Poultry Fly Strike...a cautionary tale with GRAPHIC photo progression.

[Thegoodwife]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/935865/chicken-butt-problems-cant-find-any-info-online

I have just read your thread after posting my own cry for help, do you think it could be the same thing? My hens butt wound seems to have healed over and is full of clear fluid and was hot when we drained it.

 

[Lehcarjt]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for posting this! I noticed one of our Silkie Roos was acting lethargic, checked his butt and saw what I thought to be diarrhea and little white worms. They didn't look like either roundworms or tape worms, but kind of familiar. In my continued search for what they were, how to treat, I found your post and realized immediately they were maggots. We gave him a bath and the larger worms came out from under his skin - very clearly maggots.

Poor little guy. My husband and I spent a good hour flushing under his skin with betadine and capturing the maggots with tweezers. There had to be thousands of really tiny maggots up in his feathers - the betadine killed them enmasse. Now he has a huge gaping whole on his butt. I don't know that we are out of the woods yet and I'm going to need to get my hands on some antibiotics...

Your story both helped me figure out what to do and gave me hope that we'll pull him thru this! Thank you!

Rachel

 

[Lehcarjt]

I thought I'd give an update for anyone else who runs into this thread in the future...

Our little roo is doing great. 24 hours after his initial bath / de-maggoting, he was covered again in really tiny worms. We went thru the process again (found zero big worms - yeah!) and cut off all his feathers in the most maggot-covered areas (above his vent - tail feathers- interestingly enough) to make sure we'd gotten every maggot egg.

I continue to treat the wound with red-kote and he has anti-biotics in his water. He's eating / drinking / pooping / cock-a-doodle-doing. Not moving around much, but I imagine he's hurting and no where to go. We did cover all the holes in the crate with window screen material to keep out any additional flies.

I was sure he wasn't going to make it when we first realized what the problem was. And de-maggotting him was one of the grossed things I've had to do on an animal!

Rachel

 

[darkbrahmamama]

One of my hens had this last year. I did everything I read, including NOT giving antibiotics because the ointments would be enough. My mistake & ignorance. I lost my hen after about 3 weeks.

 

[emmaie892000]

Chickens have the most amazing ability to grow back brand new skin and feathers to cover gaping holes. I'm so glad you were able to treat such a horrifying wound! I've done the same "vet trip" for a two dollar chicken, but I'm glad I did.

 

[Crs1]

Tonight I found a half dollar sized spot under the vent of one of my hens with maggots. I am going to treat as if fly strike. But she is bloated too is that part of it?

 

[seminolewind]

With mine I dusted the area with Sevin and came back 30 minutes later and they were dead. It took a while to pick them all out. Then I coated with triple antibiotic. But she died from EYP.

 

[Crs1]

There weren't any maggots this morning and the gooey wound had scabbed over I am going to keep her seperate from the others and dr it thru the day for a few days. It will give me a chance to see if she is laying also.

 

[emmaie892000]

This has got me all stressed out, I think I'll be obsessively checking my fluffy butts for a while!
One of mine was attacked by a dog about a year ago on her leg and stomach, and her butt has hung a little low ever since. Her feathers tend to get a little poopy at times, and she had bad mites near her vent for forever, I just couldn't seem to get rid of them!
Luckily the flock is mite/lice free now, but I'll be checking their butts more often after seeing these stories!

 

[Pjsabamafan]

I just walked out and found my Dirty Girl so lethargic and flies swarming her. We placed her in sea salt bath and tried to get the larvae. We had never heard of this so Dirty Girl is in Heaven. We decided to get her out of her misery. If I would have seen these post previously, I would have done all of the above. I am thankful for Backyard Chickens and its' members.