Hens running away from home?

[Debbie292d]

Hmm, I'm not sure what to do to keep her home. I haven't been letting mine out much in the last two years as we have hawks so they only get to go outside if we are out with them. I don't like having them locked up as much as they are but I also can't stand to lose any to predation.

Other than a fence, I'm not sure what would deter little Charelotte.

Half of that pen she's in now will be divided off to be a breeding pen. She's one that's going in there which will start around February, so maybe I'll just leave her in there. I can't keep my eyes on her like she needs. The rest just free-range around here, where it's safe.

 

[TwoCrows]

She's a beautiful gal @Debbie292d

 

[Debbie292d]

She's a beautiful gal @Debbie292d

Awe, thank you.

I went to check on them a few minutes ago and she's all snuggled up with them in that hutch but she's the one leaning right up to the cozy coop heater lol. What a wuss. It's 30F here so not that cold for her, but at least she's helping keep the little ones warm in there.

Hubby agrees that since they all get along, she should just stay in that pen with them for her own safety.

 

[LTAY1946]

Our road is tar but only gets about a dozen cars per day so it's not the road I worry about as much as it is what's on the other side, a huge field and some woods, and a farm, so lots of varments could be out there. When it rains, they'll all be on the road eating worms.

She's naughty all right. I do not know what to do if this doesn't work.

I so wish I could find some Silkies locally. Even the Charlotte strain. There is enough stuff here for a Charlotte to get into they wouldn't need to cross the road. Thanks for the cute story.

 

[Debbie292d]

I so wish I could find some Silkies locally. Even the Charlotte strain. There is enough stuff here for a Charlotte to get into they wouldn't need to cross the road. Thanks for the cute story.

Are you into hatching? I could ship you some eggs.

 

[LTAY1946]

Are you into hatching? I could ship you some eggs.

Yes we have 4 Hovabators. When using hen eggs they worked really well. The last two hatches were not the best of eggs coming from young pullets and inexperienced cockerels. Only got about a 50% hatch. Can they be shipped now that it is so cold?

 

[Debbie292d]

Yes we have 4 Hovabators. When using hen eggs they worked really well. The last two hatches were not the best of eggs coming from young pullets and inexperienced cockerels. Only got about a 50% hatch. Can they be shipped now that it is so cold?

Whoa! That's some major hatching you can do!

Due to the warmer temps, I went ahead for my first time and shipped eggs to a lady in NY who begged me. I hadn't shipped before but she got them fine, from one cold state to another. I have the tiny bubbles bubble wrap and wrapped them up well so semi-insulated. I shipped them priority 2-3 day mail and they took 6 days though. She candled day 14 yesterday and sent me videos as this is her first time. I only saw one moving but most looked good and I could see a couple of quitters. She may end up with 50%. I bought eggs 3x on eBay and got around 75%.

 

[Dokdream]

Earlier this afternoon, I was outside and saw Charlotte, a 10-month-old silkie hen, walking quickly between our yard and the farmer's field, headed for the road. I yelled at my hubby to look at that, where's she going all by herself? A rooster spotted her and made a beeline to chase after her, grabbed her by the tail and she turned around and ran back to the rest of the chickens.

An hour ago, hubby came to tell me he just spotted one of our older hens across the road, by herself. He said he yelled at her and she knew she was in the wrong and came running back.

We have only silkies here and have done nothing different in 7 years.

Across the road is a farm. They have Brahma chickens, ducks, quail, geese, horses, donkeys, turkeys, etc., but nothing a chicken would want. The field was harvested weeks ago, and it's dead. The chickens have layer crumbles in their coop, fermented grain/feed up by the house, and free range all day. Nothing new.

We've never had this happen before. All of the remaining chickens were fine as usual staying in the yard, but these two for some unknown reason were running away from home. We don't have a run as they free-range, but we have a couple of pens I suppose I'll have to pen them up if this keeps up.

Is this some new phenomenon? Has anyone else had a chicken be unhappy and run away? This is two different ones in the same day so I'm baffled!

So now you are asking the age-old question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

 

[McChooky]

Could your hens be seeking hiding places to hatch chicks ?

 

[Debbie292d]

Could your hens be seeking hiding places to hatch chicks ?

She wasn't laying yet, although sort of acting like that. Yesterday, she laid a shell-less egg so here we go! She's so sweet, just a ditz I guess. Silkies are smart said no one ever.

I put Marsha the splash hen, Cocoa Puffs the other choco hen, and Piper the mauve roo with her. In a couple of weeks should be incubating!