Elvie got scalped... Harvest passed away

[Nellie Rose]

Hey everyone. I am not new here, I just got locked out of my og email and can't access my account. I'll see if I can find one of my old posts and link it.
I'm having issues with my girls, specially my mille fluer Elvira.
Elvie was injured on Tuesdays I believe. I went to let the birds out to free-range and one of my old girls had her pinned between the feeder and the wall and was pecking her non stop.
After I got her out I saw that she had been scalped. A part of her skull was exposed and the "meat" under the skin of her neck. If I lifted the skin I could see clear under her neck, like sausage skin if that makes any sense.
She is doing very well, once she got over the initial shock it was like nothing happened. I irrigated the wound with peroxide initially, because I am out of betadine, and have been applying antibiotic ointment twice daily. She is living in a crate on my screened in porch with daily trips outside.

I have been so busy caring for her, I only just found out today that her only sister, Harvest, passed away Sunday, and my family hid it from me. They were a pair, they never left each other's side, and they protected one another from the others. Until now there have been no serious issues, and Elvie actually held a position around the middle of the pecking order.

I believe her recent issues are due to Harvests death. I tried giving her some supervised time free-ranging with the flock, but they all immediately surrounded her.
Currently the plan is to get her a separate coop and run, and get her some bantam chicks to raise with her.

I don't have any questions really, she is doing well and healing okay and I have a plan to keep her safe moving forward. But I wanted to post about it anyway in case someone has some advice for me.
Here are a couple pictures of her wound the day after it happened. I don't have any current pictures but it is all scabbed over and seems to be healing alright.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Poor baby! I would recommend that you isolate the bully for a few days, that's a pretty vicious attack.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Poor little girl! I think your idea is a good one, separating her from the others and putting her with some chicks. Unfortunately she’d probably just be a target in the main coop now. Often once they’re been picked on like that, they never fully recover their confidence. I hope she continues to recover and bounce back!

 

[Saveria]

Was there a particular hen or hens that is the main bully? You also want to make sure it isn't that they are fighting over space or resources. What is your set up like?

 

[Nellie Rose]

Poor baby! I would recommend that you isolate the bully for a few days, that's a pretty vicious attack.

Issue is there is no bully. It seems to be everyone. Like I said her sibling always protected her, and vice versa.
And yeah, I've never dealt with anything like it. The same flock of 13 have all lived together for 3 years now with no new additions. I will say I've lost 3 birds this year, so perhaps their loss has had a more severe impact on the pecking order than I thought?

Poor little girl! I think your idea is a good one, separating her from the others and putting her with some chicks. Unfortunately she’d probably just be a target in the main coop now. Often once they’re been picked on like that, they never fully recover their confidence. I hope she continues to recover and bounce back!

Yeah, that is why I am planning on getting some new chicks to raise beside her. Exclusively bantams, in hopes she can get reestablished in a flock. As we know chickens often don't do well on their own.

Was there a particular hen or hens that is the main bully? You also want to make sure it isn't that they are fighting over space or resources. What is your set up like?

Nope, seems like it is everyone. I only saw the single hen attacking her, but ever since it is like they all surround her and target her at once. Obviously I couldn't attempt a real reintroduction until she is fully healed but being a single hen I doubt it would be effective.
36 square foot coop, with a 150 square foot run, lots of roosts inside and outside, and a 500 square foot fenced roaming area. Flock is let out into roaming area daily. There is a second 12 square foot coop inside main run, between that and the main coop there are 8 nesting boxes. 12 hens including Elvira, used to be 13, and at the beginning of the year, 15. But like I said the same group of 15 hens lived together peacefully for 3 years with no issues.

Elvie is very small, even compared to my other d'Uccle bantam. She is around 1 lb whereas my porcelain is 3. That being said she has never been denied access to food and has a good body composition, just small.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep updating as to her condition and any decisions made going forward.

 

[Saveria]

So the yellow stuff is just a normal part of wound healing, so you don't need to clean it off. Helping the feathers through should be fine if you see them getting stuck under it.

Maybe you can keep a mirror in there with her. I am afraid she'll get lonely.

 

[SmiYa0126]

She looks good! No sign of infection too, good job!

 

[SmiYa0126]

Yeah I usually wouldn't have cleaned it but all of her feathers were trapped. I left it for a day but when I saw a cyst starting to form I rubbed it off gently.

I ordered her some toys last night, including a mirror, and her new Bantam babies will be coming September 25th. I am planning on raising them in close proximity to her, so they get used to each other young to make integration easier. I am hoping her head is mostly healed by the end of the month so I can get her outside, right now I fear the risk of infection is too high.

Thank you, she's doing great so far, acts like nothing happened.

Thanks. Good! I can never tell with wounds like this, I worry. But I've been religiously covering her with ointment, the poor girl is so greasy.

She has started perching on the branch I added every night as well.

Yes, they get so greasy, it will come off once she starts dust bathing.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Do you have strategic clutter in your run? A hidden corner where hens can eat and drink and run away easily?

 

[Nellie Rose]

Do you have strategic clutter in your run? A hidden corner where hens can eat and drink and run away easily?

Yes, I have multiple. Also hollow logs to hide and nest in, the two coops, and multiple feeders. In the outside area they can hide under the coop, under bushes and logs, and climb up more roosts. I've never had any issues with bullying before. This is completely new. And I've reintroduced a one legged chicken to the flock after a month of isolation with fewer problems. It's very out of the blue, but like I said I wasn't aware her sister had passed. I own a bakery and we had a festival over the weekend, so I had been feeding and watering the flock early in the morning before work, not looking things over like I usually do, and my family who found her hid her passing from me.

The attack shocked my family, we've never seen anything like it. I know things like this happen with chickens and I've read of lots of similar instances, but until now ours has always been peaceful.