Maggots on chicken

[Happy Helper]

My rooster is infested with maggots. He must have gotten a minor injury. I don't know how to get them off of him. I gave him a bath with Dove soap, we sprayed an area with Pirahana Horse Spray, and put some antiseptic stuff on him. Nothing is helping. Has anyone had this problem and what can I do. He is special and we don't want to loose him.

 

[coach723]

You started out right, you have to flush the wound and pick off every single maggot, use tweezers if necessary. How deep are his wounds? Pictures would be helpful. Fly eggs can continue to hatch and you will need to check him several times a day and pick off any that you find, until they are no longer there. If the maggots enter his abdominal cavity then he will be beyond help. This is a life threatening situation, and you will have to work hard to save him. Once the maggots are removed you can use veterycin spray, plain neopsporin, plain triple antibiotic ointment on the areas. Keep them covered with the ointment/spray, and continue to check for more maggots. Keep him in a place where no more flies can get to him until he's healed and not at risk of more flies laying eggs on him.
Here are a couple of links with more suggested products you can use:
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/flystrike-a-chicken-killer-cuddles-beats-the-odds-again/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

 

[Happy Helper]

You started out right, you have to flush the wound and pick off every single maggot, use tweezers if necessary. How deep are his wounds? Pictures would be helpful. Fly eggs can continue to hatch and you will need to check him several times a day and pick off any that you find, until they are no longer there. If the maggots enter his abdominal cavity then he will be beyond help. This is a life threatening situation, and you will have to work hard to save him. Once the maggots are removed you can use veterycin spray, plain neopsporin, plain triple antibiotic ointment on the areas. Keep them covered with the ointment/spray, and continue to check for more maggots. Keep him in a place where no more flies can get to him until he's healed and not at risk of more flies laying eggs on him.
Here are a couple of links with more suggested products you can use:
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/flystrike-a-chicken-killer-cuddles-beats-the-odds-again/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

 

[Happy Helper]

Thanks, you helped tremendously. I also checked out the two websites. Hopefully, I can help him.

 

[coach723]

Best of luck, I hope he makes a full recovery. Please update us if you get a chance. Pictures are always welcome, your experience may help someone else later.

 

[AmyJane725]

How's he doing?

 

[Happy Helper]

I'm sorry to report that he did not make it. What I have learned from this experience is that I should have paid more attention to the fact that he was not acting normal. He did not have any visible signs of injury. We noticed that he was not prancing around the yard as usual and he crouched in the laying box at one time.
He had always been a little strange. He would go into a nesting box and make all kinds of noises and busy himself in there. This may have been occurring for five or six days before we picked him up and examined him. As I was trying to clean him up and get the maggots off, I saw that he was completely infested. The more I took off, the more I saw.
Anyway, had we noticed that he had a problem and taken care of him sooner. I'm sure he would have survived.
Thanks for your help and I learned a lot about maggots and chickens with this experience.

 

[coach723]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[AmyJane725]

Sorry he didn't make it. Chickens are really good at hiding their ailments, so anytime they are acting off it's probably worse than it seems. Glad you learned from this, but it sucks that the lessons have to be so painful.