Saga of the 10 y.o. hen continues... how to get a chicken to eat?

[Daffodil12]

I have one chicken remaining from when I first started keeping hens in 2011. She was doing surprisingly well, but she's had a rough couple of weeks. First she got wounded when my over-energetic rooster mounted her and gashed her sides, and then I discovered that she had poultry lice. I've been cleaning her wounds and they seem to be healing, and a few days ago I treated the whole flock and the coop with permethrin. However, she has been having difficulty walking, and I don't think she's eating or drinking much, if at all.

When she got wounded I separated her from the flock, and at first she was walking around a little, but she's not moving much now. Sometimes she waddles/pushes herself around, but mostly she sits all day. Is this depression from being isolated? Weakness from lack of food/water? Something else? She still seems alert. Tomorrow I'm planning to replace the newspaper and pine shavings that I'm currently using with some old towels-- I"m hoping it'll make it easier for her to walk, but I don't think that's the only issue. I'd really like to get her to at least eat and drink a little. I can start using a syringe to give her water, but I don't know how to get her to eat.

Do any of you have experience with very old hens? Any advice on what to do in this situation? I had to euthanize my favorite hen in March after a month of sickness and slow starvation, and it was horrible. I'm at a loss for what to do.

 

[BGcoop]

I’m no expert but have you tried offering favorite foods? And maybe add electrolytes/sugar to the water just to give a boost?

 

[Daffodil12]

She didn't seem interested in mealworms or yogurt, which they usually get excited about. I've been setting out a dish of layer pellets with water in it so it's more of a mash, which she ate at first but stopped recently. I haven't tried adding anything to the water, though. How would you add electrolytes?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try offering a few different foods at different times, such as scrambled egg, tuna, canned cat food pate, as well as wet chicken feed to tempt her to eat and get some extra fluids. Do you have any pictures of her? Nine years is pretty old for a hen, and she may be nearing the end. A chicken chair or sling might possibly help to get her upright especially to eat. Here are some examples:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[HollyWoozle]

I have had good success with getting poorly chickens to eat scrambled eggs as suggested above. Sometimes I squash a few peas into it as the green sometimes gets their interest and encourages them to try it. I also once bought fresh liver and cut it into little pieces like worms and that went down a treat!

 

[Daffodil12]

Unfortunately she was in really bad shape this morning and we had to take her to the vet to put her down. But thank you all for the suggestions, I'll keep that in mind for next time.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. I have had a couple of hens make it past 9 when they died. They can suffer from a number of illnesses when they are older.