Prolapse and Flystrike

[TexasLea]

Four days ago I noticed one of my cochin hens was not trying to go up into the coop at sunset like usual. That morning she had looked fine. I checked her over and after lifting her tail feathers I found her backside caked with poop and maggots. I immediately washed her in a tub of warm water and peroxide. I used an old clean rag to get as many of the nasty things off her as I could. Because it was pretty much dark by then I put her up in the coop to dry out and go to sleep for the night. First thing the next morning I checked her again and still saw a few maggots and a little crusty poo clinging to a feather so she got another warm water/ peroxide bath. She seemed to enjoy the baths and afterwards was down right perky, kinda like how a dog gets frisky after it's bath. It was about to rain so I put her in a pet taxi with some pine bedding and brought her into the garage to dry. I fed her some small bites of bread soaked in an electrolyte and tetracycline solution. She gobbled them up and even let out little content chicken trills while she ate. After she had time to dry I checked her again and still saw some of the bugs. This is when I realised she had prolapsed her vent and the maggots were inside as well as on the outer edges. I didn't want to end up giving her a respiratory illness by getting her whole bottom half wet again with the weather being damp and cool so I put a warm water/ peroxide solution in a spray bottle and just misted her back end. She didn't have any open wounds I could see, just bulging tissue. I used a soft rag to knock off several more maggots. She was pretty swollen around her vent and there really is no way for me to actually get in there to get any more of the nasty things out. After awhile when I knew she was dry, I used an old sock sorta like it was a powder puff and dusted her bum with diatomaceous earth. She continued to enjoy treats of bread bites soaked in electrolyte/ tetracycline the rest of the day. The next morning, even though there were no flies in the garage, the maggots were completely covering her vent area again. So once again a bath, then time to dry and a dusting of D.E. Again, she ate and drank well all day both her soaked bread and some soaked layer pellets. Other than being kinda preturbed to be stuck in a pet taxi she acted like a perfectly normal chicken. She even pooped several healthy looking poops that didn't seem to bother her to pass at all. I checked her before bed and could hardly see any bugs moving at all save for one or two just out of reach in her swollen vent. I gave her another good dusting and let her settle in for the night. I thought I had made great progress with ridding her of the nasty bugs, but once again this morning her vent was covered with at least 20-30 of the vile things. It's like they are crawling out of her at night or something. Another bath, another round of D.E. I changed the pine shavings out and even put extra D.E. in with the new layer. This morning she actually fought me on the bath and tried to run back in the pet taxi. She had some serious spunk. While the tissue back there is looking much better- I think the swelling was even down a little today, I can't help but wonder if there isn't a better way to help her out than what I'm doing. I can't even begin to think of a way to treat the prolapse because I have no idea if all the maggots are out of there yet. I don't want to push any of the nasty things further up in there and it is still way too swollen for me to try to get anything in there to get any remaining bugs out. I had thought if the swelling continues to go down I could try and use a squirt bottle to spray warm water up in there and wash her out.
I was a member of Backyard chickens about 5 years ago when I first got my birds, but I stopped visiting as life got hectic and my computer time got cut short. I know there are a ton of helpful folks on here and as much as I hate the thought of someone elses poor bird going through this I am hoping for some been there done that advice. Please do not tell me to put her down, other than her buggy bum, she is happy and healthy. She has been alert and curious about what's going on around her and downright happy with her special bread treats. She hasn't seemed in distress at all except for not wanting her bath this morning and not being overly pleased to be in a pet taxi in the garage instead of outside in the yard. She is about 5 years old and I really don't care if she never lays another egg- she's just my pet and I love her and I just want her to be healthy. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Lea

 

[GoChick]

So sorry about your bird.

Any way to bump this post? I don't have much to offer. I've never treated maggots on birds but did treat on dogs, and if it were me, I'd probably wash her really well, with a disinfecting solution, dry her with a hair dryer and spray her butt with Blu-Kote once or twice a day.

Good luck, hope somebody else has more to offer, and keep us updated.

 

[TexasLea]

Thank you for your kind words GoChick. This morning was much better- no where near the maggots back there! I have been digging through old posts in this forum and today I am changing our tactics a bit even though what we have been doing has worked for this long. I will spray her down with screw worm spray to hopefully kill any maggots that are left. Then once that dries we will be spraying on some blue kote. Her whole vent is nowhere near as swollen and protruding today so now I'm wondering if she might not of actually had a prolapse at all, but rather the swelling was caused by the nasty critters being in her vent. While we are waiting for her to dry between treatments I am super cleaning the coop, adding D.E. to the bedding under the roost and hanging one of those plastic fly jars in the run. I am also turning on the fan I keep going for them all summer. Maybe the moving air will help keep the flies away as well. My plan is to put her back out there later this afternoon because I know she would be much happier. I only have one other hen than her left who is currently gone broody and there are no roos so I don't think I have to worry about her being pecked.

 

[GoChick]

Great news if it is not a prolapse! It looks like you're on the right track!

Keeping the bedding dry will help control the flies. I used to use DE, but switched to Sweet DPZ - it helps dry out the poop and keep the ammonia level low, and supposedly it is not as bad for the lungs as DE. Supposedly.

I agree you should put her back in the coop, just keep an eye on her I hope you can get rid of the maggots! Keep us updated.

 

[TexasLea]

She is super happy to be back in her coop! Also, her backside is looking so much better. The screwworm spray and blue-kote was the ticket for sure. I'm keeping her on the bread soaked with electrolyte/antibiotic as a treat once or twice a day for a few more days but she seems to be fully recovered from the ordeal.

 

[GoChick]

That's great news!!

 

[PolkaDot77]

I am having the same problem with my black cochin right now. I've already given her a bath and read on here that SWAT fly ointment for horses and dogs can also be used on chickens, so I coated her vent area in that as well. I'm going to keep her in a dog crate tonight inside tonight, but I'm wondering exactly what products you used to help your cochin? What was the name and where did you purchase them? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[TexasLea]

I added a glug of peroxide in the bath water and gently swished her bottom around in it. If your hen puts up a bit of a fight this is a good sign! That means she is not totally debilitated by the flystrike. After the bath apply this product to the vent area:
http://www.amazon.com/Durvet-Screw-...d=1346103444&sr=8-1&keywords=screw+worm+spray

I found it at my feed store in the horse section, but it is fine for use on poultry as well. It says so on the can. I let her dry out and checked again if I needed another application of the screw worm spray. I gave it several hours to work between applications. Once you no longer see any of the maggots on her, spray her backside with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Farnam-Centra...=1346103648&sr=1-1&keywords=Farnam+Wound+Kote

I also found this in the horse section. It is often called "Blue Coat" spray. It acts as sort of a liquid spray on bandaid to keep the wound clean as it heals. Plus it gives your hen a snazzy blue backside. Just be forwarned it is a bright purple when it first comes out of the can and it will stain anything it touches!

I kept my hen in a pet taxi in the garage and fed her a mixture of chicken feed and bread torn into small pieces and soaked with a poultry electrolyte solution and antibiotic several times a day to help her get her strength up and fight off any infection. I got both of those items in the poultry section of the feed store. Once she began to fight me checking her backside I knew she was getting back to her bossy self and I put her back in the regular coop and run. I kept giving her the bread soaked with electrolytes and antibiotics for several more days until I was sure she was over any infection there might have been. I would take her to a seperate area to feed her this so noone else ate up her "special treat". While she ate, I continued to check her backside, spraying the screw worm spray back there occasionally, more as a preventitive as it is also a fly repellant until she was fully healed. I'm happy to report that she even eventually began to lay eggs again although they are a bit odd shaped.

I will be checking back in on this thread for updates on your hen. I wish her a full and speedy recovery. If I can be of any other help, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[tinkerbell13013]

im so sorry about your hen i dont really know wat to do. we had a hen with that once it was my favoret

 

[yo burrill]

My first thought would be to deworm the chicken if it seems strong enough to handle it. That should help kill anything that is inside. Human Preparation- H can be used on the prolapsed tissue to shrink the swelling around the vent and allow the tissue to go back where it belongs some people also use Honey to do the same thing and it has anti-bacterial properties.