Annie J
Hatching
- Jun 17, 2016
- 2
- 0
- 7
Hi all... I know there have been a few posts so far on depressed chooks and I hate to carry on another conversation but Its literally a matter of life and death for my beloved girls (according to my partner) and I need to exhaust all avenues before making that decision.
I have five chooks of mixed breed types who are generally happy individual and busy foragers with a large yard during the day and are let out to free range on the property in the evening. They don't appear to be sick at all... Food goes in and comes out pretty successfully the other end with no obvious dramas.
Three have recently gone through a molt and it is winter here at the moment which probably explains the total lack of egg production from them all but my problem is that they have just recently seemed to have become completely depressed. They tend to all huddle together in their yard during the day, there's no more usual chicken tunes and when they are let out they all head straight for underneath the house and sit there together for hours. No scratching around anymore at all. I thought maybe they might have been scared by a chicken hawk or something to make them hide but this behaviour has been going on for several weeks now. Has it just become a flock behaviour habit? There is no obvious issues apart from a bit of scaley leg mite but surely that's not enough to zap the life completely out of 5 chooks in one hit.
Any help or ideas at all would be great fully received.
I have five chooks of mixed breed types who are generally happy individual and busy foragers with a large yard during the day and are let out to free range on the property in the evening. They don't appear to be sick at all... Food goes in and comes out pretty successfully the other end with no obvious dramas.
Three have recently gone through a molt and it is winter here at the moment which probably explains the total lack of egg production from them all but my problem is that they have just recently seemed to have become completely depressed. They tend to all huddle together in their yard during the day, there's no more usual chicken tunes and when they are let out they all head straight for underneath the house and sit there together for hours. No scratching around anymore at all. I thought maybe they might have been scared by a chicken hawk or something to make them hide but this behaviour has been going on for several weeks now. Has it just become a flock behaviour habit? There is no obvious issues apart from a bit of scaley leg mite but surely that's not enough to zap the life completely out of 5 chooks in one hit.
Any help or ideas at all would be great fully received.