Injured Chicken, Maggots in Wound HELP!

[jklyles1]

After being out of town for 9 days we came home to an injured chicken. SHe has 2 large wounds on each side and 2 deep scratches on back. The wound on side has maggots in it. What do I use to clean and heal?? Need advice ASAP. First bad injury Ive had.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would clean her wounds with weak Betadine, Hibiclens, or Hydrogen Peroxide just once. If more bathing is needed later use saline or the Hibiclens and water. Maggots have to be picked on with tweezers, and many may die while you are bathing them. Dry the are and apply antibiotic ointment to the wounds(Neosporin, Bacitracin, ect. and get a supply at the store.) A product called Swat from feed stores is good to repel flies. I would put her on some antibiotics from your vet if possible. If not Procaine Penicillin G shots or Erythromycin (Gallimycin) may be available in your farm store, and Pen G is refrigerated, so ask. Here are threads that contain more threads to read:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/889463/deep-abscess-with-maggots-and-a-blister-with-green-pus
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/551227/hen-wounded-cant-get-rid-of-the-maggots

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is another good article that has wound care, and recommends using screw worm spray: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/231156/wound-with-maggots-and-bad-smell

 

[jklyles1]

Thank you for your advice. I cleaned her with diluted HP and picked out at least 20 maggots. There are more in the pockets of the wound but i couldn't get to them. Covered areas in Antibiotic ointment. She was a little resistant and pecked at me a couple times. I feel like that is a good sign. How do I get wounds to scab over?

I gave her some yogurt and she ate a little. So worried. She is a cream legbar. One of my favorites

 

[Eggcessive]

The rest of the maggots need to be killed or removed. Please read some of the links--I know it's time consuming, but some good info in there. If you see green skin, it may be bruising. Give her some soft scrambled egg daily or low sodium tuna for protein. The yogurt in very small amounts is good for probiotics, but buttermilk is probably better for her, or Probios Powder for the water. Wetting her food may get her to eat. Dosage of procaine penicillin G is 1/4 ml given into the breast muscle 1/4 inch deep with a 20 gauge needle once a day for 4 days. Gallimycin can go into her water.

 

[casportpony]

I agree, all maggots need to be removed. Personally, I would clean it with chlorhexadine or betadine and I would also remove/trim the feathers around the edges of the wound... Maybe as much as 1/2" from the skin edge.

-Kathy

 

[guernsi]

I am so sorry about your girl.

If it were my chicken, this is what I would do:

Trim away all feathers that come into contact with wound, and around edges of wound so it has a birth of a half inch to an inch around it. Use a chlorhex solution to clean out the wound. When I worked in vet med, we would mix up chlorhex into a sodium chloride bag, hang the bag and open the line so the jet of water sprays off the wound. If there are any pockets, they need to be sprayed out as well. They may need to be opened up and a drain inserted (a drain is a flexible rubber hose but you would need the help of a professional to do this and also something to numb up the area). Your biggest problem will be not getting air to those pockets. If you can open those up, spray them out very thoroughly, and try to keep them aired out well. Animals will get septic infections with puncture wounds, so a broad spectrum antibiotic will be important right now as well. If you want to stick to more natural therapies, I would give her as much raw garlic as she will eat, as this is a natural antibiotic and antifungal.

Good luck.

 

[jklyles1]

How do I trim feathers? Is there a certain length? I remember reading about not trimming to close to shaft because of blood. I have noticed a clump of feathers stuck to the big injury site. I just don't want to hurt her any further by trimming feathers too close. Im a nervous wreck.

 

[casportpony]

How do I trim feathers? Is there a certain length?  I remember reading about not trimming to close to shaft because of blood.  I have noticed a clump of feathers stuck to the big injury site.  I just don't want to hurt her any further by trimming feathers too close.  Im a nervous wreck.

You can very carefully pluck the smaller ones and try plucking one of the bigger ones and see how that works. If that doesn't work, try trimming it back as far as you can. What you don't want are any feathers touching any part of the wound as they are a great way for bacteria to get in the wound, right? A peacock of mine was recently attacked by a coyote, so I plucked and trimmed all of the surrounding feathers and flushed his wound with chlorhexadine and wrapped it, but it was a fresh wound, your hen's is not, so I would not wrap her.

How's maggot removal coming? I have a friend that just went through this with a turkey, so I'll ask her to comment or send a PM.

-Kathy

 

[jklyles1]

Here is the wound after a more thorough cleaning with a betadine solution. Got 8-10 more maggots out and washed pockets out with syringe. What does everyone think? She is shivering a little. Turned AC up in that room because she is wet from bath. Trimmed feathers away too.