What the heck is going on with this bird?

[AmeraucanaGal]

so we lost a hen last week... now the next one around her age... in one day it flys are swarming her, and we look under her and her whole underside looks eaten away, and maggots are already there... she is lethargic but still with us... what the hell has happened with this bird? and is there a way to try to save her? there is no way that was all there the day before.

 

[Amastacia]

isolate her, clean her up as best you can, and with this one i would probably recommend electrolite water and maybe even antibiotics. i don't have a lot of experience with chickens, but very basic first aid is pretty much the same for everything. i know dark will help keep her calm. Chickens are apparently very hardy creatures, she might be ok with enough care.

good luck and hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon.

 

[realsis]

give her a bath and spray the area with benedine and use tweezers to manually remove the maggots. you will have to do this a couple days in a row because likely eggs will rehatch and more maggots will appear. put her on a general anti infective such as Gallamycine water soluble or you can give her injections of LA200 at 1/2 cc large bird 1/4 cc small birds once daily in her breast for 5 to7 days to help cut down on the infection. keep her inside or she will get fly blown again. its going to be hard but wear gloves and in the bath spray the benedine and remove those maggots. keep spraying and removing. once you get the area clean and maggot free you can treat the area with vetericyn spray. vetericyn spray is very good for wounds.once she's clean you will have a better idea of her wound. good luck to you and I hope this helps.

 

[Amastacia]

would this be a situation where BluKote would be appropriate? i was told to use it for a cut on one of my hens recently, but i don't really know much about it's applications (not suggesting its use, just looking for more info). and does vetericyn server a similar purpose? it sounds that way but i don't know much animal meds.

 

[AmeraucanaGal]

idk, i think alot of the junk has got internal. we don't even know what caused it. plus we think she was peckin at the maggots on herself.

 

[Haunted55]

isolate her, clean her up as best you can, and with this one i would probably recommend electrolite water and maybe even antibiotics. i don't have a lot of experience with chickens, but very basic first aid is pretty much the same for everything. i know dark will help keep her calm. Chickens are apparently very hardy creatures, she might be ok with enough care.

good luck and hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon.

would this be a situation where BluKote would be appropriate? i was told to use it for a cut on one of my hens recently, but i don't really know much about it's applications (not suggesting its use, just looking for more info). and does vetericyn server a similar purpose? it sounds that way but i don't know much animal meds.

Your info is spot on. Duramycin-10 1/2 tbls. per gallon of water. Sav-A-Chick or any of the poultry vitamnis readily available at Tractor Supply or farm store.

 

[Haunted55]

idk, i think alot of the junk has got internal. we don't even know what caused it. plus we think she was peckin at the maggots on herself.

How bad is she? Can you do pictures? Do you think she would be able to stand a bath?

 

[casportpony]

Sounds like something called "fly strike", but I've actually never seen it, I've just seen maggots on animals that already had an open wound. That said, I would clean the affected area and trim/remove any matted feathers, mud, pus, maggots, etc. And if they are near her vent, they might also be in her vent and will have to be removed as well.

Giving her a bath *might* be an option, but it could also kill her.

She'll need to be inside and kept warm and dry. If she's not eating/drinking, you'll need to think about tube feeding her.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

How bad is she? Can you do pictures? Do you think she would be able to stand a bath?

This is what people *should* say instead of "give her a bath".

 

[realsis]

you are correct forgive me for putting my sentence incorrectly. let me rephrase; ***do you think she could tolerate a bath?*** hope this is better.