Maggots eating flesh/ lethargic/ head twitching/off-balance

[Trouveur]

Aaaaand another post.

My title pretty much describes what's going on. This is the second bout of sickness for this hen. Last time (couple months ago) she had parasites internally, and she seemed to recover from that. But today we found a wound on her lower abdomen full of maggots. I removed as many as I could, gave her an epsom soak bath, washed her, cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide, and I'm dosing her with garlic oil, diatomaceous earth, molasses, and who knows what else.

She's just standing in her crate-- not laying down, just standing there, huddled up, and her head twitches sometimes. Is there anything more I can do for her? Homeopathy, herbs, anything?

 

[Eggcessive]

Wounds or a poopy vent can attract flies that lay maggot larvae in hot weather. I would repeat the Epsom salts warm soak daily until you are certain there are no more maggots. Apply a plain first aid ointment such as Bacitracin, Neosporin, or SWAT, a permethrin ointment to keep flies away. Make sure that she is eating and drinking normally. and tempting her with some chopped egg, tuna, liver, or hamburger with her usual feed can work, but not too much. Here are some threads to read for help in dealing with this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...has-huge-hole-below-vent-fly-strike-confirmed
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...autionary-tale-with-graphic-photo-progression
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/07/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/822173/fly-strike-picture-of-wound-progression-of-healing

 

[Trouveur]

Thanks so much. She didn't have any wounds, ,so it must just have been the droppings on her feathers...ugh.

Eggatha seems to be eating fairly normally and she's alert, which I'm very thankful for. Is it just us, or are the white leghorns more prone to disease than others?

 

[Yoako]

Lol I was just wondering the same thing! I've been reading a lot of post about sick white leghorns.
I hope Eggatha gets better. Btw I really like her name.