My chicken(s) is/are depressed

[hayley3]

I feel so sorry for my chickens. The injured one who did finally recover is always standing in the corner. I have a perch in the stall plus a 2x4 that is 4ft high and goes all the way across where the chickens used to perch for the night, yet she stays in the corner by herself. I did see her come out and eat a bit but mostly she stays in the corner. This makes me terribly sad for her. The other two chickens never try to come out the door either....they used to happily rush out the door when I opened it in the morning. I wonder if they will ever get over the massacre, as I call it. I also miss the sounds of happy chickens...my girls talked a lot and now the barn is silent. And the thing that worries me is I'm afraid to let them out into the sunshine again.

I bought that camera but I haven't got it up and running yet because my barn is metal..but if it worked, that still cannot protect them when they free range. I was lucky for 10 years I guess.

Thanks for listening....

 

[Teila]

hayley3 my heart sank when I read your post .. I am so sorry for your loss and can only imagine how upsetting it is for you and your remaining chickens

How long ago was the massacre? It will take them some time to get over what happened.

If it has been a while and they do not seem to be ‘getting over it’, I wonder if a ‘change of scenery’ might do the trick?

While you obviously can not move a metal barn, is it possible for you to provide them a secure coop and run on a different part of the property with a different view?

 

[keesmom]

Did you lose the birds during the day or at night?

 

[hayley3]

Thanks Teila....The massacre was last Saturday. @keesmom.....They were alive when I left for work at 9am and I got home about dark and they were already gone so were killed in daylight by a fox.

I am surrounded by woods ..the safest place was where they roamed and they had access to a barn. I had a million rabbits recently but I just realized that they have been thinned out.

I wish you could train a chicken what to do in an emergency. They had ample places for safety but they did not know them. The thing that hurts the worst is I had a silkie bantam rooster who hopped, and he couldn't fly either. If I run across the fox, that will be the image in my mind when I get up the nerve to pull the trigger...he was my baby that little silkie.


It's hard ...I had them for a long time...maybe 7 years..I can't remember. They weren't even laying much. But I want them to be happy again and safe.

 

[bufforpfarm]

I have had chickens 35 years off an on. There is a reason the phrase if your scared to do something people say your chicken. Chickens know fear! Its real! You catch one at night off roost if its not used to you an they will scream for fear of dying! They smarter than people think! I have learned atleast 3 layers of protection to keep them safe.if u can afford it. Use small heavy gauge wire 1x2 block with electric fence an maybe blinking light.

 

[hayley3]

They are safe locked away...but I hate they are locked up.

However, the one chicken is not depressed. For some reason she can barely walk. Her injuries are healing, she is eating and drinking but she won't walk. She was walking and on the first night of the attack, perched on the bottom rung of the perch I made them. I can't afford to take her to the vet, who probably wouldn't know anything about chickens anyway because I just spent $400 to save my dog from a uterine infection so my budget was seriously overspent. sighs....

 

[MROO]

They are safe locked away...but I hate they are locked up.

However, the one chicken is not depressed. For some reason she can barely walk. Her injuries are healing, she is eating and drinking but she won't walk. She was walking and on the first night of the attack, perched on the bottom rung of the perch I made them. I can't afford to take her to the vet, who probably wouldn't know anything about chickens anyway because I just spent $400 to save my dog from a uterine infection so my budget was seriously overspent. sighs....

Try some sunshine. It works wonders on all sorts of depression ... with people and animals! If you've got a large dog kennel, just set it out in the sun without the tray, so they can have direct contact with the ground. If they need some shade, you can set the tray on top or lean it against the outside. Either way, your girls need a boost ... and you probably do, too!

 

[hayley3]

Try some sunshine. It works wonders on all sorts of depression ... with people and animals! If you've got a large dog kennel, just set it out in the sun without the tray, so they can have direct contact with the ground. If they need some shade, you can set the tray on top or lean it against the outside. Either way, your girls need a boost ... and you probably do, too!

This is a 6 yr old post but I should've updated. That chicken was not depressed...She had a shockingly serious deep gash under her wing that I did not see. I'm surprised she didn't die from it. I felt awful when I realized. So that is why I always advise people to look carefully under the wings now.

 

[MROO]

This is a 6 yr old post but I should've updated. That chicken was not depressed...She had a shockingly serious deep gash under her wing that I did not see. I'm surprised she didn't die from it. I felt awful when I realized. So that is why I always advise people to look carefully under the wings now.

Isn't amazing how resilient these little birds can be? Glad it worked out ... and I'll watch dates a little more closely, next time!

 

[cmom]

A few nights ago I suspect an owl found it's way into one of my coops. There was a gap in the netting that covers the pens over the gate to that pen. In the morning when I went out to check the cameras and the birds one of my males was all bloody and a couple of the females also had blood on them. There was blood in the coop. I fixed the gap. My boy was pretty freaked out when I tried to look at him so I left him alone. I checked on him periodically and he was freaked. He's better the past couple of days. He is mating his females so he is feeling better now. He must have put up a good fight. The owl must have gotten out through the gap. I'm assuming it was an owl because I didn't find any breaches, only that gap in the netting above the gate.