Do chooks get depressed?

Brownshaver

In the Brooder
7 Years
Mar 12, 2012
16
0
22
The wee chook pictured is either depressed, or sick, or both.
Does anybody have any idea from looking at the picture what might be wrong with her?
She's always been a bit of a "runt" (smaller than the others), but is usually full of energy.
She comes alive at mealtime, but apart from that, tends to just stand, not doing much, mostly by her self. [My chooks are free range in my garden].
Some of the other chooks are pretty mean to her, but she still has enough energy to run away from them.
She has had scaly mite in the past and we regularly apply oil.
The chook behind her doesn't seem particularly well, either, but she is moulting, so I know that can be hard on them.

 
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It's hard to know the exact cause, but I would start off by worming the flock with Valbazen or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer, checking carefully near the vent for lice and mites, and put a vitamin and probiotic in their water 3 days a week. Make sure they are on a good 16-20% feed and have plenty of fresh clean water. Letting them out to free range also would perk them up to eat some greens and bugs. Do the poops look normal?
 
Thanks for the advice.
Yes, her poop is often yellow/green.
They're free-range, but her beak is a bit damaged, so she has trouble picking up bugs.
What do you mean by "16-20 percent feed"?
We feed them twice daily with a mixture of pellets and chook chow, and add chopped up greens in the morning.
 
Thanks for the advice.
Yes, her poop is often yellow/green.
They're free-range, but her beak is a bit damaged, so she has trouble picking up bugs.
What do you mean by "16-20 percent feed"?
We feed them twice daily with a mixture of pellets and chook chow, and add chopped up greens in the morning.
I was talking about the protein content of feed--16% is usually what is in layer, and 20% is in flock raiser or an all flock feed which is for all ages. Yellow green poops are not normal if she keeps having them. They can indicate not eating, E.coli infection, blackhead disease, Mareks disease, and worms, among other problems.
 

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