Strange Rooster Behaviour - doesn't crow, perch, etc.

[jayde88]

Hello,

One of my roosters is a little over a year old. When he was younger he was quite energetic and crowed frequently, but since last autumn he stopped crowing and has begun to act a bit 'depressed': he doesn't run around with the rest of the chickens, walks slowly, sleeps on the ground in the corner, etc. Sometimes he has trouble balancing. However, nothing particularly major seems to be wrong with him, he is not visibly injured, he eats, he hasn't been having breathing problems or anything. At first, I thought he was sick, however in my experience once a chicken is sick they usually don't last for much more than a week, but this one has been acting like that for quite a long time. He seemed like he was improving (or maybe it is just my imagination), he had dust baths and walked and ran around more, but he seems to be back to acting sad. He has feather mites which we are working to take care of, is this causing his strange behaviour? Or is is it something else? And, what can we do to help him act like a normal rooster again?

Some additional information: the rooster is a mixed breed banty, we have about 75 chickens, about eight roosters, he was hatched in the coop (from a broody, none of his siblings act like this).

Any help would be welcome, thank you!

~ Jayde88 ~

 

[Mahonri]

He may be sick but he might also be low roo in the pecking order... especially if he is banty.

If you could put him in a pen with his own 20 girls, get rid of the mites and make certain he is fed well, he may very well perk right up again.

 

[ChooksChick]

I'm immediately wondering about this eyesight. Does he spot things from a distance?

Mites can certainly be a huge burden on a bird, especially a banty, if they get bad. Hopefully you'll get him something to wipe them out fast, and that may bounce him back...I'm not sure what else could cause that other than him not being able to be as much a part of the world around him with poor eyesight.

 

[jayde88]

Quote:
About his eyesight, thats an interesting idea. He does seem relatively oblivious, most of the time he stands in the corner of our chicken yard with a group of other chickens. Sometimes he doesn't seem to notice food, for example a cherry on the ground, unless it is close. He doesn't seem to have a particularly difficult time navigating the chicken, he can seem to find he food, water, door, etc., most of the time. He still has both his eyes, they've not been pecked out or anything

We have some mite dust, and we've started to routinely put it on him, he has looking a little better. Hopefully it will work!

Thank you for your help, ChooksChick!

 

[jayde88]

Quote:
That is a good idea, we might try that!
Thanks for your help, Mahonri!

 

[ChooksChick]

Glad to help! He may be nearsighted- there are folks on here with even blind chickens, and they seem to do okay.

Hopefully he'll perk up quickly! The mite dust should be a big help.

 

[a2ms4chickens]

Mites can definitely affect the behavior of your bird.

Last year, I had a Birchen modern game bantam with mites. I didn't notice it until he could no longer get on the perch and slept on the ground because he didn't have any energy.

I dusted him with Sevin 5% dust which killed the mites by the next day, but he still has not been able to grow all of his wing feathers back. His energy returned, but I think the mites affected him neurogically because to me he walks very carefully and doesn't run. But otherwise, he is healthy.

Good luck with your roo.

 

[jayde88]

Quote:
Thanks for your help, its good to know that this problem can be fixed with sevin dust. Our dust is not Sevin Dust, it is another type of dust that has less strong chemicals. I had no idea mites could affect a chicken that badly.
Thanks for your help, A2ms4chickens!