Please help diagnose

[Eggcessive]

Continue the baths at least daily and use plain antibiotic ointment on the skin twice daily.

 

[Shari777]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I had not seen many of them till just now - sorry new to this board. I will try to get a better picture. It’s very concerning if that bulge could actually be her stomach lining. What can be done about that? I was not aware of flystrike or it’s devastating affects until now.

 

[kathy32]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I had not seen many of them till just now - sorry new to this board. I will try to get a better picture. It’s very concerning if that bulge could actually be her stomach lining. What can be done about that? I was not aware of flystrike or it’s devastating affects until now.

Not an expert, but going by my experience, I think a vet could repair **if** they thought she was a good candidate (and if you wanted to spend the $$ obviously!). The vet did not think my hen would have a good surgery outcome because of her age and condition, nor was it something I would do for $ reasons. Chickens recover from some crazy injuries though, so aside from the vet option I would continue the bathing/applying antibiotics ointment at home and see how she does. How is she now? If she is still alert, eating and drinking thats a great sign. Have you seen more maggots?

 

[Shari777]

Not an expert, but going by my experience, I think a vet could repair **if** they thought she was a good candidate (and if you wanted to spend the $$ obviously!). The vet did not think my hen would have a good surgery outcome because of her age and condition, nor was it something I would do for $ reasons. Chickens recover from some crazy injuries though, so aside from the vet option I would continue the bathing/applying antibiotics ointment at home and see how she does. How is she now? If she is still alert, eating and drinking thats a great sign. Have you seen more maggots?

Actually, she’s doing ok at the moment. I really don’t think the vet option would work seeing as how she is 6.5 years old. But I’ve been bathing her in Epsom salts and now rubbing antibiotic ointment on her. She’s eating and walking around. The bulge on her backside, that I’ve been informed is actually her inside lining bulging out due to her skin being eatin away is starting to thicken up…which is maybe a good thing…? The night I picked all the maggots off her it seemed really thin and squishy. Now it seems like a thick bulge instead. And I have not seen any maggots on her since that evening I picked them off and put a handful of diatomaceous earth on the area. So, as much as this fly strike thing sickens me since I didn’t even know it was something that could happen, I’m going to see how it goes with my hen. I’ve been doing two epsom salt baths daily, but I think I will go down to one daily since I don’t like her being wet at night, and put the ointment on twice daily. Hopefully the bulge will continue to thicken and be just as protective as before this happened. With any luck, she can still have a good remaining few years. As long as she seems like she isn’t in pain, I will hope for the best.

 

[kathy32]

That's great news! I'm so glad to hear it. Keep us updated, I'd love to know how she does.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think the bulge is the outside of the visceral peritoneum or what is holding her abdominal organs inside. There is always a chance that it could be injured, causing the organs to come out. But hopefully it will continue to heal. We don’t always get a lot of follow-up on what happens to these chickens and their wounds. Wishing you good luck on your hen’s being able to heal.

 

[Shari777]

So I’m finally posting an update for my hen. I’ll give a quick recap first: I found my hen with most of her backside feathers gone, what looked like a big bulging abscess (it was NOT an abscess) and a bunch of maggots crawling around. I immediately got a tweezers and spent about an hour picking out all the maggots. I then took a handful of diatomaceous earth and patted her backside with it hoping it would kill any remaining maggots. The next morning, it looked like the DE had kind of caked up around the bulge sealing up the edges. After reading the responses from all the helpful people who posted, I determined that the bulge was actually her stomach lining bulging out due to the maggots having eaten her skin away. Her belly also felt pretty big and taught so I thought she might be eggbound too. So, every day for a week I gave her two epsom salt baths which were good for keeping her backside clean too, I then rubbed antibiotic ointment on her backside twice daily and I also cut up one 875 mg amoxicillin antibiotics pill into 8 pieces (it was very old so may have also lost some effectiveness). I gave her one piece in the morning and one at night. So the one pill lasted for 4 days. During that week, she was a little more subdued, but still looked in pretty good shape. After that week, I went down to one epsom salt bath and ointment application daily for another week. I do not believe she was ever eggbound, but I’m sure the salt baths were very good for her flystrike situation. I never saw any more maggots appear after that first day. Her bulge started out very squishy, but every day it seemed to get harder and more protected. She also seemed to get her energy back more every day. So, about 3 months later how is my hen doing…? She seems good as new! I will try and get a current picture of her backside, but will be hard to see anything with all her feathers. I will post a before, during, and after photo in the next few days. Thank you again to everyone who helped. And for those that experience this awful flystrike problem in the future, maybe don’t be too quick to give up hope. My hen is still around and enjoying life.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the detailed update, and so happy that your hen has healed.

 

[PeaceMary]

I'm afraid there's not much you might be able to do with so many issues, at 6.5 years old, she might not bounce back if you manage to treat it. De really wont help at this point, she's probably not laying or producing eggs since egg bind kills in days.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...es-prevention-treatment-and-my-journey.76876/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-tale-of-two-prolapsed-vents.74480/

Just so you have the info but good luck.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...re-culling-the-injured-and-sick-babies.72140/

Oh, so sorry for the bad news about your old girl. Since i can't figure out how to ask a question of my own...i'll just try here. Found this thread like thing in my girl's poop in the morning. (Droppings from the roost.)
IS IT A WORM? I have 4 hens who are all moltilng but seem very lively although not laying now. Any suggestions to treat them or should i even worry?

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, so sorry for the bad news about your old girl. Since i can't figure out how to ask a question of my own...i'll just try here. Found this thread like thing in my girl's poop in the morning. (Droppings from the roost.)
IS IT A WORM? I have 4 hens who are all moltilng but seem very lively although not laying now. Any suggestions to treat them or should i even worry?

That is a large roundworm. Since they are molting, I would not use SafeGuard or fenbendazole. But you can get Valbazen in a few feed stores and online, and it is an excellent, but safe wormer. Dosage is 1/2 ml for most average 4-6 pound chickens, given orally undiluted once, and again in 10 days. Here is where to buy it online:
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/valbazen-broad-spectrum-dewormer

If you would like to post a new thread here is where to do it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/post-thread