Topic of the Week - Fly Strike

[brucifer]

Everything turned out fine, my girls are good, and I went to Orschelins to get Garden Lime and they tell me there was a recall about 3 months ago and they haven't gotten any in since so I will look into the Prolap for a preventative measure. Thanks for the info.

A lot of stores carry garden lime. If you have a TSC near you, you can get it there. Here's what what they have available and what I use with my birds:

 

[Crazy Mama]

A lot of stores carry garden lime. If you have a TSC near you, you can get it there. Here's what what they have available and what I use with my birds:

View attachment 1084974

Oh thank you, I will look for this now.

 

[lilpaws]

View attachment 1069680
Pic by @theoldchick*
​

This week, as suggested by member @casportpony, I would like to hear you all's thoughts and practices when it comes to preventing and treating fly strike in poultry. This condition occurs when flies lay eggs on chickens, most often around their vents, and resulting maggots live in and feed on the tissue, which results in an infection and if untreated, death of the affected bird.

- How can poultry keepers prevent fly strike in their flocks?
- Once affected, how can birds be treated for this?



For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

* Bird pictured above is perfectly healthy and the image was used for illustration and promotion of this thread only, instead of the more graphic images usually associated with this condition.

This a great to know. How do you treat it if they are coming out of the skin of a 3 day old keet?

 

[stacey10]

I found flystrike on my chicken. I did catch it right away. There is no wound or broken skin. I had her separated for one night and put her back with the other for the past couple days. She eats and drinks. Makes a weird noise every time she poops and only poops clear liquid. Is this normal with flystrike and should I be worried about her getting the rest of the flock sick? Also is this normal for flystrike if there was no wound? When I removed the maggots I gave her a salt bath and have washed her bottom with the hose a few times.

 

[yoopergirl1211]

I still have to finish reading all of this but I'm trying really hard not to run outside and check all of my girls backsides! I had a duck go broody in my coop and the babies (now 8 weeks old) were in there making a mess untill recently. The waterer I was using let them splash everywhere which made it wet and caused a fly problem. I switched to a 5 gallon pail with the cups drilled into it and hubby cut a hole in floor and replaced it with wire mesh so any spills went outside instead of on my sand/gravel. Also put a fly trap up. Seems to have helped but I thought of it as an annoyance not a health risk. Glad I found this!!
But seriously I think I'm going to go check butts now....

 

[Kiki]

I still have to finish reading all of this but I'm trying really hard not to run outside and check all of my girls backsides! I had a duck go broody in my coop and the babies (now 8 weeks old) were in there making a mess untill recently. The waterer I was using let them splash everywhere which made it wet and caused a fly problem. I switched to a 5 gallon pail with the cups drilled into it and hubby cut a hole in floor and replaced it with wire mesh so any spills went outside instead of on my sand/gravel. Also put a fly trap up. Seems to have helped but I thought of it as an annoyance not a health risk. Glad I found this!!
But seriously I think I'm going to go check butts now....

It doesn't just happen to butts.
It can happen any where on the body where there is a wound.

 

[etenn01]

View attachment 1069680
Pic by @theoldchick*
​

This week, as suggested by member @casportpony, I would like to hear you all's thoughts and practices when it comes to preventing and treating fly strike in poultry. This condition occurs when flies lay eggs on chickens, most often around their vents, and resulting maggots live in and feed on the tissue, which results in an infection and if untreated, death of the affected bird.

- How can poultry keepers prevent fly strike in their flocks?
- Once affected, how can birds be treated for this?



For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

* Bird pictured above is perfectly healthy and the image was used for illustration and promotion of this thread only, instead of the more graphic images usually associated with this condition.

Are there physical symptoms beside observing maggots in or around the vent?
Lethargy?

 

[orrpeople]

Are there physical symptoms beside observing maggots in or around the vent?
Lethargy?

I can only offer my observations about this. The hen that got it was a loner to begin with - not the cleanest gal in the flock - but we noticed she was more self-isolated than usual. She didn't come off the roost in the morning like normal and then just stayed in the barn. That was when we noticed the maggots. And, as was pointed out, although fly strike can certainly happen anywhere on an animal, flies tend to gravitate to... well, the things they gravitate to in the yard: moisture and poop.

 

[etenn01]

Thanks for your response. I recently had a 2 yr old Roo drop dead. He appeared healthy in every sense. It happened in a bout a day. He started being lethargic and keeping to himself. Not crowing. I never thought to check flystrike but I also never noticed any abnormalities. *other than lethargy and like he was shutting down.

I have a new young cockerel who is coming on and challenging the older 2 yr old. The 2 yr old was vicious toward people but never even sparred with the youngster even when challenged by the young one. It's like he shut down one day and fell over dead the next.

He was most beautiful and my first rooster that I raised from the hatch. He is the one I have on my shoulder in my photo... that was before he became the terror of all humans.

Thanks again for your response. I am still perplexed.
- Kevin

I can only offer my observations about this. The hen that got it was a loner to begin with - not the cleanest gal in the flock - but we noticed she was more self-isolated than usual. She didn't come off the roost in the morning like normal and then just stayed in the barn. That was when we noticed the maggots. And, as was pointed out, although fly strike can certainly happen anywhere on an animal, flies tend to gravitate to... well, the things they gravitate to in the yard: moisture and poop.

 

[orrpeople]

Thanks for your response. I recently had a 2 yr old Roo drop dead. He appeared healthy in every sense. It happened in a bout a day. He started being lethargic and keeping to himself. Not crowing. I never thought to check flystrike but I also never noticed any abnormalities. *other than lethargy and like he was shutting down.

I have a new young cockerel who is coming on and challenging the older 2 yr old. The 2 yr old was vicious toward people but never even sparred with the youngster even when challenged by the young one. It's like he shut down one day and fell over dead the next.

He was most beautiful and my first rooster that I raised from the hatch. He is the one I have on my shoulder in my photo... that was before he became the terror of all humans.

Thanks again for your response. I am still perplexed.
- Kevin

I'm really sorry for your loss. I hate it when that happens. There are a ton of reasons for that though, and if you have it happen again, you might want to take it in for a necropsy, just to make sure it's not viral or from something they are getting a hold of on your property. As long as you are checking variables within your control (heat, ventilation, sanitation, access to food and water, etc) hopefully it won't happen again. We have some big fellas that really struggle with the heat, so have had to make a bunch of changes for them this year.
Best wishes!