I know that title sounds like the front cover of a horror comic book, but it's true. One of my RIR hens (3 years old) has had a chronically poopy butt, and several days ago I decided to give her a bath. Got a lot of dried poop off, and she looked much better, except for some redness below her vent. I used Suave Naturals Apple shampoo, and it was interesting that the other hens seemed to shun her after that. Twice I saw them gang up on her and get her down, and I had to break it up. She had been somewhere in the middle of the pecking order, and I thought it was the scent of the shampoo that bothered them. I figured it would wear off after a few days.
Over the next several days, she went from normal to very quiet and not interested in treats, etc. She would sleep on the floor in the corner of the coop instead of roosting, but in the morning she was first out the door and looking sassy as ever. I couldn't see any wound on her butt, so I assumed she was all right. My excuse for this apparent neglect is that I had a lot going on with issues with my 93-year old mom, whom I care for full time.
Well, yesterday afternoon I noticed that her butt was quite dirty again, but it didn't look like poop. I picked her up (normally impossible, but she didn't even run from me) and brought her in for another bath. As I carried her to the house, I noticed she smelled really horrible. I got her in the laundry room sink and sprayed off her butt with warm water. She was absolutely crawling with maggots. There was a huge hole (about one and a half inches across, the size of a golf ball) just below her vent. I rinsed and rinsed, used a little Dawn dish detergent, and rinsed some more, till I couldn't see any more maggots.
I put her in the big dog crate in the workshop building, safe from flies and everything else. When I checked her at 8:30 pm, I could still see a lot of little tiny maggots which must have been deep inside the wound when I washed her. The only thing I had to use was poultry dust for lice, mites, fleas, etc. I sprinkled this rather heavily on her butt, and the maggots started falling off.
I didn't know whether she'd be dead or alive this morning. She was actually standing when I went out at 6:30. No maggots left, but I wanted to wash the insecticide dust off, because I know I put on too much. I brought her in for another bath. The wound looks much better, so I canceled plans to get a sitter for mom and run out this morning for screwworm spray at the feed store.
After reading on here about the remarkable healing abilities of chickens, I am hopeful that this wound will heal up. I have slathered it with neosporin ointment. No sign of infection, no drainage, no pus. My only concern is that she is not eating much. I scrambled an egg for her and tore up some lettuce greens. She has taken a few bites, but is not really diving into it. I hope I didn't poison her system with the poultry dust but didn't see that I had any choice but to put it on her.
Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to alert everyone to keep an eye on those poopy butts. More might be going on under there than you think! If anyone has any suggestions of what I might try for wound care or food items that she might eat, let me know.
I'm a nurse, so I'm experienced in wound care, just not on chickens! And frankly, after this, I would rather deal with a wound than disease. At least you know what you're dealing with.
Over the next several days, she went from normal to very quiet and not interested in treats, etc. She would sleep on the floor in the corner of the coop instead of roosting, but in the morning she was first out the door and looking sassy as ever. I couldn't see any wound on her butt, so I assumed she was all right. My excuse for this apparent neglect is that I had a lot going on with issues with my 93-year old mom, whom I care for full time.
Well, yesterday afternoon I noticed that her butt was quite dirty again, but it didn't look like poop. I picked her up (normally impossible, but she didn't even run from me) and brought her in for another bath. As I carried her to the house, I noticed she smelled really horrible. I got her in the laundry room sink and sprayed off her butt with warm water. She was absolutely crawling with maggots. There was a huge hole (about one and a half inches across, the size of a golf ball) just below her vent. I rinsed and rinsed, used a little Dawn dish detergent, and rinsed some more, till I couldn't see any more maggots.
I put her in the big dog crate in the workshop building, safe from flies and everything else. When I checked her at 8:30 pm, I could still see a lot of little tiny maggots which must have been deep inside the wound when I washed her. The only thing I had to use was poultry dust for lice, mites, fleas, etc. I sprinkled this rather heavily on her butt, and the maggots started falling off.
I didn't know whether she'd be dead or alive this morning. She was actually standing when I went out at 6:30. No maggots left, but I wanted to wash the insecticide dust off, because I know I put on too much. I brought her in for another bath. The wound looks much better, so I canceled plans to get a sitter for mom and run out this morning for screwworm spray at the feed store.
After reading on here about the remarkable healing abilities of chickens, I am hopeful that this wound will heal up. I have slathered it with neosporin ointment. No sign of infection, no drainage, no pus. My only concern is that she is not eating much. I scrambled an egg for her and tore up some lettuce greens. She has taken a few bites, but is not really diving into it. I hope I didn't poison her system with the poultry dust but didn't see that I had any choice but to put it on her.
Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to alert everyone to keep an eye on those poopy butts. More might be going on under there than you think! If anyone has any suggestions of what I might try for wound care or food items that she might eat, let me know.
I'm a nurse, so I'm experienced in wound care, just not on chickens! And frankly, after this, I would rather deal with a wound than disease. At least you know what you're dealing with.
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