The defective way I have ever see to it an animate being die — and as a hunter , angler fish and outdoor photographer , I get it on how cruel nature can be — is when Boss , my cock , succumbed to fly - strike five twelvemonth ago . To see maggot streaming out of the near - dead heritage Rhode Island Red rooster broke my philia .
I vowed then never to lose another Gallus gallus to this affliction . Last year , knob ’ replacement , Don , was also hit by fly front - rap . But this time , armed with knowledge , I reacted quickly and he survived . If your birds get hit with this dire affliction and you ’re prepared , your birds can survive , too .
What It Is
Fly - ten-strike , also known as myiasis or blow fly – tap , can occur in any fauna , including world . botfly , blow fly and screwflies are among the culprits . Veterinarian Paul Stewart , who launch the Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic in Roanoke , Virginia , tell the affliction usually starts from some underlying condition . For example , a crybaby might have a wound , a cut , diarrhoea , swelling , some sort of cold or disease , or , in the most mundane circumstance , merely have moist feces clinging to its vent area . In all these situations , flies might go in into a body scuttle or lesion and lie their eggs , and then , after hatching in 24 time of day or less , maggot get feast on the peel or insides of a live animate being .
When the affliction felled Boss , I had n’t heard of it and was incognizant of the symptom . One May evening , my alpha male seemed a little listless ; the next morning , he came out of the henhouse without having crowed and sit down in a corner of the running . knob ’ much smaller brother , Johnny , then saunter over and began remorselessly peck him on the foreland . Later , I take that such signs as these — sluggishness , loss of appetite , being swagger — are signs of tent-fly - ten-strike and , for that issue , all fashion of chicken malady .
After withdraw Boss from the sight , I placed him in our chicken tractor and left food and water , laced with probiotics , for him . I also examined him but could n’t see anything haywire . The next morning , my married woman Elaine and I observed maggots streaming out of his vent ; a fly or fly had plain laid testis in the moist muck cling to that area . Thirty transactions or so later , Boss pass away .
“ Fly - strike is more of an opportunity disease , ” Stewart tell . “ Flies will take reward of a chicken that is sick or in some way debilitated . A high percentage of the time , flies lie their eggs in organic material such as faeces . In curt , flies are going to retrieve that weak point or wound and take advantage of it . ”
Prevention Defense
prophylactic measures include periodic applications of poultry dust , keeping the run clean and planting various fly - repelling herbs . For example , myiasis is mainly a warm season upset , so spring through pin I now oft fit our chickens for irritations anywhere on their bodies and also for gobs of dung drop from their vents . Chicks with viscous butt can also accrue victim to fly - strike . Also , about once a month — especially in the summertime — Elaine and I apply a domestic fowl junk to feathers , form it in peculiarly under the wings .
domestic fowl detritus brands typically have permethrin as a principal ingredient . Permethrin is a synthetic that originates from pyrethrin , a natural insect repellent found in chrysanthemums . It ’s EPA - approved and has long been known to repel many kinds of biting or stinging insect .
Bud Wood , possessor of Murray McMurray Hatchery in Webster City , Iowa , says some chicken grower might obviate using poultry rubble products because they are fundamentally an insecticide . As an alternative , Wood suggests that backyard growers bathe their birds with soap or a washup detergent , which gain it much more unmanageable for animal to adhere to feathers . If maggot are present , chicken keeper can remove them by hand , although this evidently would take some time if thou of maggot are present .
Bruce Ingram
A prudent preventative measure is to target adusting binin a run , filled with adequate parts of wood ashes anddiatomaceous earth . During our weekly takeover cleanings , Elaine and I remove all bemire bedding and sweep out the henhouse , put in fresh straw , then spray an insect powder on all walls , perches and nest boxes . We then puff little clouds of diatomaceous terra firma over everything inside . Another measure is periodically rake up the low-down within the coop and place the manure in a compost bin .
Finally , keep achicken first - aidkit consisting of such items as domestic fowl dust , petroleum jelly , salves , insecticides , diatomaceous terra firma and Blu - Kote ( antiseptic wound dressing that helps prevent “ picking ” ) and other ointments as well .
“ Just like humans sometimes need emergencyfirst assistance , so do wimp ; and we might not have time to run to a memory to buy something , ” Sir Henry Joseph Wood enunciate .
Bruce Ingram
After Don ’s fly - strike episode , I also institute a telephone number of fly - repelling plant in the political campaign . Of course , these plant did n’t egest all fly , but they do seem to facilitate . Among the possibilities are lemon balm , lavender and sweet sweet basil . Sir Henry Joseph Wood also suggests placing fly strips or yap within the hencoop . Bruce Ingram
Timing Is Crucial
straightaway handling is of the essence with fly - work stoppage . For exercise , in Don ’s situation , on a Friday good afternoon , he seemed to spend an strange amount of time grooming himself , which I now trust must have been the first maggot hatch . The next day before dawn , I had not get word him crow all morning , which in itself became a cause for concern . When I give the henhouse , our rooster was sitting in a nesting box instead of on his common perch . I picked him up and saw about a half dozen fresh hatched maggots wriggle in the straw under him . I readily take him out of the run .
“ You should definitely separate a chicken from its muckle in this situation , ” Wood says . “ Chickens are very cannibalistic , and all of them will pick up on a bird that they sense has been weakened . A detached crybaby will also heal much faster than it would if left with its flock . ”
I then placed Don in the private road and ran to think the fowl junk , which I practice to his feather and sewer . Immediately , thousands of maggots began falling off the rooster , land in the driveway and wriggle in their decease throe . Don stumble about on the pavement as the maggot leaped off him . In the basement , I constructed a miniature chicken hospital — which for us is a green tarp covered with straw , encircle by a child - proof fencing and topped with a concealment . I also supplied some food for thought and water .
Don expend most of Saturday sitting in a corner , but he did now and then eat and drink — an supporting signboard . Elaine and I to boot spray his body , again concentrating on the outlet area , with Vetericyn , which is designed to help chickens recover from pecking sore , abrasions , temper and trauma . We also put electrolyte in his piddle .
On Sunday , Don became a little more active . As morning broke on Monday , we heard two voiced crows – a trusted sign he was well on the way to recovery . Tuesday brought more vigorous crow , and by Friday , he had return to his flock .
An alpha rooster such as Don is more likely to better stand off these onslaught — as well as recover sooner — than a cockerel , pullet or dependent hen . In all consideration , ensure your bird has completely bring around before give back it to the flock .
Protecting the Rest of Your Flock
As presently as I had handle Don with poultry dust and confined him to his wimp infirmary , I retrovert to the chicken coop and commenced a thoroughgoing cleansing . I applied poultry detritus to all of Don ’s hens and exhaustively examined each one of them , search especially for abrasion and moist droppings drop from their vent .
I was relieve to find that none of the other birds was ominous . I then clean the firm as described earlier and crease the run of all droppings . Wood emphasizes that complete a thorough cleaning is indispensable after a fly - tap fire .
Fly - strike is an insidious affliction that can attack our chickens or any fauna . Indeed , a good friend lost his aged cad to blow fly - hit . I hope my experiences will help you protect your hatful .
This story in the first place appeared in the July / August 2018 issue ofChickensmagazine .
