Chicken pecked nearly to death - help

[EggSighted4Life]

Looks like she was scalped to me.. seen in my own flock done by a hawk once (daytime broody chick) and a coon another time (at night through an opening int he duck coop).

I'm not sure why flock was presumed.. but I would question that. I saw no statement from the OP as to pecking order of the individual or any statement about seeing other birds do it or even inspecting.. aside from presumption.. did I miss that??

Both my scalped birds stayed with their flocks and wound pecking was NOT an issue.. These large wounds are different than a small scab that resembles a bug or something else out of place that needs inspection, in MY experience.

Went back out a few minutes later to make sure she was dead and found her up and eating food. I picked her up and found a huge wound on the top of her head that looks like it's from other chickens pecking at her. Brought her inside - she was extremely light - and now she's in the garage drinking electrolytes. She's not interested in the food we put out.

Uhm.. she was doing fine (behavior in bold in the quote above doesn't indicate flock keeping her from food or picking on her) but now you brought her in.. maybe she isn't hungry anymore. Or maybe she's stressed from not being with her flock.

What is her age, feed routine, and actual weight? Is she currently laying?

Sorry for your/her experience.. and also that I sound like a jerk for my attention to details or questions.

Hope she recovers quickly!

 

[typeonederful]

Thank you for all of your help. Right now she is in the run, separated off by chicken wire with her own food and water. The other chickens can fit their heads through it and she can stick hers out but she also has plenty of room to run away if they try and peck at her again. So far they've ignored her for the most part. However, while she seems energetic and is making noises and moving around, she keeps stumbling or almost falling over - she almost seems like she's drunk. When she was first attacked, they got one of her eyes, and I'm not quite sure how bad it is but right now it just looks like it's scabbed over. My only theory is that she's not used to only seeing out of one eye and that's why she's having a hard time moving? She's also staying pretty exclusively in one corner of her little area. Any thoughts? Not sure if this is normal behavior or if something else is wrong.

 

[typeonederful]

Looks like she was scalped to me.. seen in my own flock done by a hawk once (daytime broody chick) and a coon another time (at night through an opening int he duck coop).

I'm not sure why flock was presumed.. but I would question that. I saw no statement from the OP as to pecking order of the individual or any statement about seeing other birds do it or even inspecting.. aside from presumption.. did I miss that?
Both my scalped birds stayed with their flocks and wound pecking was NOT an issue.. These large wounds are different than a small scab that resembles a bug or something else out of place that needs inspection, in MY experience.

She's definitely at the bottom of the pecking order which is why I'm pretty sure it was the work of the other chickens. This is our coop, we've never had any problems with predators and we've had chickens for nearly two years. It's roofed off and there's no way a hawk could have gotten in.

Uhm.. she was doing fine (behavior in bold in the quote above doesn't indicate flock keeping her from food or picking on her) but now you brought her in.. maybe she isn't hungry anymore. Or maybe she's stressed from not being with her flock.

Wasn't very clear, sorry. When I went out the first time, it was dusk, and the other chickens were just going in for the night while she was laying on the ground. She didn't start to eat until they were all inside and she was alone. When we brought her in, she seemed extremely thirsty and kept drinking for probably half an hour. My guess would be that she just knew she needed water before food.

What is her age, feed routine, and actual weight? Is she currently laying?

She's about two and a half years old, I don't know her weight but she's pretty small. She's a snowy easter egger. These are our feeding tubes.

Not a great picture, that's from the outside, but you get the idea.

They hold about enough food for 3 or 4 weeks and there's currently plenty of food that they have access to at all times. Water is a similar setup. However, the day before this all went down, the water barrel ran out and they were without water for about a day. Not sure if it's related or a coincidence, but they have plenty of water now. She's not laying right now as she's molting.

 

[azygous]

You're probably right about her imbalance being from not being able to use the injured eye. It also probably hurts like the Dickens. Have you flushed it and put an eye ointment in it twice a day? You don't want it to get infected.

 

[AGeese]

Thanks for the clarification on everything. It sounds like she was bullied away from the food and water and/or lost enough blood to be thirsty and dizzy or just dazed from the pecking?

When I intagrated my sole survivor of my second hatch, I watched and noticed they were keeping her away from *their* food and *their* water.

I would see her doing something similar drinking and eatting rapidly when the others were heading to roost for the night, but setting up separate feeding/drinking areas gave her an out and she no longer needed to race against the clock.

She's still at the bottom after a year, and probably will be until I add new ones, but they're never confined as they're in my garage by night, free ranging by day which seems to alievate the bad behaviors from bordem or territorial dominance.

 

[Alanzs]

Separate the injured chook until the wound has healed completely. Chickens will definitely peck that wound if it's not healed well.
Also, give her some treats, she deserves it!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The other chickens can fit their heads through it and she can stick hers out but she also has plenty of room to run away if they try and peck at her again.

she keeps stumbling or almost falling over - she almost seems like she's drunk. When she was first attacked, they got one of her eyes, and I'm not quite sure how bad it is but right now it just looks like it's scabbed over.

Photos of the eye and wounds now since you got her cleaned up?

Not always a good idea to put them in a crate/area they can stick their head out of or others stick their head in.

Likely the damaged eye is the cause of the stumbling, but head injury in itself can cause that too.
Giving her vitamin support with E and B1(Thiamine) is always a good idea.

 

[typeonederful]

Here's a photo of the wound this morning - there was some fresh bleeding when we checked on her last night, could have potentially been from the other chickens but they've completely left her alone so far so it seems weird to me. We also bought some Vetericyn yesterday and have applied it a few times (this picture is right after spraying some on so it looks wetter than it is, the blood has mostly dried by now).

Last night the temperature dropped and it was going to snow, so we blocked off the nesting boxes (chickens aren't laying right now, they're all molting) and let her sleep in there. Today the temperature is low again, staying in the mid 30s all day (Fahrenheit), and we're not quite sure what to do with her. Options are:

1 - Leave her where she is. It's not too cold for chickens (it gets way colder every winter and my girls are always fine) and if she wasn't injured I wouldn't be worried about her, but as it is I'm not sure.
2 - Put her back in the nesting boxes. This one seems like the best solution, except for it's not a large space (3 nesting boxes, we'd take out the dividers), and when you put her food and water in there, it's even smaller. It's also dark. There's not a good way to block it off and let light in at the same time, and she wouldn't be getting face time with the other chickens this way.
3 - Keep her in our garage. It would be plenty warm for her, but I'm not quite sure how we'd do it - we don't have a dog crate or anything that would give her a lot of space. When we kept her in the garage the first night, she was in a tiny Rubbermaid bucket that barely fit her and her food and water, we only did it because she was going to be sleeping the whole time. She also wouldn't get any face time with the other chickens this way.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Likely opened back up from another reaching in and pecking her.

I'd apply triple antibiotic ointment to the scab to help soften it a bit.

Hard to know where to keep her, she needs to be able to move about, eat/drink, have some fresh air and sunlight.
Can you crate her inside the coop at night, then section off a portion of the run for her to have some outdoor space?

 

[typeonederful]

Can you crate her inside the coop at night, then section off a portion of the run for her to have some outdoor space?

That's what I was planning on, just not sure if it's too cold for her outside during the day or not.