Chicken pecked nearly to death - help

[typeonederful]

@Wyorp Rock thank you for all of your help. I know I've been confusing and have contradicted myself but you and everyone else really have been helpful.

Yesterday she was still a little weak, today she seemed much better. Let her out of her enclosure for a while and she was moving around just fine. She also opened both of her eyes this morning - one of them was so scabbed over that I really didn't think she would ever be able to use it again, but it looked completely fine!

I ended up just putting her back into her enclosure because I had to leave and didn't want to risk anything while she was gone. The cold weather is the only reason I want to try and get her reintroduced to the flock quickly, but I'll hold off for a few more days. I don't have pictures right now, but her wound looks significantly better today.

Can you post pictures of your run? Some strategically placed clutter would help the lowest birds to get away from bullies also another location with food and water would also help. I have two benches in my run with one bench has a wide board to create a hiding place, there is food there, I also have. A small dish with food on the second bench and a waterer in the corner. I also have a single bucket with bricks on top for traction, and perching places on different corners so there's additional places for the lowest one to run away.

The run is totally open, I'll post pictures later, but there's nowhere for the chickens to hide. If it would be helpful I can add some.

 

[SmiYa0126]

@Wyorp Rock thank you for all of your help. I know I've been confusing and have contradicted myself but you and everyone else really have been helpful.

Yesterday she was still a little weak, today she seemed much better. Let her out of her enclosure for a while and she was moving around just fine. She also opened both of her eyes this morning - one of them was so scabbed over that I really didn't think she would ever be able to use it again, but it looked completely fine!

I ended up just putting her back into her enclosure because I had to leave and didn't want to risk anything while she was gone. The cold weather is the only reason I want to try and get her reintroduced to the flock quickly, but I'll hold off for a few more days. I don't have pictures right now, but her wound looks significantly better today.


The run is totally open, I'll post pictures later, but there's nowhere for the chickens to hide. If it would be helpful I can add some.

Here's a great article,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

You're run it's more like mine. I put boards for them to perch on on the far end of my run. A bench underneath it, and a board leaning against the bench legs. It's really heavy and can't be moved easily. I have another bench making an L shape with the other bench with the bottom open. Then a perch on the coop end. Then as mentioned before I have food in four places and water in two places.

 

[The head hen]

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.

View attachment 3297849



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.



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.
View attachment 3297850
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.

Nice Carolina coop!

 

[typeonederful]

Nice Carolina coop!

Thanks, we actually built it ourselves based off of the Carolina coop website and YouTube channel! It was a fun project.

 

[typeonederful]

Hopefully my last question - how long should I keep her separated from the other chickens for? At this point, she has almost all of her strength back and is doing great, but hates being cooped up. I went out one time and saw another chicken try and peck her through the fence - she was totally fine, ran away right away, but it freaked her out and she spent the next five minutes frantically trying to get out of her enclosure. The other chickens aren't ready for her yet, but she doesn't realize that the fence is what's keeping her safe. She spends pretty much all day pacing back and forth, and I would definitely let her out if I didn't see the other chickens trying to get to her again. Any tips?

 

[typeonederful]

Another example: just went to put her into the nesting box for the night (where she's been sleeping), and she absolutely bolted to the ramp into the coop. The other chickens were all out and ignored her for the most part, but not sure how much of that was just me scaring them as I chased her. Eventually I got her and she calmed down. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if it's just unavoidable that she's not going to want to stay cooped up.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Another example: just went to put her into the nesting box for the night (where she's been sleeping), and she absolutely bolted to the ramp into the coop. The other chickens were all out and ignored her for the most part, but not sure how much of that was just me scaring them as I chased her. Eventually I got her and she calmed down. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if it's just unavoidable that she's not going to want to stay cooped up.

Can you block off a couple sides of the crate she's in with fabric or something so chickens can't see her all the time? Also, have you added some benches or perches or anything else for her to hide away from them? She'll be flighty for awhile since they beat her up so badly.

Can you post pictures of her wound?