Need urgent help for flystrike

calmeter

Songster
6 Years
Mar 28, 2017
47
16
104
Good Morning, I'm a new member here and have a very distressing problem.

Yesterday I noticed that one of my hens had blood running down her rear! I had noticed a few days ago that she had a little bit of a poopy butt. I brought her in the house andI filled a large tote in my bathtub with warm water and some Epsom salts and stuck her in it. Immediately, the water began to turn red from the blood and I was sickened by the smell of rot! As she contentedly soaked in the water I started to notice maggots rising to the surface~

From what I gather, this may very well be a case of fly strike. I read up on it yesterday and put her in a cage on my back porch, so no flies could get to the area, now that it is clean. I also trimmed some of the feathers around her vent. I must say that I cannot distinguish where her vent is anymore, as the whole area looks like eaten flesh.

Some things I read say to put antibiotic ointment on the wound, others say no ointment, so as to keep the area dry? I also added some Oxytetracycline powder to her water.

My main concern is that this wound is actively bleeding. Quite a bit of blood this morning on the towel that is on the bottom of her cage. I made up some saline water in a spray bottle and tried to wash away the blood by spraying the area with the saline. I used the towel to blot the area.

I have no experience dealing with a sick chicken. I have four others and they all roam my backyard. Fortunately, they have all been in good health.

I really need some advice on how to best care for this large wound and the bleeding. I haven't read any articles about flystrike where it speaks of bleeding.

Thank you all so much for any help or suggestions.
 
700

I've read a lot about fly strike now, but no one talks about bleeding. I gave my girl another bath this afternoon to wash away the blood and got some spray vetericyn at tractor supply to spray on the wound. The blood pools around the feathers underneath the wound. I don't know what's causing the bleeding. Fortunately, there have been no more maggots.
 
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Well, actually bleeding might be good, in that the tissue is alive and not dead. Blood stop powder or flour can help stop severe bleeding, but because of the mess, I would just use pressure on the wound for 2-3 minutes when it should clot. It is really good that you found her problem in time to help save her. Fly strike is very common in warms areas and summertime. When they get a small wound on them, or they get a build up of droppings around the vent, flies can actually kill them. Repeated soaks, and making sure all of the maggots are gone, and then using the Neosporin ointment on her bottom hopefully will heal her.
 
Thank you for the suggestion to put pressure on the bleeding. I'll try that.
 
Thank you for asking. She seems to be doing pretty well. No more bleeding. I have been using veterycin spray on her a couple times a day. I feel sorry for her stuck in her cage, but she can't go out and start rolling around and get dirt in her wound. She's definitely not going downhill.
 

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