Disappeared without a trace

[Organic Gal]

whats the enclosure like .. a dead chicken can lay in an obscure spot unnoticed and hard to see .. not pronouncing doom on ya, just speaking from experience, if theres 'any' place a flat chicken could be check, it sucks to find it and have to deal with that several days later trust me ...

You were right. They were still in the enclosure(fenced area) unfortunately they were dead.

 

[Cee]

There were only two of the seven missing yesterday and as it turns out they were still in the enclosure(fenced area approx.50ftX 150ft) but dead under a large wild rose bush. This happened once before that one of my barred rocks ran under the rose to escape but my neighbor scared the hawk away. No injuries to the chicken that time.

So sorry for the sad news.
Providing more hiding places is a great idea.
Can you cut the lower branches of your rose bush so your girls can't get stuck there?
Hanging brightly colored streamers from say, a tree to a house or fence top is also a deterrent for hawks.

 

[Wallygators]

The enclosure is a fenced area approx. 50ftX150ft that they free range in all day. I haven't had a problem with hawks except one other time in the early summer. They need more places to hide under. The rose isn't good because they get stuck under it I think. The other five most likely ran under the huge hydrangea I have in their area. They spend most of the day under or around it. I see or hear hawks every day however I live in a rural area and there are lots of places a hawk can find prey. Not sure where the crows were yesterday. They definitely keep the hawks away. The remaining five are in the run today (24ftX8ft). Its plenty big enough for them. The weirdest thing is that the remaining five didn't seem to be impacted. But of course they were not together in the same place the hawk attacked the other two. I'll be more cautious going forward.

Is your 24x8 run covered? If not get it covered to protect the others, cause the hawk will be back! I also live out in the country, so always be cautious of predators.

 

[M Brennen]

You were right. They were still in the enclosure(fenced area) unfortunately they were dead.

So very sorry for your loss.

 

[cmom]

So sorry for your loss. I have my pens covered with heavy duty netting. I have trees so I have the netting worked around the trees. I put the sections together with zip ties. Eventually they deteriorated and left a gap that a hawk found. I was away on an appointment and errands. I came home to screaming birds. I immediately went to investigate and saw the hawk and several dead birds. I have since reconnected the sections with hog rings. Good luck...

 

[Organic Gal]

So sorry for the sad news.
Providing more hiding places is a great idea.
Can you cut the lower branches of your rose bush so your girls can't get stuck there?
Hanging brightly colored streamers from say, a tree to a house or fence top is also a deterrent for hawks.

I actually did cut all the low branches of the rose today.

 

[Organic Gal]

Is your 24x8 run covered? If not get it covered to protect the others, cause the hawk will be back! I also live out in the country, so always be cautious of predators.

No its not covered. I am going to look at some options.

 

[Cee]

I actually did cut all the low branches of the rose today.

Hope that helps some. Hang in there.

 

[KCShaw]

I have lost my hens on 3 occasions ( a hen just vanished). One time she had jumped inside the feed barrel in a nearly empty feed bag and was nibbling grain when i set the lid back on. She popped out when i went to feed that evening. Two, I left a ladder against the wall and she managed to get from there to the roof of her hen. House window shutter and was just hanging out all day and was happy to roost there. My dog spotted her. Third, I have large feed pans and during the day someone flipped it over and she was squatting under it for multiple hours. They get into everything on everything and can climb and fly up. Nothing is too strange to consider. GOOD LUCK !

 

[plm6846]

Hi,
Today somewhere between 12 -3pm two of my seven chickens(8 mo old) disappeared without a trace. They were both molting so I would think if anything was to grab them there would be feathers everywhere however no feathers were found. There is no way they could get out of their enclosure. Its 4 ft high. Its a mystery to me. I have looked all over for them. ???????

I am thinking Owl...they pick a chicken out of enclosure without a trace..