggot I could find. I kept her inside (AC, no flies). She seemed more perky, ate, drank water with electrolytes. I struggled to find a vet who would see chickens but finally located one and took the first appointment, which sadly isn't until tomorrow. The bad part - i woke up this morning to find the poor thing covered in maggots again. It was awful. I rebathed her this morning. There are maggots under her top layer of skin in a few areas, which I have been painstakingly working to remove. I have been spraying the areas with Theracyn poultry spray.
I suspect she will not make it, unfortunately. If anyone has suggestions, I would love them. If anyone has insight on the explosion of maggots after I had bathed and removed them, I would appreciate that too. If I knew how to humanely put down a chicken, I probably would at this point. I feel really awful that this happened to her.
My plan is to go over her for maggots again this afternoon, tonight, and if she is still alive, tomorrow before the appointment.
Sorry this is so long! I would also appreciate suggestions for preventing this in the future. I added a fly trap to my coop and spread lime in the run.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

These folks may be able to help
@Eggcessive @azygous @casportpony

 

[kathy32]

Thank you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks in advance for any help regarding this.
We went away for 10 days and the day we came back one of out older hens was acting sick. When I looked at her her back side was covered with maggots. They were centered around a marble sized abcess of some sort, which is not open. I have never dealt with or seen flystrike before. Its been extremely humid and hot. I brought her inside, bathed her with Dawn, and removed every maggot I could find. I kept her inside (AC, no flies). She seemed more perky, ate, drank water with electrolytes. I struggled to find a vet who would see chickens but finally located one and took the first appointment, which sadly isn't until tomorrow. The bad part - i woke up this morning to find the poor thing covered in maggots again. It was awful. I rebathed her this morning. There are maggots under her top layer of skin in a few areas, which I have been painstakingly working to remove. I have been spraying the areas with Theracyn poultry spray.
I suspect she will not make it, unfortunately. If anyone has suggestions, I would love them. If anyone has insight on the explosion of maggots after I had bathed and removed them, I would appreciate that too. If I knew how to humanely put down a chicken, I probably would at this point. I feel really awful that this happened to her.
My plan is to go over her for maggots again this afternoon, tonight, and if she is still alive, tomorrow before the appointment.
Sorry this is so long! I would also appreciate suggestions for preventing this in the future. I added a fly trap to my coop and spread lime in the run.

Do you have photos?

It's good that you are continuing to rinse and remove the maggots. You mention they are coming from under a layer of skin? Could be they have breached the abdominal cavity, hard to know.
Some do report to have to continue to flush for several days as maggots emerge. You can try applying Swat Gel, but if they are up underneath skin, then I'm not quite sure if that would be effective.
Think about how "loose" poultry skin is when you buy it in the store, that's sort of the way a live bird's skin is too so the maggots may have gone deeper. Not trying to be gross, but it's very possible and it's something to consider.

It's up to you to determine what shape she is in and if she needs to be put out of her misery. A lot of birds don't survive flystrike, so if she's suffering, it would be a kindness.
Cervical dislocation (broomstick method) is a quick and efficient method of euthanizing a bird. There's a lot of videos about the method on YouTube, so it may be something to look up.

 

[kathy32]

Thank you so much for replying. I'm attaching photos. I'm sorry, they are unpleasant. One shows the large marble sized thing. It is soft, below and to the right of her vent. Other photo shows skin on her right that the maggots got. It is dry currently there. Other photo shows now-clean spot on her back where I removed a 'pocket of maggots from under very thin layer of skin.
Thank you so much for any help. We've kept chickens for a decade and somehow I have escaped anything like this. I feel way out of my comfort zone and terrible for her.

 

[kathy32]

Photos 1 and 2

 

[kathy32]

Photo 3

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Does it feel fluid filled?

 

[kathy32]

I think? Light shines through. Because we weren't here, I don't know if that was there before the flies and is unrelated, or if its resulting from the flies.

 

[LostBoi73]

id probably try Stockholm tar, we use it for fly strik on horses but its also good for wounds . I just dont know what the welt/boil is but it may help with that as well?