Is this flystrike? If so how can I treat?

[shoregirl68]

We have no idea what this is. Bulging sac filled with maggots below her vent. We've been told it is likely flystrike and by the looks of it, pretty severe

We feel so negligent. The brown surrounding the opening is not feces as we first thought. We believe it’s necrotic tissue. She smells of decay but is eating and drinking normally.

Even after flushing with tepid water, trimming back the feathers surrounding the area, the skin remained brown and smelled heavily of decay however she is eating and drinking normally.

The only antibiotics I have in the house are zithromax and clavamox tablets that were for my kittens.

Can I use either of these orally? It was also recommended that I flush with iodine and/or epsom salt.

HELP...I would like to try to save her.

 

[Folly's place]

Those are definitely maggots, not good! Rinse, apply permethrin if you have it, Dawn dish soap as a wash, something to immediately get every maggot off her! There will be fly eggs too, and maggots up under the feathers, so be thorough, and ASAP. By tomorrow she'll be much worse/ dying.
She's sick for some reason; prolapsed? Very thin? Mites or lice? Internal issues?
Likely something is really wrong. Is she wounded back there?
Neither antibiotic you have is approved for chickens, and might not help, depending on the problem.
Ideally, she goes to an emergency clinic where they see birds. Otherwise, if you can really clean her up tonight, and slather ointment without local anesthetics back there, try for a veterinarian tomorrow. Good luck!
I've had this twice here, both times with hens who were very ill with internal issues that couldn't be fixed. I hope your girl does better.
Mary

 

[SurferchickinSB]

We have no idea what this is. Bulging sac filled with maggots below her vent. We've been told it is likely flystrike and by the looks of it, pretty severe

We feel so negligent. The brown surrounding the opening is not feces as we first thought. We believe it’s necrotic tissue. She smells of decay but is eating and drinking normally.

Even after flushing with tepid water, trimming back the feathers surrounding the area, the skin remained brown and smelled heavily of decay however she is eating and drinking normally.

The only antibiotics I have in the house are zithromax and clavamox tablets that were for my kittens.

Can I use either of these orally? It was also recommended that I flush with iodine and/or epsom salt.

HELP...I would like to try to save her.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Oh how horrible! It is such an open wound! I would try to clean out as many of the maggots with a mild solution such as saline, you may have to work on it a few times a day. I just brought my chicken to an aviary vet 2 days ago and one of her prescriptions is Clavamox, but the amount you give goes by weight.

 

[pkoneil]

I habe a hen that I've had to treat for flystrike every year for years (she's actually 14 yrs old now). I wear nitride gloves and get to removing maggots with fingers and tweezers as needed. The vent is usually red at the top so I gently wash her vent area using betadine solution or dilute chlorhexidine solution and cotton wipes, them I apply either Swat ointment around the vent (on the skin and feathers - it's a permethrin/petroleum jelly mix for keeping flies off wounds on horses) OR I dust the vent area with Garden and Poultry Dust (mix of diatomacious earth and permethrin) daily. If the wound is bad or smells bad I also give antibiotics for a week (usually SMZ/TMP or clavamox). If I catch it early enough I dont need antibiotics. I clean and treat the vent area daily until it is fully resolved. I may then continue with the dusting or Swat application every other day or every couple days as a preventative.

 

[pkoneil]

I have a hen that I've had to treat for flystrike every year for years (she's actually 12 yrs old now). I wear nitrile gloves and get to removing maggots with fingers and tweezers as needed. The vent is usually red at the top so I gently wash her vent area using betadine solution or dilute chlorhexidine solution and cotton wipes, them I apply either Swat ointment around the vent (on the skin and feathers - it's a permethrin/petroleum jelly mix for keeping flies off wounds on horses) OR I dust the vent area with Garden and Poultry Dust (mix of diatomacious earth and permethrin) daily. If the wound is bad or smells bad I also give antibiotics for a week (usually SMZ/TMP or clavamox). If I catch it early enough I dont need antibiotics. I clean and treat the vent area daily until it is fully resolved. I may then continue with the dusting or Swat application every other day or every couple days as a preventative.

I forgot something...she sometimes suffers what appears to be vent fleet, which either precipitates the whole thing or comes on after so besides antibiotic I also give her an anti-fungal (Nystatin).

 

[rebrascora]

@shoregirl68

Hi, just wondering how your hen is doing and if she made it?
Usually there is an underlying problem like a reproductive issue that causes them to have a swollen abdomen and leads to them getting a soiled butt and the flies lay eggs on the caked poop and the maggots hatch out and eat into the hen, so if she didn't make it, don't feel too bad that you didn't catch it sooner because the underlying issue that caused her to soil herself would almost certainly have killed her anyway. As @pkoneil mentions above, the soiled feathers or vent gleet that trigger the fly strike has an underlying cause. They have been lucky that theirs responded to antibiotics and antifungal but most do not because the vent gleet is a symptom of something more serious.

 

[PicklesMom]

We have no idea what this is. Bulging sac filled with maggots below her vent. We've been told it is likely flystrike and by the looks of it, pretty severe

We feel so negligent. The brown surrounding the opening is not feces as we first thought. We believe it’s necrotic tissue. She smells of decay but is eating and drinking normally.

Even after flushing with tepid water, trimming back the feathers surrounding the area, the skin remained brown and smelled heavily of decay however she is eating and drinking normally.

The only antibiotics I have in the house are zithromax and clavamox tablets that were for my kittens.

Can I use either of these orally? It was also recommended that I flush with iodine and/or epsom salt.

HELP...I would like to try to save her.

How did your chicken do? I just discovered this on my hen today. I am heartbroken, I should have dealt with her crusty bottom earlier but put it off for a few days... now with a big open sore. I have been doing everything I can think of today... Penicillin, chlorhexidine on the open areas, ivermectin drop on and picking out the maggots. It is making me feel better to see other chicken owners here who have dealt with the same thing... aside from the initial pasty area nothing to indicate the maggots under her feathers until I started bathing her and now am horrified.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! It's the most disgusting and smelly thing ever; good that you saw it before it's too late!
Make sure to look her over very carefully everywhere; they may be elsewhere on her body, and more eggs in her feathers.
Mary

 

[PicklesMom]

Welcome! It's the most disgusting and smelly thing ever; good that you saw it before it's too late!
Make sure to look her over very carefully everywhere; they may be elsewhere on her body, and more eggs in her feathers.
Mary

Yes Mary - she doesn't smell which I am hoping is a good sign, though am worried about an underlying peritonitis as she seems a little distended. I've spent all day on this - keep thinking I am done and finding more in her feathers! I'm going to repeat bath and permethrin dip in the morning but don't want to wash off the Ivermectin tonight. Praying she makes it but she's an old gal (7+) so it may be her time I guess.