MAGGOTS on dying chicken - please help

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I'm sorry

 

[CallyB57]

I'm so sorry...

, but I learned something and if one of my chickens ever has the same problem, I will know what to do.

 

[horsejody]

I'm glad you found a vet. Keep his/her number handy. Vets that are willing to see chickens are few and far between.

 

[wendid1]

I'm so sorry for what you have had to deal with. I haven't had the greatest luck with my chickens. So my heart is breaking for you. But as other have said this is a learning experience for all of us thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[Lunachick]

heron/Catherine, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I remembered your user name from another post about your new book. When you said "she is my last one" I knew what you meant. She is the last hen from your original flock.

I'm so sorry. That was a wonderful story you wrote about them. I know you named them, which one was she?

Again, I'm so sorry.

 

[Biddieacres]

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Well said!

 

[Rootball]

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The amount maggot related misinformation in this thread is starting to overflow like a pustuous boil.

Medical maggots are disinfected however they are not a new discovery, they are not genetically engineered and they are from naturally occuring species.

From Wikipedia
Written records have documented that maggots have been used since antiquity as a wound treatment.[1] There are reports of the successful use of maggots for wound healing by Maya Indians and Aboriginal tribes in Australia. There also have been reports of the use of maggot treatment in Renaissance times. During warfare, many military physicians observed that soldiers whose wounds had become colonized with maggots experienced significantly less morbidity and mortality than soldiers whose wounds had not become colonized. These physicians included Napoleon’s surgeon general, Baron Dominique Larrey, who reported during France's Egyptian campaign in Syria, 1798–1801, that certain species of fly destroyed only dead tissue and had a positive effect on wound healing.[2]

Dr. Joseph Jones, a ranking Confederate medical officer during the American Civil War, is quoted as follows, "I have frequently seen neglected wounds ... filled with maggots ... as far as my experience extends, these worms only destroy dead tissues, and do not injure specifically the well parts." The first therapeutic use of maggots is credited to a second Confederate medical officer Dr. J.F. Zacharias, who reported during the American Civil War that, "Maggots ... in a single day would clean a wound much better than any agents we had at our command ... I am sure I saved many lives by their use. " He recorded a high survival rate in patients he treated with maggots.[3]

During World War I, Dr. William S. Baer, an orthopedic surgeon, recognized on the battlefield the efficacy of maggot colonization for healing wounds. He observed one soldier left for several days on the battlefield who had sustained compound fractures of the femur and large flesh wounds of the abdomen and scrotum. When the soldier arrived at the hospital, he had no signs of fever despite the serious nature of his injuries and his prolonged exposure to the elements without food or water. When his clothes were removed, it was seen that "thousands and thousands of maggots filled the entire wounded area." To Dr. Baer's surprise, when these maggots were removed "there was practically no bare bone to be seen and the internal structure of the wounded bone as well as the surrounding parts was entirely covered with most beautiful pink tissue that one could imagine." This case took place at a time when the death rate for compound fractures of the femur was about 75-80%

Here is a quote from a producer of medical maggots regarding the history of their use.

History of Maggot in Medicine

Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT) or Maggot Therapy has been known for centuries. It was observed that wounds infestated with maggots (larvae) of certain flies tend to be more ‘sterile’ and healed faster. It was during 18th Century that military surgeons began to experiment with the use of maggots to treat wounded soldiers. The trend continued into the 1930’s, particularly in commercially for medical use.

With the advent of antibiotics and other “modern” treatment, maggot therapy was slowly phased out until recently. The development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the difficulty in treating various wounds have revived maggot therapy lately. However, in Malaysia and other countries in the region, no attempts were made to examine the use of local flies for such treatment.

In the past, only the green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, a temperate species is used. This fly is not found in the tropics. Instead, a local species, Lucilia cuprina was tested and found to be extremely useful in clearing wounds. This is the first such record for this fly to clear the wounds.

The point being, that your girl needs to be looked at as her wound is in a bad way, but the maggots are probably the last of her worries.

 

[heron]

Thank you everyone. She was indeed my last chick from the little flock of chicks we brought with us when we moved from one house to another after my divorce. My daughter was 12 at the time, and she talked me into getting the chickens before we moved, so we had them living in the bathtub while we were getting ready to move. They sort of became a symbol for our starting over, and it's hard to lose this last one, partly because I really cared about her, but also because she's the end of that little flock that led the way for us into our new life.

Thank you all for your support and understanding. She will be my last chicken - I think that era is over for me - but I'm glad if someone else can learn from this event.

Thank you also for getting me to take care of it last night. I was so glad that I didn't wait til this afternoon. I knew that I'd made the right decision to have her put down when I woke up this morning and had such a feeling of relief that it was over and both of us can now rest.

Luna, her name was originally Sassafras. Then Little Red. Then sweetie pie or chickie-chick, or whatever happy nickname of the day.

 

[threehorses]

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We also used to use leeches to cure illness, but I'm not sure I'd recommend people pick up a six pack for the ill flocks today.

Barnyard flies come from a fly who most likely has been dining on chicken filth. That fly lands in the wound and then its eggs hatch. I can't in good conscious EVER condone anything but the removal of maggots from a wound unless one is trained to use them, and the maggots are lab produced.

Anyone who does -well - there are some leeches in my pound if you're interested in buying them.

Edit: By the way, this is the last I'm going to participate in this part of the thread: I choose to disagree. I think people can make their own reasonable and common sense decision as to whether or not to leave maggots on their birds.

 

[threehorses]

Sassafras. I'm glad you told us her name, thank you. Thank you for sharing a bit of her life with us as well. I think we all adopted her when you came and told us about her, but had no idea exactly how special she was.

I lost the last of my home growns this year and it was heart breaking. I went through a period once where I decided "no more chickens after these are gone". But my heart opened up to them again and, although I know I'll experience more heartache, I'm glad that they're here. I hope for you that you can find it in your heart one day to enjoy them again. But if you don't, it would be understandable

If you do, we'll still be here. You'd have to let us know that you're taking the plunge again.

In the mean time: /hugs