MAGGOTS

[RIredlady]

recently I rehomed my RI red rooster because he was essentially "overworking" the girls.

One of my hens went broody and I figured ok, let's see how she does if they hatch great if they don't that's fine as well.

I go out to the coop at least 2x a day to check/water/feed the hens and today I found quite a sight.

As I approached the coop to collect eggs I was smacked in the face with a horrendous smell. I fought the one broody hen out of the coop and found she had somehow broken one of the eggs she had been sitting on.

That egg was a smell rotten mess festering with maggots.
(I should probably add that in New England it's been about 82-90 degrees lately, any type of meat/food left in the sun reeks quickly)

I promptly removed all eggs, candled those that were not touching the rot and cleaned out the coop using a diluted water vinegar mixture.

I did not notice anything odd with my hen, however I know fly strike can come on quickly.

Should I be recleaning the coop daily and checking the hens rumps for friends? Or is it more likely the nasty buggers were just into the broken egg?

 

[Kiki]

I'd personally be checking daily for a while.

 

[Kiki]

Off topic kinda but I was watching this show last night..Untold true stories of the Er...something like that..anyways...
This baby was admitted to the hospital with maggots coming out of the skin on her hands in between her fingers.
They go them out and sent them straight to the lab to find out what kind of maggots they were. I don't rem the exact name but they were from flys that tend to hang out near cattle.
The dad had been taking the baby to work with him..a dairy farm.
The flies were laying eggs on the baby, who could not shoo them away and hatched in her skin.

 

[RIredlady]

I know there are different types of fly maggots but they're gross regardless. Ive had a few friends hatch various bugs they got bitten by (bleh). I've never dealt with the potential of a bird being eaten by them though.

The other problem with grabbing them to check them daily is that since the rooster went away they do NOT want me near them. Which is understandable...

Also, should I toss all of the fertilized eggs since they were close to the maggot pie?

 

[AlleysChicks]

Off topic kinda but I was watching this show last night..Untold true stories of the Er...something like that..anyways...
This baby was admitted to the hospital with maggots coming out of the skin on her hands in between her fingers.
They go them out and sent them straight to the lab to find out what kind of maggots they were. I don't rem the exact name but they were from flys that tend to hang out near cattle.
The dad had been taking the baby to work with him..a dairy farm.
The flies were laying eggs on the baby, who could not shoo them away and hatched in her skin.

Cuterebra? Warble?

 

[Kiki]

Cuterebra? Warble?

O girl...
now I'm going to have to go back and play that episode..
Give me a few minutes and I'll report back.

 

[AlleysChicks]

O girl...
now I'm going to have to go back and play that episode..
Give me a few minutes and I'll report back.

They are the same thing lol

 

[Kiki]

LOL
I'm still going see what they called them on the show. bbiaf

 

[RIredlady]

What show is this? Now I'm curious!

 

[Kiki]

Untold Stories of the ER on Netflix
The episode is number 5 and if you fast forward to about 26 minutes you will see exactly what I saw.
They called them: HORN flies!