Barred Rock Hen - White discharge around vent, along with feces, bulging tissue, blood, and a golf ball size cluster of maggots. HELP

Aaronleon

Chirping
Sep 13, 2019
15
16
69
My barred rock is suffering from the following:

Chickens butt is covered in wet feces, white secretions, blood, and a clump of maggots gathered around her vent, that also happens to be bulging when she strains to poop, blood, feces and maggots fall.

First noticed her droppings, with watery blood, feces, and maggots crawling in it. Upon further inspection I found what can be seen in the photos attached. My first priority will be to place her in a warm soapy Rubbermaid with a lid, and cutout for her head, to soak. Then I'll proceed, while using gloves and proper face protection, to washing with a mild stream of water, to further rinse away and knock off at much of this stuff as I possibly can, until it's nothing but bare feathers, and her pink skin. No foreign debris or objects will be left if this goes as planned, so I can further assess what's going on.

However, until then, have any of you PERSONALLY seen this before, and have a educated guess based on your own prior experience? If so, what is it, how did you treat it? I did see her pushing a bulge out, while I was taking pictures, which further disturbed the maggots. My thoughts are prolapse, however there is also the possibility she's just pushing because of the feeling of the cluster of maggots, in an attempt to dislodge them.

Thank you in advance for any help, and I apologize for the graphic photos.
 

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Your hen suffers from a bad case of fly strike and should be given a warm bath for 15 minutes with betadine, epsom salts or even Dawn dish wash immediately to clean her well and rid the maggots that are eating her alive.

Then dry her with clean towels and trim her butt feathers so we will be able to assess the damage.
She might already be beyond help as this has probably been going on for some time and the maggots have already been eating away at her innards.

She needs to be separated from the flock to avoid cannibalism.
 
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I do think that a prolapse might have happened and the others may have pecked and injured her, but the fly strike sounds advanced. Vent pecking is another possibility. There was a similar case in a thread in the past week, and then hen did not survive. Get on this right away, and it will probably take several warm soaks in the next 24 hours to get all of the maggots, since they will continue to hatch for a bit. Trim feathers, dry her to keep from chilling, let her rest, and get her drinking some electrolytes or sugar water between treatments. Offer scrambled egg and wet chicken feed. Apply some Neosporin ointment to the raw vent, but also remember to get pictures of her cleaned up vent.
 

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