Maggots entering Cavity.

[jedijohnjohn]

I have a 3 1/2 year old RI Red which is full of worms in her back end. I assumed worms... But after further investigation, the vent is slightly above the infected area and in healthy condition. I had her in the tub rinsing out the worms and she had a runny dropping free of worms, and appears that the worms are really maggots eating out the cavity. There are so many maggots!!! The Rhodie's eyes are clear and bright, she is standing, but she is very calm. She mostly allowed me to wash her hind side. I recently found out that maggots are good for clearing away the dead tissue and would clean the wound. I also noticed a post that said the maggots would start to eat live tissue... this concerns me. should I honey up her hind end or even Coconut oil to thin out the maggots? I'm really at a loss at really what to do. Thank you for any help.

 

[countrygoddess]

I experienced this exact same thing this past summer with my old EE girl. She had a sore in the same place you said your chicken's sore is and there were maggots in it. I decided she'd had an abscess which burst and flies laid eggs in it. Here's the thing: as a nurse, I know that maggots in it was a GOOD THING. The sore had rotting tissue in it and maggots eat rotting tissue. They don't eat healthy tissue unless there is a huge overpopulation, which isn't likely to happen in an open wound like that--they drop out as they mature.

So if you rinsed out the maggots you may have found that the inside had some sloughing dead tissue, but did the bottom of the wound look pink at all? That's healthy tissue. Here's what I did: I cleaned the wound out very well with a blast from the hose, then rubbed it with gauze soaked in warm water. I tried hard to get all the remaining dead tissue out. Then I squeezed a bunch of Neosporin in it. After that, I called my vet and asked for an antibiotic. Because he has known me for 15 years and knows that I'm a nurse, he was happy to just have a conversation with me about the wound rather than have me bring her in. I even went to his house to pick up the antibiotic pills because I couldn't get to the vet's office before it closed. Within a week, that wound was very nearly GONE. Each day I cleaned it out and put more Neosporin in it.

 

[countrygoddess]

By the way, maggots are used more and more in medicine, same as leeches. Leeches are used to encourage blood flow and maggots to clean dead tissue from infected wounds. Maybe I'm weird, but I think it's pretty darned cool! =D

 

[countrygoddess]

Okay, one more thing. Put a Q-Tip in the wound laying on its side. Can you push the Q-Tip up under the edges of the wound any distance? If so, that's called tunneling and may be a reason for a trip to the vet (so s/he can clean it out real well). Also, how deep is the wound? How big around is it?

 

[jedijohnjohn]

The bottom of the wound looks like a million maggot heads in a Beetles concert. I have her isolated in the house, and you can hear the maggots from across the room. My Rhodie literally smells like a Zombie!!!
Tonight I'm to try some Coconut oil as natural antibiotic. Should I attempt to remove all the maggots before I use the neosporin?
Thank you for your info, It was very helpful.

 

[countrygoddess]

Can you post pictures? Since you now know about the wound and can tend to it, the maggots don't really need to be in there anymore. I'd get them out. Use your garden hose with a spray attachment and turn it to the narrowest, blastiest stream you can and blast that sucker right out. Your chicken will probably not like it--mine didn't--but it really worked to rinse out those maggots that were clamped on. Whatever is left, pick them out with tweezers. How big around is the wound? How deep? My girl's wound was about as big around as a quarter and was probably 3/8 inch deep. Once you have the maggots out you have to debride the wound. Gauze is rough, which makes it good for doing this. You have to rub the wound fairly hard with gauze moistened with warm water. You'll probably go through quite a bit of gauze. Your poor girl will wonder what she did to deserve such treatment, but believe me, she'll get through it--mine did. =) After that, when it's all clean, you can put the Neosporin in.

 

[countrygoddess]

BTW, gross about hearing it from across the room and her smelling like a zombie!! LOL

 

[jedijohnjohn]

The wound is big... 3" in diameteror so and seems to be at least an inch deep or so depending on the spot. the edge of the wound is black.
We do have a bunch of black widows here... could it be a BW bite? the maggots are leaving some protrusions alone... I am assuming these are organ tissue... and possibly bone structure.

 

[countrygoddess]

Oh, dear. That's pretty serious. If you're the type who takes your chickens to the vet, I'd do that, although I'm not sure they can do anything. If bone and organs are visible, then suturing it together might not work. If you're not the type to take her to the vet, then I'm not sure I'd let it go on... I suppose it could have been a spider bite, given how big it is. Black widow bites just keep dissolving and dissolving, is that right?

 

[jedijohnjohn]

To the best of my knowledge. It would seem the venom would get weaker over time. I've never killed an animal ... and have been trying to get up the nerve to stock the freezer. We are up to twelve chickens with the four new ones. We've been planning to thin the flock, I've been watching the YouTube vids on processing, could be God's way of pushing me over "the edge". This one is one of the original three RI Reds we started out with.
I do have an image. Of course... It is not pretty. All of the dull light brown is the infestation.

Thank you again.
JediJohnJohn