Help please! Chicken has Maggots

[tjo804]

Lots of links I will read them all and correct if I am wrong.

I found a kitten that had maggots, she was laying in a bowl of chicken feed I left in the yard for the ladies to munch on. The maggots were disgusting! Took 4 years before I could make rice. Anyway I recommend you mix about a quarter cup of white vinegar into a kitchen sink full of water put her butt in it. WARNING! This will sting a bit so when you think most of the maggots have left the wound rinse her really well with cool clean water. Put her on a towel and check really well if you still see some mix water with a bit of vinegar and use a bulb syringe or squirt bottle on the wound. If they are in there it drives them out! They were all over my counter. Like I said it worked for me and I will read the links. Good luck with her and I would keep her inside your house for now either in a crate with towels or a small bathroom will work.

 

[tjo804]

also, once the maggots are off antibiotic ointment WITHOUT pain reliever is nice or I use bagbalm keeps flies or poop from getting in wound.
Once maggots are gone figure out what attracted them and you will need to treat that.

 

[Nardo]

I went through this a few weeks ago. One hen had gotten a cut - IDK how - but by the time I noticed she was not acting well I found the wound. She also would not eat nor drink, It was the not drinking that was worrisome, it's over 100 degrees here during the hot part and they have to drink.

I googled and you will get a million bits of advice:

And this is what I did:
Found an old popcorn tin that I will NEVER use for anything again.
Mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar and baking soda with warm water and put her butt in there. Use a soft cloth and wash away what you can. It's gross but you can do it. They will float around in the tin. It's even grosser. Dump the water and try again. Get out as many as you can.
I saw a couple go UP INTO the wound so I got a syringe without a needle and squirted hydrogen peroxide straight in there. Then I put antibiotic cream. The jury is still out on putting oil since it can attract more dirt and more germs, but I used it. Did it again the next day.
By the third day, she was eating and walking around and the wound just looked like a sore instead of a festering mess.

Now she's fine and laying again.

Good luck.

 

[SenpaiChickens]

Thank you so much! We used a medication wash . (My grandmother is a nurse and has been rescuing animals for a long time.She has had animals with flystrike) thank you that is very helpful

 

[SenpaiChickens]

I went through this a few weeks ago. One hen had gotten a cut - IDK how - but by the time I noticed she was not acting well I found the wound. She also would not eat nor drink, It was the not drinking that was worrisome, it's over 100 degrees here during the hot part and they have to drink.

I googled and you will get a million bits of advice:

And this is what I did:
Found an old popcorn tin that I will NEVER use for anything again.
Mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar and baking soda with warm water and put her butt in there. Use a soft cloth and wash away what you can. It's gross but you can do it. They will float around in the tin. It's even grosser. Dump the water and try again. Get out as many as you can.
I saw a couple go UP INTO the wound so I got a syringe without a needle and squirted hydrogen peroxide straight in there. Then I put antibiotic cream. The jury is still out on putting oil since it can attract more dirt and more germs, but I used it. Did it again the next day.
By the third day, she was eating and walking around and the wound just looked like a sore instead of a festering mess.

Now she's fine and laying again.

Good luck.

Thank you! She is doing better we had to syringe water mixed with silver and oregano oil into her mouth and she drank a lot! And ate a little.Thanks for all your help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have you been able to get rid of all the maggots? Check through all of her feathers and remove them, even deep inside the wounds-you may need tweezers.

Flush well with diluted betadine, chlorhexidine, or salt water. Trim the feathers away from all the wounds and get some more photos so we can see those better. You want to see how deep the wounds really are, maggots can breach the abdominal cavity on occasion.

It does looks like she has a very large area that is wounded so if she were mine, I would also administer antibiotics to fight infection. You don't mention your location, but if you are in the US most feed stores like Tractor Supply carry Procaine Penicillin G in the refrigerated section.

If at all possible, seeking vet care is your best option, they can give you better medications, assess the wounds and advise you on care. Wounds like that will need to be taken care of several times a day and likely debrided. Your hen will also need to be kept separated until she heals.

Since she is lethargic, get her hydrated first, offer poultry vitamins, then see if she will eat something for you. Scrambled or hard boiled egg is sometimes an enticement, but encourage her to eat her normal food if she will.

 

[coach723]

Agree with everything @Wyorp Rock said.
There is a HUGE difference between maggot therapy for wounds and flystrike, biggest being the type of fly involved. Some maggots will only eat necrotic flesh, those are used for maggot therapy, some types will eat healthy flesh, those are NOT used. You will need to check several times a day to remove any maggots that continue to hatch. Eggs may still be in there that you cannot see and can continue to hatch more maggots, which may be what happened to you when you found more and another wound. Being vigilant and getting them all is really important, while protecting her from any more flies. Alternately you can use screw worm spray to kill any maggots in the wound, it's made for that, the caveat being that your birds wounds are pretty extensive so I think I would seek veterinary advice on that before using.

 

[0die]

never heard of flystrike...so guess I'll start reading...

I always thought maggots only ate dead/rotting flesh, not healthy tissue.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

never heard of flystrike...so guess I'll start reading...

I always thought maggots only ate dead/rotting flesh, not healthy tissue.

There is a difference in "medical maggots" and the maggots that infest wounds on animals. Medical maggots are grown in a sterile environment and are used in medically controlled situations. The maggots are also counted and intentionally place inside the wound and only allowed to be there for a certain number of days.

Maggots that infest an animal are from hundreds (thousands?) of eggs laid inside a wound, they can hatch in less than 24hrs depending on the environment and begin feeding on/in the wound, whether it's dead or healthy tissue. Quite a bit of damage can be done in a very short period of time.

A wound doesn't necessarily have to be big or possibly even present. Flies can lay eggs on a poopy bottom, maggots hatch out under those wet, dirty feathers and find skin to feed on (skin may be a bit irritated/weakened/raw due to the poop) and then you have a problem. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...y-tale-with-graphic-photo-progression.712322/

It's neither here nor there how or why the maggots are on the hen, they need to be eliminated quickly, if not the damage may be irreversible.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

OMG