My rooster is depressed, please help

[Romeo the Rooster]

Please help, my rooster is acting depressed. He had been acting normal in the past months but has recently been acting distant and sad. There are quite a few possible reasons. We have 3 other roosters, 1 of which picks on him occasionally. But nobody ever gets seriously injured. It is obvious that he is at the bottom of the rooster pecking order. He doesn’t have any girlfriends but it hasn’t seemed to really affected him. It is February currently and pretty cold here, his (small ) comb is kinda purple. But all of the other chickens seem perfectly fine?!?! He does still eat and drink with a little bit of prompting from me. His droppings are very liquidy. Most of the day he just stands inside by himself. I am worried and confused as to whether it is chicken depression, or illness. Please help me, he is a really sweet boy and I want to help him.

 

[Shadrach]

Please help, my rooster is acting depressed. He had been acting normal in the past months but has recently been acting distant and sad. There are quite a few possible reasons. We have 3 other roosters, 1 of which picks on him occasionally. But nobody ever gets seriously injured. It is obvious that he is at the bottom of the rooster pecking order. He doesn’t have any girlfriends but it hasn’t seemed to really affected him. It is February currently and pretty cold here, his (small ) comb is kinda purple. But all of the other chickens seem perfectly fine?!?! He does still eat and drink with a little bit of prompting from me. His droppings are very liquidy. Most of the day he just stands inside by himself. I am worried and confused as to whether it is chicken depression, or illness. Please help me, he is a really sweet boy and I want to help him.

Can you post a good clear picture of his comb taken in daylight and another of his poop as above. Daylight picture only please.

 

[Romeo the Rooster]

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have 3 other roosters, 1 of which picks on him occasionally. But nobody ever gets seriously injured. It is obvious that he is at the bottom of the rooster pecking order. He doesn’t have any girlfriends but it hasn’t seemed to really affected him. It is February currently and pretty cold here, his (small ) comb is kinda purple

Place him in a pen by himself with his own food/water. What type of food do you give?
If possible get a fecal to check for worms and coccidiosis. Make sure his crop is emptying overnight as well.

Are all 3 roosters penned or do they free range with the ladies? How much space do you have?

 

[Romeo the Rooster]

We let everybody free range every day. They get plenty of space. We give them layer feed with fertrell.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

layer feed with furtrell

I would pen him separate and make sure he's eating/drinking well. Even free range they can be picked at and kept from food.

If getting a fecal float is not possible, then I would be inclined to de-worm him and treat for Coccidiosis. You can find Corid and Safeguard at Tractor Supply.

Safeguard dose is .23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days.

Dose for Liquid Corid is 2 teaspoons per gallon of water or Powdered Corid is 1 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Don't add anything else to the water except for Corid.

Make sure his crop is emptying overnight.

How old is this rooster? I would give him some extra protein too or chick starter. Not a fan of giving roosters layer feed, but a lot of people do, so that's just a personal preference of mine.

 

[Romeo the Rooster]

He is 1 year old. I currently have him in an outdoor pen by himself but he doesn’t seem super enthusiastic about eating. He is just standing. We have powder Corid because we had a chick that had coccidiosis about 5 months ago. He did not have contact with the chick. The chick recovered fully and we assumed it was gone.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He is 1 year old. I currently have him by himself but he doesn’t seem super enthusiastic about eating. He is just standing. We have powder Corid because we had a chick that had coccidiosis about 5 months ago. He did not have contact with the chick. The chick recovered fully and we assumed it was gone.

To me, your rooster appears to be unwell.

You need to make sure he's drinking well and eating. Check to make sure his crop is emptying overnight.

Chickens do build resistance to Coccidia that are found in their environment but if they are not well, they can have an overload. Coccidia are always in the environment (in the soil and in poop).

Getting a fecal float is the best way to know if you need to treat or not - so gather up a sample and take it to your vet. IF that is not possible, then consider treating for worms and coccidiosis.
The poop is not normal.

If he's not enthusiastic about eating, then think out of the box and try a few other things. See if he will eat wet feed or a bits of scrambled egg.

 

[Romeo the Rooster]

We do not have an easily accessible vet. Must of the time we just try to troubleshoot our way through. He will still eat tomatoes and rice. We will treat him with Corid and see if that helps. And, I noticed you repeatedly mentioning checking to make sure his crop is emptying. What significance does that have?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Can you feel he under side if the bone is prominent then he is skinny. And if he is skinny the you need to get him on all flock or meat bird grower. Also it is not a bad idea to put a heat lamp in his pen.