maggots

[rhondawain]

We put our meatbird in a box because of a broken leg. now her butt is open and it has maggots crawling in there. How can I kill the maggots and is the bird safe to eat? It is scheduled to be killed in 4 days. also can I put my 6 pecan ducks in w my 15 layer hens in their house for the winter? Thanks

 

[cassie]

If it were me I would heat up a big pot of water, find some big pruning shears or something to lop off the head, and process the chicken right now. You can wash off the maggots by putting the chickens rear under a running faucet. But I wouldn't bother. I'd just process the chicken right now and cut out the maggoty part.

 

[sundance]

this may be a stupid question, but why would you want to eat a bird that had maggots.Even if you killed all of them, for me I think would still see the maggots and couldn't eat the meat.

 

[cassie]

Quote:
You have a point. It would depend a lot on the extent and length of infestation. While maggots are certainly not aesthetic, they don't really hurt anything. They just look yucky. To throw out an otherwise perfectly good chicken just because it has a little yucky on it that hot water and some judicious trimming with a knife could take care of seems wasteful to me. But if the chicken had a generalized infestation, which is an indication that there is something really wrong, into the dumpster it would go. If there is just a little bit of problem, to the chopping block, the scalding water, the plucking table, removal of the offending parts, and no one would ever know. After the chicken was cut up, packaged, and sat in the freezer a few weeks, I wouldn't remember either.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Maggots can and do carry disease.

To treat, thoroughly wash the birds backside so that the water and maggots run out of the body, not into it. Wash, and wash, and wash. When you cannot find any more, syringe hydrogen peroxide into the wounds, once again to that it drains outwards. Do not dilute the hydrogen peroxide--it is a one-time treament to removes as many maggots as possible.

Then you have a choice. Cull the bird and bury it, or treat and allow enough withdrawal time.

Treatment: get some FLYS OFF or SWAT at the feed or pet store and spray or rub throughout the wound. You will do this one time. It has an insecticide that will kill any remaining maggots. Bring the bird inside where is it is away from flies and dirt. Leave the wound open. Daily irrigate with an iodine & water solution. Give the bird an antibiotic to fight infection. Remove any proud flesh. You want the wound to heal from the inside outwards.

 

[cassie]

Maggots are also used to debride wounds and get rid of dead and infected flesh. They do a good job of it, too. Just don't leave them on too long or they might start on the live flesh too. Just curious. What diseases do maggots carry? They are unappetizing things, true, but I have never heard of them carrying anything. Except if they feed on decaying animals they can give botulism to critters, like chickens, that eat them.

 

[rhondawain]

thankyou so much everyone I did flush them out but didnt get them all and she died. Now about my 6 pekin ducks can I overwinter them in the chicken house w the hens? any info on over wintering ducks in northeast? thanks

 

[cassie]

If it makes you feel any better, it was probably not the maggots themselves that killed her. It was the condition that caused her to have the maggots in the first place. Like an infected open wound.

 

[laughingllama75]

Yes, you can keep ducks with chickens. You will have to clean the coop a lot more, as ducks are way messier. I have several friends who do this, just provide a small (1-3 qt) bowl for water. I would raise it, so they dont try to get in it. Hope this helps

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

A very few species of maggots are grown in clinical conditions and will eat only dead/dying flesh. There are a number of species of maggots that can and will actively eat live flesh.

The condition is called flystrike and is an all to common occurrance in birds or animals that are heavily feathered or furred in the nether regions. Poop gets caught on the backside and then more and then more. Flies are attracted to poop and lay their eggs in it. The maggots hatch and begin eating the nearby flesh. Sound like a case of negligence? Well, it would, until you consider that this entire sequence can occur in less than 24 hours.

Flies carry all sorts of diseases, one of the reasons health department inspections of restaurants are very picky about the presence of flies.