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Here are her post batch pics. Thank you so much for your help and adjust ! She has an appointment tomorrow afternoon and I will let you know the outcome.
It was the grossest thing I’ve ever done. I am definitely in the “morning sickness” all day phase. Which sucks, but is also good because I’ve been home from work and regardless of what happens I got to spend some time with DeeDeeMeg, you did a fantastic job of cleaning her up, and it is a horrible smelly thing to face. And doing it while pregnant? Wow!
I am afraid that your hen won't do well, because of her underlying illness.
All the best,
Mary
I keep checking her and haven’t seen anymore maggots since Saturday morning...she’s had a couple of baths a day and is in a little corner insideI'm wondering if there are fly eggs there too. Trim anything suspicious off today!
It can be difficult to find all the little monsters, so look again.
Mary
I agree, grossest thing I've done too. Add being pregnant? , I cannot imagine.It was the grossest thing I’ve ever done. I am definitely in the “morning sickness” all day phase. Which sucks, but is also good because I’ve been home from work and regardless of what happens I got to spend some time with DeeDee
@theuncarvedblock
The swelling is almost certainly due to something other than the fly strike. Prolapse doesn't cause a huge amount of swelling, just protruding tissue which is pretty obvious. My guess would be that your Poppy probably has a reproductive issue going on like Salpingitis or perhaps internal laying or both. The swelling causes the poop to soil the feathers (normally the poop falls clear but as the swelling below the vent increases it starts to snag) and the flies lay eggs in the poop which has usually irritated the skin and the maggots hatch and eat into the sore.
Unfortunately, the reproductive problem will most likely prove fatal sooner or later. Can you post a photo of it? Does the swelling extend to hanging low between her legs as that usually indicates ascites (water belly) and it can be drained to give some short term relief. If it is more to the back below the vent and solid feeling then my guess would be salpingitis and you would be wise to prepare to euthanize when her quality of life becomes untenable. The swelling (usually a huge mass of infected egg material) will start to constrict her gut and she will be unable to poop (only white runny urates from the kidneys will be expelled) and her crop will become slow as her system gets backed up and she will die of toxic shock because she cannot pass waste. Once they lose interest in food, it is usually time to help them over the final hurdle.
I appreciate that I am painting a very bleak picture here without even seeing the bird, but these issues are sadly very common in hens and when you have opened one up after death and seen these masses inside them that cause the swelling, you realise how hopeless the situation is and how much discomfort they must be in.
I am not suggesting you euthanize your bird immediately, but look into the ailments I have mentioned and the symptoms I have described and be prepared to help her end it when the time comes.