Help...collapsed chicken

[Eggcessive]

Her crop could feel puffy and slow to empty due to another illness, but it could be that she has sour crop. If she is that weak the bath might do her in. Can you clean off any loose or dried poop, just to get a look at her vent? That would be good to make aure that she doesn’t have a prolapse or maggots on her vent. Can you get her drinking some water, and give her electrolytes or some NutriDrench if you have it? She might be dehydrated from the heat or illness. If she is hot and panting, you may soak her feet in some cool water—just stop if she is too weak. Offering some chopped egg or watery chicken feed after she has eaten might perk her up.

 

[witland]

Ok, this evening I decided to massage her crop to see if she could release whatever was in there. I saw a video of someone doing this. After several attempts, no luck. Maybe she didn’t really have much to get rid of afterall. I decided to clean and take a closer look at her vent and discovered ALOT of maggots?!? It was disgusting and I basically bathed her three times to get rid of them. How could I have missed this! I feel terrible that I didn’t catch it earlier as she must have been in a lot of discomfort. Since mid-afternoon, I've been giving her: water mixed with electrolytes (Pediacare) and poly-vi-sol, a slurry of Critical Care (left over from a vet visit for another chick from long ago) and electrolytes mixed with yogurt. All of this in tiny increments as i’m feeding her with a syringe and she only takes small doses very weakly and mostly with her eyes closed. She’s just been laying on her side with head lolling all day. No strength whatsoever. After her baths, I sat with her in the bathroom with a space heater until she dried off. She was still very weak, just laying on her side. But she finally pooped for the first time today so I was happy about that. It was white and green, runny and smelly, but I didn’t see worms. And then about an hour and a half later, she sat up, which is something she has not been able to do all day. She looked a little brighter in the eyes than she has all day and took a little more with the syringe. Then she went back down and is now sleeping. I am hopeful that she will feel better in the morning.

On another note, I believe she has wry neck. The head lolling thing makes me think this. When she lays on her left side, her head sometimes ends up high and looking further to the left. When I lay her on the right side, it still goes to the left. This looks very unnatural. I’ve been researching and will get some Vitamin E, B1 complex, and selenium or tuna in the morning.

 

[micstrachan]

Good thing you found the maggots. Keep checkingxm, as there are likely eggs that will hatch more maggots. I would keep her in away from flies and keep up the supportive care. Good luck!

 

[drumstick diva]

Just bathing won't help much, you need to flush maggots out with some hydrogen Peroxide . You may find they keep coming out and more and more. They can migrate inside the body and even reach the brain. If they can't find enough decaying matter to feast on they will then go to healthy tissue.

 

[witland]

Yikes! what a nightmare! Thank you everyone... I don't know what I would have done without your collective advice. It is much appreciated.

My poor sweet hen has made it through the night. Just gave her a syringe full of vitamin/electrolyte water and checked her vent. I don't see maggots, but after a trip to the feed store this morning, I will give her another epson salt bath and flush her vent a few more times. I have quite a list of supplies to stock my chicken medicine cabinet.

Question: one thing I've seen posted is Ivermectin to kill any internal maggots that might exist. If I don't see any more maggots, do I need to use the Ivermectin? also am not sure of the dose for chickens. 1/4 of a "drop" is what I think I saw posted by someone.

 

[rebrascora]

I would not personally use ivermectin for this purpose. If the maggots have breached and infested her abdominal cavity then any killed by the ivermectin may rot inside her and cause infection. You really need to be sure you get them all out. Can you trim way the feathers around her butt and post a clear close up photo of her vent area. Is there an open wound below her vent that the maggots were in or the vent itself. Usually the flystrike is caused because they have a soiled vent and the soiling is due to abdominal swelling. It will usually be the cause of the abdominal swelling that is making them sick..... often a reproductive problem that has build up a mass of egg material that then presses on the gut and slows the digestive tract, which would all tie in with her slow crop problem.
Sadly, if I am right, the chances are that the reproductive problem will prove fatal sooner or later and all you can do is make her as comfortable as possible in the meantime or make the decision to euthanize. Only you can make that call, unless you seek veterinary assistance.

 

[Eggcessive]

It was very good that you found the maggots or flystrike infestation. You have saved her life with the electrolytes and the discovery and treatment. I would repeat the bath today, and flush out any open external areas with a turkey baster or syringe. I also would not use ivermectin to get internal maggots. Hopefully, she will recover her strength and get better. Then you can go from there if she has some underlying problem that caused this.

 

[witland]

Ok, I'll skip the ivermectin. Just looked at her vent and clipped away feathers. Pretty clean overall but I did see a small (1/4") wound that has some maggots (sorry, in my rush didn't take a pic, but will post one soon). The maggots were creeping toward her vent, so I've just run to the store to get more epson salt, peroxide, Chlorhexidine and Vitamin E. Going to give her another epson bath now. Then a flush. Should the peroxide flush be watered down or full strength? I have an ear wax bulb that I will use to flush. Any other suggestions?

 

[rebrascora]

Personally I would be reluctant to use the Peroxide again and certainly if you do, dilute it well and flush afterwards with plenty of clean water. Peroxide will eat healthy flesh as well as necrotic, so it can be counter productive unless you have a lot of necrotic tissue that needs removing. I would probably just use a mild saline flush or perhaps very dilute chlorohexidine.
My guess would be that there will be more maggots behind that wound, inside her abdominal cavity, so gently insert the tip of your flushing tube into it and give it a good irrigate.
I have to say that you are doing a great job. Maggots are one of the few things that give me the Heebie Geebies, so I can only admire your determination to sort this.

 

[Nambroth]

Others have had luck with a Betadine solution with fly strike to clean the wound and flush out maggots. Keeping the wound clean and dry is ideal; you may need to trim some feathers out to keep them sticking into the wound as it heals. If you can get her stable and bright/perky again, you will probably need to do some investigating as to why she had fly strike; unfortunately due to her age and breed, it's possible that she has a reproductive ailment that caused her stools to become messy and attract the flies. As rebrascora said, reproductive illnesses in somewhat older hens (2.5 years or more) tend to slow the digestive tract and can cause them to go off food, become weak, and have some bad droppings. Fly strike is a secondary problem in these cases (though serious in its own right!).