help - large external ulcer [w/graphic pic]

[emmaie892000]

Best of luck to you! Chickens can survive amazing things. I hate to cull when they have a will to live. I've had chickens regrow a lot of skin without suturing, so I have hope in your hen.
A main problem I can see will be keeping it clean, considering it's directly under her vent.
I'm looking forward to updates!

 

[avoelker]

Update - Day 4

My hen is still doing okay. She still eats all the mealworms I put in front of her, and is running around when I let her.

For the first three days, she got multiple Epsom Salt baths. The maggots were finally all gone on Day 3. On Day 2 she got an irrigation with H2O2 + Betadine solution, which cauterized the wound. I've continued to keep the area dry, and bandaged at night. During the day, she's been inside the house in a shower stall, to keep away from flys and other chickens. She gets Vetricyn gel and Swat ointment a couple times per day. I haven't seen a negative reaction to the Swat product, even though it doesn't list it's for chickens, but multiple people have posted positively about using it for such wounds.

I plan to remove the bandage and spray with Blu-Cote. I assume it's okay [and the point of the product] to put it on such a wound, which is missing the skin. Do people have hands-on advise for when to apply Blu-Cote, and any other points on the product usage?

Regards!

 

[ladyearth]

yeah it was suggested to cull her. our Goldie girl... I said no way cause she was fine otherwise...........Goldie girl WAS inside for over 20 days. wanted to make sure it was closed up. she was not quite that lg. of area.... then she dev impscted crop.... my fault for give her clods of just cut grass. plus Hubby got carried away on the peanuts.....
My great Hubby was her chicken daddy and caretender... she stayed mostly confined to bsmt kitc,which has an old tile floor. she could look out window and patio door. since its a walkout baSEMENT.. she chose to sleep on top of the chest freezer close to the wall.. we already had a portable small but heavy roosr . leftover from when she and her sister girls were chicks... we put that on top of the the school cafetia type big tray., to catch her poo esp at night... first she was in the bathroom.. which was inconvenient for us . she slept on a small chest of drawers in there...
we didnt epsom salt soak her enough.. Nor did we cover the wound just trimmed away her feather and trued to keep her dry
i would use a syringe of course no needle, with clean distilled water and squitrted her butt several times a day. she whined and complained. but i hurried thru that . and told her she was going to have a Pretty butt again.. told her that she was special and Jesus saved her twice..... finally i tuned my internet radio to classical music... that helped her too as time went on...we go in and out so much so we had to be careful not to step on her. we partioned off the rest of basement and sink area with a tarp or curtains
just my thoughts

 

[emmaie892000]

yeah it was suggested to cull her. our Goldie girl... I said no way cause she was fine otherwise...........Goldie girl WAS inside for over 20 days. wanted to make sure it was closed up. she was not quite that lg. of area.... then she dev impscted crop.... my fault for give her clods of just cut grass. plus Hubby got carried away on the peanuts.....
My great Hubby was her chicken daddy and caretender... she stayed mostly confined to bsmt kitc,which has an old tile floor. she could look out window and patio door. since its a walkout baSEMENT.. she chose to sleep on top of the chest freezer close to the wall.. we already had a portable small but heavy roosr . leftover from when she and her sister girls were chicks... we put that on top of the the school cafetia type big tray., to catch her poo esp at night... first she was in the bathroom.. which was inconvenient for us . she slept on a small chest of drawers in there...
we didnt epsom salt soak her enough.. Nor did we cover the wound just trimmed away her feather and trued to keep her dry
i would use a syringe of course no needle, with clean distilled water and squitrted her butt several times a day. she whined and complained. but i hurried thru that . and told her she was going to have a Pretty butt again.. told her that she was special and Jesus saved her twice..... finally i tuned my internet radio to classical music... that helped her too as time went on...we go in and out so much so we had to be careful not to step on her. we partioned off the rest of basement and sink area with a tarp or curtains
just my thoughts

I love hearing stories like this, where chickens are special. Some people just cull whenever anything goes wrong, they have livestock instead of pets.

 

[willkatdawson]

I'm so sorry you and your hen are going through this. The minute I read your story, I remembered recently reading a story about fly strike on a blog I follow. Her hen was saved and is doing great. Btw, she says her hen "beats the odds again" because the hen had a previous, unrelated illness.

http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/flystrike-a-chicken-killer-cuddles-beats-the-odds-again/

 

[Mutt Farm]

I'm so happy to hear that your hen is doing well!

Admirable of you to take on such intensive treatment to save her. I look forward to more updates. Sending healing vibes your way.

 

[avoelker]

Update - Day 17

I believe my hen has survived the fly strike. She's acting normal for her in her flock, and healing, etc. Attached are some pictures.

After Day 7, I started her on Penicillin G, 0.25cc per day for 5 days. She was noticeably peppier after two days of that treatment.

Around the same time, I started to add probiotic and electrolytes to the chicken's water, for a few weeks.

I sprayed the affected hen's wound with BluKote, twice.

I'm glad I did not decide to cull her. I hope this thread helps others save chickens from fly strike. My hen's situation was pretty bad, but I was able to save her. Sometimes you can!!!

Thanks for all your comments!

At Day 9:


At Day 10, with BluKote on wound:


At Day 17:

 

[casportpony]

@avoelker , good job!

-Kathy

 

[emmaie892000]

It looks good! Just make sure that scabby junk doesn't get too gross, or infected. Once my hen's leg got to that level of healing with her wound, it was all an easy recovery. The scab flecked off bit by bit as she dust bathed and such, and finally it was healed skin when I checked one day. Then she started growing back feathers, which amazed me.