Need help diagnosing/fixing sick chicken with flystrike. What caused this? *GRAPHIC PICS*

[moms3cuties]

Thanks an excellent question! How does one "PREVENT" Fly Strike?

Thanks Dawg53 and moms3cuties!

So I think I've gotten rid of most of the maggots, but how do I stop this from happening again. Do I just have to clean her butt all the time?

 

[Sarevan]

To prevent flystrike on our fluffybutt hens they all get short trims around the vent and the feathers under the vent. Wide as the tail all the way to the belly (2"x4") feathers are trimmed down to maybe only 1/4 of an inch of feathers left. IF gunk is still catching and staying on that, they get bald butts.

Our fluffybutts throw a bit of a fit at first then calm down while being held between my knees slightly upside down to be trimmed with scissors. I would like to get a pair of electric shears as hand gets kinda tired after 11 hens. The Roo even gets a trim as he was always getting a messy butt.

I apply a marigold / lavender smelling oil/ lotion to the skin so it doesn't get chapped or dry from lack of coverage. I put marigolds and lavender in olive oil and let it sit to allow the scent to work its way through all the oil. Works good on helping the back heal from rooster scratching and removing feathers too from his amourous advances. Don't need much as the oil spreads.

To keep flys down we also use those disgusting smelling fly traps 50 feet away from the run and coop. Flys go there instead of the chickens. Otherwise keep area clean as possible, clean messy butts to prevent flies from laying eggs on the hens.

 

[dawg53]

To prevent flystrike on our fluffybutt hens they all get short trims around the vent and the feathers under the vent. Wide as the tail all the way to the belly (2"x4") feathers are trimmed down to maybe only 1/4 of an inch of feathers left. IF gunk is still catching and staying on that, they get bald butts.

Our fluffybutts throw a bit of a fit at first then calm down while being held between my knees slightly upside down to be trimmed with scissors. I would like to get a pair of electric shears as hand gets kinda tired after 11 hens. The Roo even gets a trim as he was always getting a messy butt.

I apply a marigold / lavender smelling oil/ lotion to the skin so it doesn't get chapped or dry from lack of coverage. I put marigolds and lavender in olive oil and let it sit to allow the scent to work its way through all the oil. Works good on helping the back heal from rooster scratching and removing feathers too from his amourous advances. Don't need much as the oil spreads.

To keep flys down we also use those disgusting smelling fly traps 50 feet away from the run and coop. Flys go there instead of the chickens. Otherwise keep area clean as possible, clean messy butts to prevent flies from laying eggs on the hens.

x2 I do the same thing. A sharp pair of scissors works well and I trim fluff and feathers back close so they can have a clean "shot" to the ground. Serevan, keep using scissors, the noise from electric shears will scare the heck out of them.
Putting sand on the ground in the pen/run will help cut back on flies and other insects and wont wash away in a rain storm. It also dries quicker than dirt and easier to scoop poop. I have used fly strips which work well, but have to hang them high up in the pen so the birds wont be tempted to jump up and eat the bugs caught on the strip, then the strip gets stuck and wrapped up on the chicken.

 

[Sarevan]

x2   I do the same thing. A sharp pair of scissors works well and I trim fluff and feathers back close so they can have a clean "shot" to the ground. Serevan, keep using scissors, the noise from electric shears will scare the heck out of them.
Putting sand on the ground in the pen/run will help cut back on flies and other insects and wont wash away in a rain storm. It also dries quicker than dirt and easier to scoop poop. I have used fly strips which work well, but have to hang them high up in the pen so the birds wont be tempted to jump up and eat the bugs caught on the strip, then the strip gets stuck and wrapped up on the chicken.

Yep no fun trying to unwrap a very upset chicken from a fly strip. With the others pecking trying to get the treats stuck to her and the tape. Thought I had the fresh strip placed high enough and away from roost. Silly hen did a good jump from the roost and caught the end of the strip, managed to be wrapped around body and a leg. Trying to run from flockmates chasing her to get at flies. The stuff was sticky enough to stick 2 hens together when tape also caught the other hen. I heard the ruckus and found the two stuck, trying to go different directions to get away from it and flockmates. Was hilarious, thankfully non toxic! Just a mess to clean them. Reason I use the fly traps now.

I'll keep using scissors to clip them, they didn't throw a fit when using dremel to cut down claws so thought a pair of electric shears may work. As it would be vibrating the abdomen, it may freak them out. They put up with a lot of things, that may be too much.

 

[dawg53]

Quote: Hahahaha! I had the same thing happen to a Black Star that got wrapped up in fly strip. She ran screaming bloody murder out of the pen into the yard with the other terrified birds running the opposite direction lol. It was fun catching her and getting that stuff off her...lesson learned.

 

[moms3cuties]

So there's NON TOXIC fly traps? In AZ we always have Flies,,, especially underneath the peach tree that they roost on,to sleep at night.

~ Please tell me the name or brand of these fly traps and send me a link if you have one where to order it online! Thanks!

 

[dawg53]

So there's NON TOXIC fly traps? In AZ we always have Flies,,, especially underneath the peach tree that they roost on,to sleep at night.

~ Please tell me the name or brand of these fly traps and send me a link if you have one where to order it online!

Thanks!

http://www.pestproducts.com/flytrap.htm

 

[Veggie4life55]

We have had chickens attacked by raccoons and tore open pretty good. We took them to an older fashioned vet which is before we found our avian vet ... But the farm vet cleaned the edges, sutured, and cleaned everything and then had us fill the other holes with Neosporin ( not the off brand or the one with pain meds) then at home she had us soak gauze in a solution of 9 parts water to 1 part bleach, ring it out, and put the gauze on the wound and wrap her up so that the gauze would stay on. Keep the gauze wet all the time and no flies will come around.... Change every 6 to 8 hours ... Don't make it any stronger cause it will burn the skin... This kept it from getting dirty and from flies laying larva till the edges were healed enough . It might sound strange but worked really well and never had a problem with flies during healing. She also made her a little shirt to slip over and hold the gauze on and the staples... Cause our chickens like to pull out the staples... But also make sure it's cleaned out good first!
This link is about that vet trip and some of her wounds... Hope it helps.., good luck... And well wishes for your girl. Ignore all the typos in my old blog pls lol
http://respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-reds-trip-to-vet.html

 

[BigKitty09]

We have had chickens attacked by raccoons and tore open pretty good. We took them to an older fashioned vet which is before we found our avian vet ... But the farm vet cleaned the edges, sutured, and cleaned everything and then had us fill the other holes with Neosporin ( not the off brand or the one with pain meds) then at home she had us soak gauze in a solution of 9 parts water to 1 part bleach, ring it out, and put the gauze on the wound and wrap her up so that the gauze would stay on. Keep the gauze wet all the time and no flies will come around.... Change every 6 to 8 hours ... Don't make it any stronger cause it will burn the skin... This kept it from getting dirty and from flies laying larva till the edges were healed enough . It might sound strange but worked really well and never had a problem with flies during healing. She also made her a little shirt to slip over and hold the gauze on and the staples... Cause our chickens like to pull out the staples... But also make sure it's cleaned out good first!
This link is about that vet trip and some of her wounds... Hope it helps.., good luck... And well wishes for your girl. Ignore all the typos in my old blog pls lol
http://respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-reds-trip-to-vet.html

Thanks everyone! Veggie4life55, I'm glad to hear your chickens are ok. Update. She is doing well and recovered pretty quickly and she is also sitting on a clutch of lavender/ black ameraucana eggs can't wait

 

[Tarashea]

This is not entirely true. Yes DE will not kill maggots but it WILL control the fly issue so they don't GET maggots to start with.

FYI