Flystrike

[Plinky]

Hello all. Discovered yesterday that our three year old hen has flystrike. I thought she just had a poopy bottom and feel very bad about it. She's very thin. The wound seems to have necrotized tissue (horrible smell) around it. Yesterday I soaked her in an epsom salt bath (that's when I found the maggots), cleaned the wound with betadine, gave her a dropperful of nutridrench and isolated her in the garage under a heat lamp. I gave her a mash of feed, oats, molasses, turmeric and garlic which she wouldn't touch yesterday. This morning she was more alert (I thought she wouldn't make it through the night) and more interested in food. I'm concerned about the dead tissue and that she has not pooped. I fear her intestines may be damaged. Should I try antibiotics and if so what kind? Needs to be something I can get at Tractor S or Orscheln. Going to vet is not possible.

 

[LarryOdom]

Sorry about your feather baby and sorry I have no advice for you. I’m sure someone here can help.

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of your bird and her wound? You can get penicillin G procaine injectable at TSC, it's refrigerated. Some TSC's may carry fish mox capsules, which is amoxicillin. With flystrike it's important to clean the wound out regularly, more maggots may hatch, you have to be vigilant to continue to remove them. If you have plain neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment you can use that all over the wound, once it's clean and flushed out. Keep her on clean towels rather than shavings or other loose bedding to help keep it clean, and obviously keep her where more flies can't get to her. If the maggots have gotten through into her abdominal cavity then there is likely not much you can do for her. If that has not happened then she does have a chance to recover. If maggots continue to hatch you may also need to use a fly repellant product like SWAT, to deal with them. Here are a couple of links that may be helpful:
https://iamcountryside.com/homesteading/flystrike-treatment-for-livestock-and-poultry/
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/flystrike-a-chicken-killer-cuddles-beats-the-odds-again/
Just as another thought, sometimes when a chicken gets flystrike like this from droppings buildup around the vent, it MAY be an indication that there is another health problem going on. So if/while she recovers I would give her a good health check to make sure that she's not having reproductive problems, or internal parasites, that could cause runny droppings or difficulty pushing them out causing the dirty behind. It also could be simply a dirty behind for no other reason, it happens, just something to check.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Coach723 is correct. If the wound has gone through all layers of external skin, there won't be much you can do except for keeping her comfortable or putting her to sleep (if you can do it.)

If it hasn't gone all the way through, then you will have to be extra hands on to be sure you remove any eggs that hatch & keeping her bum clean. Fly eggs hatch quickly and can do extreme amounts of damage in a few hours. Antibiotic is a must, too, as suggested above.

As for the dead tissue, that will need to be removed, just like in people. When you soak her, you should be able to slough it off, but ideally, use tweezers to grab & a scalpel or super sharp scissors to cut off.

Hopefully you will have some help with holding her steady. If she's interested in food & in drinking, that is a good sign. Please let us know how she's doing.

 

[Plinky]

Thanks all. Interesting that coach723 mentions reproductive problems. About a month ago this hen laid a small, yolkless egg then stopped laying altogether. She had been laying over the winter fairly well. I thought perhaps it was just due to her age, but in looking up flystrike info I also ran into ovarian problems like cysts and cancer. I'll post a pic in a few minutes.

 

[Plinky]

Having trouble with getting pic from phone, but in the meantime...If I am able to get the injectable penicillin- how much to give? where to inject? type of needle to use? I've had to give myself heparin shots a long time ago, so I should be able to do it- just never have before.

 

[coach723]

The injection goes in the breast muscle, it truly is not difficult. Alternate sides of breast each injection. I lay them on their back on my lap and usually they relax, you can wrap her in a towel if needed, or have a helper hold her for you. I've done it by myself many times. Best instructions I've found are here, scroll down to the part about giving an injection, and just below that is treating with penicillin injection:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultryp...oultry-podiatry#chickens_penicillin_injection
Dose for penicillin G procaine is 1/4 to 1/2 cc once a day (the procaine makes it slower release making once a day possible). I usually give at the upper amount, have never had a problem. You can get 20 or 22 gauge needles at TSC also, luer lock (they twist on) is best for penicillin just in case you get a needle clog (penicillin particles are large). If they don't have the luer lock you can use luer slip, but make sure you get them on tight, just in case, they could pop off if you got a clog. Make sure you shake the bottle really, really well before drawing your dose, the particles settle and it needs to be mixed up really well.
A medicine chart is here for future reference: https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart

 

[Plinky]

Thanks. I just got back from TSC and am doing exactly that. Crossing fingers.

 

[Plinky]

OK. Just did a soak, cleaning, topical triple antibiotic, nutridrench orally and 1/2cc Durvet penicillin injection (not much breast left to inject into, unfortunately). Wrapped in towel and back in box w/heat lamp. She did poop finally. Will repeat for four days. Unfortunately she is wheezing a bit too, I noticed.

 

[coach723]

How is she doing today?
I would do the penicillin injections for 5 to 7 days, to make sure you got any infection taken care of. 3-4 days is absolute minimum, usually carry them out for a couple of days past once all symptoms are gone. You don't want to have it come back worse.