Maggots on vent injury.

[flowers4me22]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Can you tell me if I should have "grit" accessible for Pepper. She is currently in the laundry-room and has oyster shell to peck at but I wonder about the grit...

 

[coach723]

I would put some grit out for her, she may or may not take some, but since she's eating all sorts of things, whatever she likes at the moment, it's good to make sure it's available if she needs it. The only caution I would add about the ROPA, is to watch and make sure it doesn't put her off the water. It would be better to have plain water than none, and with birds that aren't feeling well, you never know. Hopefully it's palatable and she will like it, but better safe than sorry.

 

[flowers4me22]

I will wait until she's better before giving her the ROPA. She is drinking Pediolite from the dropper but she's drinking little on her own. I've been giving her a few foods high in water content, cucumber, blueberries, watermelon and strawberries. I saw her shake herself for the first time and was overwhelmed. (Almost made me cry) This morning she ate scrambled egg and a few more meal worms along with a dropper of water.

At the risk of embarrassing myself, I'd like to ask you your thoughts about a social concern regarding sweet Pepper. Currently she is being kept in the laundry room and enjoys being near the door. There is a window next to the door and her two sisters favor "hanging-out" under this window. They scratch, nap and dust bathe right under the window. Pepper will sometimes cock her head and look toward the window where Daisy (the chatter box vocal one) can often be heard. My question is this, do you think Pepper would enjoy being able to look out the door? (I'm thinking about a screen door...) I just want to give her anything I can to help her while she's healing and the three of them have never been apart...

 

[Folly's place]

It's a nice idea, as long as it's safe. She does have some interactions with her flockmates, all good.
Mary

 

[flowers4me22]

It's a nice idea, as long as it's safe. She does have some interactions with her flockmates, all good.
Mary

Thank you Mary.

 

[flowers4me22]

Pepper's tear on the upper thigh has caused her skin to hang, leaving all tissue exposed. I'm spraying it with Vetericyn and keeping in moist with Neosporin. Can skin eventually grow back over the large exposed area? Is there anything more I can do?

 

[Folly's place]

It will fill in over time. Is that hanging flap alive, or drying up and dead? Your vet could deal with this and hopefully have it heal up faster.
Mary

 

[LizaKnepper]

Pictures are helpful. You are dealing with flystrike, which can be very serious. You did the right things so far. You will need to check her several times a day to make sure that you remove any maggots that continue to hatch, use tweezers if necessary. Move her to a place where no more flies can get to her until she heals. Continue to use the veterycin, or you can use plain neosporin ointment or plain triple antibiotic ointment on the wound. Trim back any feathers that are getting in the wound, this will help keep it clean, and help you see to make sure you don't miss any maggots. Recovery depends on how soon you caught the flystrike, how severe the wound is, and infection. If maggots did not enter her abdominal cavity, she has a chance. Make sure she stays hydrated, that is more important than food initially. Some electrolites in her water, sav-a-chick, pedialite, gatorade is helpful, dip her beak to see if you can get her to drink. If you have some poultry nutri-drench give her some of that. You can try scrambled or chopped up cooked egg, some canned tuna, or mixing her feed with water to make a mash to see if you can get her to eat. Hopefully she will start feeling better and perk up and start eating and drinking on her own. Here is some more info on flystrike:
https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/flystrike-a-chicken-killer-cuddles-beats-the-odds-again/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

This is an awesome post and what a great reply I learnt so much from it I had no idea that flies could be so harmful to our Far feathered Friends.

 

[flowers4me22]

The flap appears to be dying. There's just so much fat and tissue exposed. I've trimmed the feathers a bit near the exposed area but I'm still concerned. I can't be sure all the maggots are gone. I sometimes use a flashlight when checking for the maggots and so far so good but still...do you recommend I give her another saline wash or should I just keep applying the Veterycin and Neosporin? Will the maggots eventually die?

 

[coach723]

Eventually any eggs remaining will have hatched and no more maggots will appear (assuming no more flies can get to her and lay more), you just have to keep checking for any that do. The flap will likely eventually dry up and fall off, the new skin will gradually cover the area, it will take some time. Below I will attach 3 pictures of a large wound at various times during healing, give you an idea. The original site is no longer up, it had a great series of pictures, this is all I had saved. At the end this chicken looked normal and it was completely covered in feathers. Pictures if you are able, would help, you may be able to trim back the flap where it has died, or it may be better to leave it alone. If you are not finding maggots then I would do the veterycin and neosporin.
I think your idea of letting her see her flock mates is a good one, not only does being separated cause a lot of stress for some, being with the others can give them some encouragement to want to live.