Flock suddenly started bullying my old girl.

[saun091363]

I have a 10-year-old oreat Easter Egger Bantam. The whole flock suddenly started picking on her. (like they want to kill her) She was wounded pretty badly because of it and I separated her from the flock to heal. I am also treating her accordingly. They pecked her down to her skull. I read about all the reasons this could happen online and the only reason that fits my situation is that she is old and starting to slow down. She is not sick, but she is slowly declining.
It breaks my heart that this happened to her at the end of her life, because no one ever bothered her before.
I am hoping that I can get her through this ordeal, but I do not know what to do with her if I do.
People are saying she will be lonely on her own. I have a smaller coop that I can put her in so that she can still see everyone else. I don't think she wants to be with them anymore, any more than they want to be with her.
I want to get her some company if she gets better, but I am afraid of opening up another can of worms with a new addition.
I do not want to get another chicken that ends up bullying her too. What about a chick? Will my old girl kill a chick? I am also considering a guinea pig, but I really don't want to take on another animal for life if I don't have to. Especially since my girl is old and probably won't be here much longer.
I have a feeling that a couple of my bigger chickens will pick on a guinea pig too, so you can see the messy situation I am in.
I will not cull my old girl and I will not give her away. I do not believe in that. Besides she is too old for that. She has served me well and now is the time for her to enjoy the rest of the time she has, (To the best of my ability.)
Any suggestions? Would she be alright on her own if she can still see the other birds but not interact with them?
I would appreciate any suggestions. Even if she does not make it, it will be good to have a plan if this ever happens again.
I have had other girls decline and die in the same flock and this never happened before. This came as quite a shock to me.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures of her injuries? Usually, I would recommend spray the wound with saline or a feed store wound spray, such as Vetericyn twice a day. Then apply plain Neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment twice a day, so that it doesn’t dry out. Right now, I would keep her inside a wire dog crate with food and water, but try to feed her several times a day with wet chicken feed, a bit of scrambled egg, and water. Then when her wound is healing well, you might want to place her coop near the other chickens for company. But watch to make sure they are not trying to get at her through the crate.

When I have had a chicken near death, that had stopped wanting to eat, and be left alone, or that walked a bit funny, the whole flock (even the tiny bantam hen) would sometimes start to peck them. The others always notice any changes, and they can be mean. So she probably needs to be kept separate.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I myself have an old hen that just can't be with the others anymore.
She seems just fine where she can see them but they cannot peck her.
As to treating her wounds you got excellent advice above.

 

[saun091363]

Thank you, I have all of the items listed above to medicate her and am using them already as you suggested. I even have an oral avian antibiotic from my vet, that I used for one of my other birds. It is still good and has not expired yet, so I am giving her that 2X a day as well. Thank you so much for the advice. Especially on keeping her by herself. I was really feeling terrible about it. I will try that first after she is well. She is eating and drinking. I am most worried about her skull. I have never seen something like that before. If it were not for that I would say that she is going to pull through.
I am not unwilling to take her to the vet, but been there done that, and because I have the oral antibiotic as well as all the other items you suggested, I really do not know what else they would do for her that I am not already doing.
Vets are not very helpful with chickens. Many do not know much about them, even avian vets. Many find them expendable. Trust me I learned that from experience.
I will let you know how it goes and thank you so much for the help.

 

[saun091363]

I just wanted to let everyone know that my easter egger hen survived the attack. It took me five weeks to get her well enough to put her back outside. In the beginning I had to syringe feed/water her once a day to make sure that she was eating. I put Original Neosporin on her wound 1X daily and gave her an oral antibiotic 2X a day for 10 days. I put vitamins in her water and made a liquid mash from chicken feed vegetables, protein and eggs. Anything that I could get her to take. I also even gave her cat food and baby food. I also had to keep the dead skin soft with caster oil or Vaseline. I soaked and washed her with a tiny bit of dawn dishwashing liquid and a cup of Epsom salt. every few days to get rid of that very hard dead skin.
Maybe most importantly, I gave her an egg to hatch. This kept her from being bored and gave her the strength and will to keep fighting!
Turns out the egg was not fertile, I really wish it was, because it would have given her a baby to take care of too, but it did do the job. I wanted to write in and let everyone know, so that if this happens to you, you will know that your chicken can survive. Since having chickens, I have found that sometimes we just have to figure it out for ourselves when treating our flocks, so I am hoping this will help someone that finds themself in the same horrible situation. It was a long tough rehab for her, and me, but she made it!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I just wanted to let everyone know that my easter egger hen survived the attack. It took me five weeks to get her well enough to put her back outside. In the beginning I had to syringe feed/water her once a day to make sure that she was eating. I put Original Neosporin on her wound 1X daily and gave her an oral antibiotic 2X a day for 10 days. I put vitamins in her water and made a liquid mash from chicken feed vegetables, protein and eggs. Anything that I could get her to take. I also even gave her cat food and baby food. I also had to keep the dead skin soft with caster oil or Vaseline. I soaked and washed her with a tiny bit of dawn dishwashing liquid and a cup of Epsom salt. every few days to get rid of that very hard dead skin.
Maybe most importantly, I gave her an egg to hatch. This kept her from being bored and gave her the strength and will to keep fighting!
Turns out the egg was not fertile, I really wish it was, because it would have given her a baby to take care of too, but it did do the job. I wanted to write in and let everyone know, so that if this happens to you, you will know that your chicken can survive. Since having chickens, I have found that sometimes we just have to figure it out for ourselves when treating our flocks, so I am hoping this will help someone that finds themself in the same horrible situation. It was a long tough rehab for her, and me, but she made it!

Thank you for the update!
I am super happy she made it!