Sorry, this one will be gross.
One morning I went out to check the chickens, I was in a rush to head out for the day, but I noticed Alma had some dirty tail feathers. I made a mental note to clean her off when I got home that afternoon.
When I got home, I almost forgot I had planned on cleaning her up until I saw her standing by herself with flies swarming her.
“I should really clean her off now before she gets fly strike.”
I grabbed some gloves, the hose, and the hen, lifted her tail feathers to hose her off and there they were. If you don’t know what fly strike is, it’s probably for the best. But I have to explain what it is for those who will need to know how to treat it. For those who don’t have to worry about Fly Strike, brace yourself or skip this next sentence. Fly strike is when flies lay eggs on your hen (or other animals), the maggots that hatch will then begin eating the hen. Yes, it’s incredibly gross and I wish it didn’t exist.
I was determined to save her life… But I didn’t know how. I had read a post about Fly Strike a few months before, but all it said was hose off the maggots. That didn’t really work all that well. This is when I started to lose it! They weren’t coming off of Alma and they were killing her! Yup, I am 100% one of those people that cries for her pets! Thankfully, Vito is not this way because he was able to think clearly through this disaster. He found an effective natural treatment!
Here’s what we did to save Alma’s life.
Warm saline baths! This chick was basically at the spa for 3 days! I brought her inside after her first soak so we could keep an eye on her and so the other hens wouldn’t pick on her. Two times a day I soaked her in salt water for 15 minutes. This detaches and drowns the maggots while also cleaning the wound. She was maggot free after the 3rd soak, but I did it a 4th time, just in case. she stayed inside for a couple more days because her wound still needed to heal.
In between the soakings I sprayed an essential oil mixture on the affected area. My mixture included, Manuka, Frankincense, Lavender and Tea Tree. I diluted it with Fractionated Coconut Oil and water so it wouldn’t irritate the wound. This helped so much! She was ready to be reunited with her pals within 2 days after being maggot free!
She’s doing so great now; back to her normal self! I love my little Easter Egger!
