Can an elder/sick hen live alone?

[WhidbeyFlock]

I have a 5-yr old hen who recently stopped being able to walk. I don’t know why- I’ve tried everything to diagnose/treat her. She was living with the flock ok, hobbling over to food/water, so I left her there. Well they attacked her, left her comb a bloody mess. I isolated her, she healed up fine, except still can barely walk. She’s eating, drinking water, and even still laying eggs. I got her set up in a nice little spot in my garden. She has a dogloo for nighttime and lots of grassy space to roam around. Obviously she doesn’t get very far, mostly just sits in a 2x2 area. I don’t have the heart to “end” her, but can she live alone in there, happily? She looks a little sad. I can’t put her with the rest of the flock but she can see them over the fence. Guess I’m just looking for reassurance from others who have been in a similar situation, or any other words of wisdom. I don’t know what else to do for her. Thanks in advance!

 

[swamphiker]

I'm sorry your hen isn't doing so well. I've dealt with similar situations a few times.

Is there a way to put her somewhere so that the other chickens are close by but can't injure her? Like a large dog crate or similar. Chickens are social and she will feel alone if she isn't close enough to the rest of the flock. It can be hard to judge a chicken's quality of life, but if she isn't in pain and is eating and drinking and being kept clean, I can completely understand letting her live out her days!

Personal anecdote: I've opted to euthanize twice after an older hen couldn't walk for weeks and didn't improve with supportive care or antibiotics, but I understand that others would make different decisions for their animals. The reason I ended up choosing to end it in both cases was that these hens were truly unable to walk and would get very dirty; I didn't want either one to die of flystrike and their quality of life wasn't high enough to justify daily cleaning since they were losing weight and seemed listless.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is there a way to put her somewhere so that the other chickens are close by but can't injure her? Like a large dog crate or similar. Chickens are social and she will feel alone if she isn't close enough to the rest of the flock. It can be hard to judge a chicken's quality of life, but if she isn't in pain and is eating and drinking and being kept clean, I can completely understand letting her live out her days!

x2. This way she'd still have some form of company but otherwise remain safe from the others. It's sad that they're attacking her, as most of my elderly, declining hens were able to remain with most if not all the flock til their last day, but it's how chickens are wired.