MY CHICKEN IS DEPRESSED! OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE? PLEASE HELP!

[lovechickens180]

My chicken is about a year old , i think, i bought her at the flea market.
Lately she's separated herself from the other chickens. She hides between the tall grass and just sits there with kind on an angry look on her face. Mind you she's never been agressive and still isn't but i'm still worried. One time i picked her up then laid her down and slowly walked away to see what she would do. She went back to her secluded spot. This behavior started about 2 weeks ago but i just thought she would get over it. Any advice? Also recently we killed our first rooster (no hens have ever been killed) he was old and my grandma said it was time for him to go, he hadn't been with my chickens for a long time but could his disapearance have an effect on her? he was pretty big with big claws and would take off some feathers when he got it on with the chickens so my mom thought it for the best for him to go since he was hurting them. Was his death a factor though? i don't think so but i still though it should be mentioned in case it is.

 

[robhen]

I read somewhere that chickens can get depressed when their rooster or other hens die. . Maybe I will look into patenting Chicken antidepressants.

 

[robhen]

So I have another rooster?

 

[robhen]

I meant do you have another rooster

 

[Jacob Temple]

in my years f birds of all kinds i have only seen hens that have been with roosters for years do that and i don't mean depressed i mean they want let other roosters breed them . do you let them free range you said hiding in the grass she may have a nest of eggs and may start setting chickens will eat other chickens i mean they are really cannibals and dominants may play a role if in there hierarchy hope this helps and oh yea are you sure she isn't old if so she may be dieing most of my old hens die in a process they will go off not eat and well die

 

[lovechickens180]

just to answer robhen, there is another rooster thats has been in the coop the longest, the one that died had only been with us for about 6 months. An update on her condition:
she dosent even bother to move anymore, and she seems really really tired and falls asleep alot. does anybody have any experience with this, how can i help her?
she's an orpington.
also about the egg issue, ever since we got ourselves a chicken that loves to wander and lays her eggs elsewhere, she does the same thing, before that she never did that.

 

[tgooberbutt]

Any updates to your depressed chicken? I have a ~2yr old Dominique that is at the bottom of the pecking order, and she's been moping around like that too. She doesn't hang around the other chickens anymore, hides in the bushes, and has not laid an egg in about 3 months She'll just stand around with her head shrunken in, and tail down. She'll still run to me when I'm near the mealworm bin, has a good appetite, and is alert when there are loud noises....but she also just stands around and sleeps a lot too .... help... she's my favorite ...

No rooster (ever), and all chickens have been free ranged since they were just a few weeks old....

 

[Farmer Viola]

Any updates to your depressed chicken? I have a ~2yr old Dominique that is at the bottom of the pecking order, and she's been moping around like that too. She doesn't hang around the other chickens anymore, hides in the bushes, and has not laid an egg in about 3 months She'll just stand around with her head shrunken in, and tail down. She'll still run to me when I'm near the mealworm bin, has a good appetite, and is alert when there are loud noises....but she also just stands around and sleeps a lot too .... help... she's my favorite ...

No rooster (ever), and all chickens have been free ranged since they were just a few weeks old....

What you describe with being very lethargic, head shrunken, and tail down sounds similar to symptoms I saw in my black australorp who passed. I now believe she had coccidiosis but I didn't know it at the time - one thing to look at is her poop, it is a great indicator of chicken health. If it is coccidiosis, you have to separate them from the flock and treat with corid. I think this usually happens to younger chickens (under a year?) but can happen to adults too..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-and-medicated-feed

chicken poo chart http://pluckandfeather.com/chicken-poo-chart-graphic.html

 

[tgooberbutt]

Thank you for the links - from the pictures, her poop is pretty normal, and from a quick reading on Coccidiosis, I don't think it's that...it's been more than 6 days...unless the infection/symptoms are more drawn out for adults? She's been moping around for about 3 weeks now

I think she might be partially molting now too. At least I hope it's a molt as she's losing at least 30 feathers a day for the past couple of days. The weather's been getting warmer (70s, 80s in the sun)....Could she just be tired from the molt?

What you describe with being very lethargic, head shrunken, and tail down sounds similar to symptoms I saw in my black australorp who passed. I now believe she had coccidiosis but I didn't know it at the time - one thing to look at is her poop, it is a great indicator of chicken health. If it is coccidiosis, you have to separate them from the flock and treat with corid. I think this usually happens to younger chickens (under a year?) but can happen to adults too..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-and-medicated-feed

chicken poo chart http://pluckandfeather.com/chicken-poo-chart-graphic.html

 

[tgooberbutt]

Okay, so this may sound completely ridiculous. But could she be completely addicted to meal worms? She'll eat other food, but she literally just waits by the mealworm bin. She'll walk to the bin, stand. Get tired of standing, and then sit, sometimes fall asleep waiting. Could she be forgoing other foods just hoping that sooner or later she'll get the meal worms? If I don't give them to her, she just stands there with her head tucked (sulking it seems) in some shaded/hidden area...