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[Kermit]

One of our ex-bats has been under the weather for a while. Vet gave her some antibiotics last week (1 week course) that are now complete. Still lethargic, not eating much either.

 

She spent most of today in the coop, so, we decided to give her a wash as she was very dirty at the back end and smelly too. Fi then spotted a worm crawling around - about 5mm long, white/transparent, black vein visible along its length. After some investigation, her vent was crawling with loads of them - tens if not hundreds. I decided to give her a really good long wash all over to clean them off. Still more coming out of her vent.

 

I have now cleaned her as much as possible (30 minutes) and left her to dry off. Isolated her from the rest too. She is now taking food with relish, so given her some flub. Fi is cleaning everywhere as much as possible.

 

Any other ideas?

[Chucky Mama]

I am afraid that is not worms it is fly strike. What you are seeing is hundreds of tiny maggots You need to wash her off thoroughly and dry her well. The you need to get something to spray on her to prevent further flystrike. F10 spray is a good antiseptic with a fly repellent combined or you can use an ivermectin based product such as 'Flyguard' - *Not licensed for poultry You have to do this immediately as in this weather they will grow quickly and will literally start eating her alive - sorry but it is vital that you take quick action. More Here

[Kermit]

Thanks - YUCK

 

F10 spray - where from? Vets? Obviously don't want to wait for mail order.

[The Dogmother]

Most vets don't stock it but I'll PM you with a link I have found online

[Peaches]

Thanks for the excellent and advice and links. David (Kermit) and I did a lot of soaking Daphne in warm water to free her from maggots and then David syringed her vent and used tweezers to remove any he could see. We did this a couple of times last night. There were a lot of them We then fed her and kept her indoors over night.

 

This morning David went through the same process again and I have let her into the garden as it is sunny and she needs to get dry. I'm off to get some spray and then we'll go through the process again tonight.

 

I feel dreadful I let her get into this state - she had been ill and I didn't want to keep hassling her - big mistake However, the advice you all gave was good and useful and we are doing our best to get her better.

 

Thank you - Fi

[Chucky Mama]

Well done, keep a thrice daily check on her as new eggs can be laid quickly and old missed eggs will develop quickly in this weather. Try and boost her general condition to help her get back to health. You can do this by adding perhaps some lifeguard to water or a similar tonic.

[Peaches]

I have sprayed her with some anti-flystrike stuff; so fingers crossed. At the moment she is in a separate part of our garden from the others - the veg patch - and is happily munching her way through our spinach and lettuce ...will soak her in saline water later.

 

Will get some tonic into her later on - thanks Chucky Mama - made all the difference knowing it was flystrike and not worms.

[Chucky Mama]

Great to hear that you are on top of things

[sandyhas3chucks]

gosh just seen this, something I am a little paranoid (ok, well something ELSE )

I have a disabled girl who cannot walk.

so great care has to be taken to keep her clean in the fly season.

How is she now?

I hope all went and is well...

[Kermit]

Daphne is now looking a lot better, but still underweight. She is sleeping with the other chickens, but we are keeping her apart during the day, as she is getting pecked a lot.

[Peaches]

Just wanted to give you an update on Daphne. The advice you lovely Omletteers gave us set us on the right path ....

 

we continued bathing and cleaning her until she was free from the maggots and cut her feathers right back at the business end and then built her up (tinned salmon and grapes seem to be her favourites!) and kept using spray. We kept her indoors for a couple of nights while she was really poorly, then put her into the coop at nights, but kept her apart during the day. As she got better, we then re-integrated her with the others, but kept an eye on her.

 

Her comb is now bright pink, a little bit of it is yet to get fully upright, but generally she has recovered. When I think of how sad and miserable she was and when she just crawled into the coop, basically to die, I can't believe she's the same girl. I just didn't know what was the matter and didn't know what to do until David put her in the water and the maggots appeared and I could then post here with the problem and be told it was flystrike.

 

Taking on rescue chickens can be a bit of a roller-coaster - we've lost 1 to egg peritonitis, 3 to a fox, one to gapeworm/heart attack - so seeing one get better in front of our eyes has just been fantastic.

 

Thanks, all. Fiona

[Olly]

So glad to hear she's recovered!

[The Dogmother]

Me too, you've had a rough ride of it.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Well done for dealing with it so successfully . Sounds like a nasty thing to deal with but thank goodness you've got her back to full health .

[sparkysmum]

Fiona, this is just fantastic news Well done for your perseverance

[Chucky Mama]

Great news