skinny chicken after flystrike survival

[nicoleb875]

awhile back I lost one hen to flystrike before I even knew what it was... she was a good 6-8 years old + I tried to save her but she died overnight.... about 2 weeks later on my now nightly flip a chicken over and check a second hen got it as well.... this time I caught it MUCH earlier... couple weeks of tlc and she healed BUT she wasn't eating much... after trying many things I finally tempted her with greens... its the only thing that so far I can get her to consistantly eat... she doesn't seem weak she holds her head up walks around is plenty talkative (opinionated) I had moved her in a room with my ducks (they are seperated and have their own food/water/goodies) that are inside right now pending their duckhouse being built.... the weather and my health just have not cooperated shes perked up a bit and I ended up having to give her a bath today which she seemed to really enjoy... but I discovered that shes alot skinnier than I realized.... turns out the term fluffbutt fits her very well... as picky as she is i'm not sure where to start to fatten her back up ive tried yogurt in the past... she used to love grubs and mealworms but I haven't been able to get her to take those much either... if it weren't so muddy in the coop i'd put her back because I suspect part of the trouble is shes missing her goose friend but its beyond muddy and I really dont want her to get flystrike AGAIN and end up starting all over... im not sure she'd survive it...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear she's recovering.

I would not push to fatten her up quickly. Provide her with a nutritionally balanced poultry feed as the main source of nutrition. Bits of egg, fish, meat can be offered as extra protein. Bits of greens she likes can be a nice treat and good for her.

Even short visits, outside to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine can lift the spirits, so maybe she can at least go out on the porch for a little while each day?

Has she resumed laying eggs? Sometimes there may be an underlying condition that causes a hen to have flystrike, but not always.

 

[nicoleb875]

both hens had stopped laying eggs a month or so before they got flystrike but I belive it was due to the fact some of the feral cats that we look after (growing up we lived in the country and sadly people thought it was ok to abandon their poor pets near our house and we ended up looking after them...we now have several subdivisions around us so as far as I know no one does that anymore but we still do our best to care for them all)...some of them mostly a certain bunch of 3 young kittens found a way into the run. we also have a goose in with the chickens and im not sure if thats why or not but the ones who somehow found a way in after like 5 years of having the chickens and goose didn't bother even my small silkie hen who rarely ever lays eggs...I suspect in her case a reproductive problem as shes always had issues until she mostly just quit laying all together. shes healthy otherwise and full of spunk. I don't know how long the ferals had been getting in but im guessing they upset the chickens despite not a single feather ruffled. I finally managed to fix the issue right before my oldest hen was hit with flystrike...she was 6-8 years old but in bright fluffy glossy feathered health when it happened...sadly I didn't know about flystrike so I hadn't been checking fluff butts for issues when I found her outside the coop behind the door instead of in her nesting box like she had been every other night before then and when I picked her up I about had a panic attack..I rushed her inside and tried my best to save her but she passed overnight. it was about a week or 2 later chick chick got hit too but thanks to nightly butt checks there was only a spot about the size of a quarter. I will try my hardest to take her out for a visit as soon as we both won't turn into instant mudpies...my mom is having radiation treatments every day along with her having bad back pain which leaves me to do a good amount of care-giving...its been a really intense few months where it seems like everything that CAN go wrong pretty much HAS including a hurricane! fortunately I remembered when I went to tsc that she loved hulled sunflower seeds as a chick so I got her a bag and she was enthusiastically munching those down along with a little bit of the tiny round pelleted food I found and her greens. the sunflower "hearts" bag says something like 46% fat so hopefully alittle of those here and there will help her put the fluff back in fluffbutt

 

[nicoleb875]

I'm glad to hear she's recovering.

I would not push to fatten her up quickly. Provide her with a nutritionally balanced poultry feed as the main source of nutrition. Bits of egg, fish, meat can be offered as extra protein. Bits of greens she likes can be a nice treat and good for her.

Even short visits, outside to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine can lift the spirits, so maybe she can at least go out on the porch for a little while each day?

Has she resumed laying eggs? Sometimes there may be an underlying condition that causes a hen to have flystrike, but not always.

shes not laying eggs has not been even before flystrike neither her nor the hen that got hit first. my third hen has always had egg issues and just doesn't lay but once in a blue moon when the stars align but otherwise shes a firecracker lol. tonight chick chick isn't looking so hot I can tell she doesn't feel good. her crop is still big... theres watery poop... which is how its been since the flystrike but not before as far as I know...

I don't smell anything bad other than chicken poo but it doesn't look like she ate much if any today. I massaged her crop for a few minutes and it gurggled several times but im not sure it went down any. I wish I had a magic wand to just make her all better again shes had a rough time lately. i'm not sure if theres just something major going on that has been the whole time and the flies just knew to pick on her or if this is a new thing... at a loss for what to do

 

[nicoleb875]

well turns out there wasn't anything I could do because she died overnight sometime. her goose friend has never been horribly upset she wasn't in the coop for awhile like I always thought she would be if something happened to chick chick.. maybe she knew.. either that or she just trusted me to make it better.. I just hope she doesn't decide to get depressed now....

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry.