MAGGOTS ON MAYMAY Need help ASAP

[bj taylor]

i had not thought maggots a danger to animals. i thought they cleaned dead flesh. but then i heard and read about fly strike. if she has a hole the maggots are living in, perhaps use a syringe to push something like an epsom salts solution into the wound. it needs to be something that will kill the maggots without doing her too much harm. a betadine solution might also do that. betadine is tough on tissue though and you can't use it much. i understand fly strike will kill an animal if not stopped.

 

[fishnet1971]

She is pigging out on her food and some BOSS right now. She wont let me out of her sight. The SWAT does not seem to be bothering her at all. She is preening and still has bright eyes. I will keep her inside with me tonight and tomorrow as it is to be 100degrees tomorrow with a heat index of 104. We never have that here in Ohio, and she is older and already has been compromised from a sickness and blood cots out the eye. It does look promising I think though. I am not seeing anymore maggots, the skin that was nasty that i got cleaned up really well is coated with the swat as well. It is not red, inflamed, or look infected either. Looks the the start of the spot was at the outter edge of the vent area and worked its way upward twords under her wing. It looks like it was almost surface skin only. I do not see any hole or entrance wound. My poor girl.

 

[Ksane]

Is there any way possible you could keep her inside for a few days? Maybe in a dog crate or something? That's what I'd sure do until the skin healed. If Ohio weather isn't normally that warm then the last thing she needs is to be over-heated. She'd probably sure appreciate a few days inside in cool air.

 

[chickschool]

I read somewhere about using a salt/baking soda and water solution to combat maggots.

 

[fishnet1971]

She is outside in the coop tonight with the rest of the fluffy butts happy as a lark. tomorrow morning i iwll bring her inside with nice air condiitoning for a cool day. I took half a day off tomorrow so i can check on her and make sure she's ok. I dont want her to go to the bottom of the pecking order! Her wing feathers cover most of the damage, so there hopefully there will be little if any pecking from the others. She is second on the heirarchy of pecking order. lol She looks good and her spirits are up. wow, this is another first. my poor girl. She is as strong as an ox. My MayMay.

 

[chkn]

I had a rooster get that. Worms crawling in and out of a cavity they made between the tail and vent. After 3-4 baths someone finally recommended the SWAT. I put a big gob over the wound and that was that. Put one on a couple days later just for good measure.

 

[fishnet1971]

I hope that is all there is to it. I brought her in this morning and checked her over really well again. I didnt see any more maggots but the skin that they had gotten under looks grey. LIke dead skin. There is no smell of infection but there is a little heat. She has a nice air conditioned laundry room to lounge around in for the day. I may start her on antibiodics today as well. put another good of swat on the area.

 

[theoldchick]

As gross as maggots are, certain species are excellent at debriding necrotic tissue. Apparently the heat has stressed her immune system and she now has an active infection (bacterial or viral). As you noted, the grey area is dead. She will eventually slough her skin in that area so it would be in her best interest to keep her in the house. Keep the area clean and DRY. Use the hairdryer on the low setting to get the job done.

MayMay is a tough red-head for sure. Keep up the good work!

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

We actually used maggots in the medical field for debriding infected wounds of dead tissue. Maggots only eat dead tissue and leave healthy tissue alone.

 

[leadwolf1]

Not true in chickens. They will crawl up their vents and into cavities and munch away. Many people are under this assumption and medically speaking, those medical 'maggots' are a specific species...

We actually used maggots in the medical field for debriding infected wounds of dead tissue. Maggots only eat dead tissue and leave healthy tissue alone.