Hens running away from home?

[Debbie292d]

I'm on page one but.. hiding nests and bringing home a brood of chicks.. is not new.

She wasn't laying eggs yet, and hadn't until yesterday. Maybe she was yearning for it. I don't know, but she's penned up in a very huge pen with an attached aviary, with a few of her mates now for breeding. Her siblings have been fine, so beats me what's up with her. Maybe now that she's laying eggs she'll calm down.

 

[McChooky]

She wasn't laying eggs yet, and hadn't until yesterday. Maybe she was yearning for it. I don't know, but she's penned up in a very huge pen with an attached aviary, with a few of her mates now for breeding. Her siblings have been fine, so beats me what's up with her. Maybe now that she's laying eggs she'll calm down.

My dads leghorns free ranged and roosted in trees .They disappeared every year and brought chicks back.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Back where I'm from (my mom's house) sometimes her chickens do this. Usually if the neighbor's roosters are making a lot of racket, they'll try to walk the quarter mile to get to them. They are quickly reprimanded by their men! Maybe its curiosity... or they are looking for somewhere to lay their eggs sneakily. At one point we also had a hen who "ran away". She was gone for a couple weeks. We assumed that she had gotten eaten (we lived in the woods). Then out of the blue my little brother found her in the woods sitting on eggs underneath one of our old Christmas trees... so you never know. Chickens are little freaks. but I have much love for them

 

[McChooky]

Back where I'm from (my mom's house) sometimes her chickens do this. Usually if the neighbor's roosters are making a lot of racket, they'll try to walk the quarter mile to get to them. They are quickly reprimanded by their men! Maybe its curiosity... or they are looking for somewhere to lay their eggs sneakily. At one point we also had a hen who "ran away". She was gone for a couple weeks. We assumed that she had gotten eaten (we lived in the woods). Then out of the blue my little brother found her in the woods sitting on eggs underneath one of our old Christmas trees... so you never know. Chickens are little freaks. but I have much love for them

Our baby chicks were wild and hard to catch.The only time we caught them was in the winter months so they wouldn't freeze to death before they were fully feathered

 

[tlcmurphy]

She wasn't laying eggs yet, and hadn't until yesterday. Maybe she was yearning for it. I don't know, but she's penned up in a very huge pen with an attached aviary, with a few of her mates now for breeding. Her siblings have been fine, so beats me what's up with her. Maybe now that she's laying eggs she'll calm down.

Maybe she’s trying to get away from the (future) kids?

 

[MamaPoult]

Maybe there is a predator prowling by your property and they got scared. Or maybe there is a dead animal or something they may be attracted to over there

 

[CoopBoots]

I own a hen now that belonged to two different neighbors prior. Apparently she didn't bond with her hatchmates at the farm well enough to not wander, and was given away to hopefully be happier elsewhere. Well, my next-door neighbors got her next, but they don't do full fencing and her wandering habits took her to my porch (where feed is often spilled and with my chicken yard only a few yards away). She was caught, herded, chased, even threatened with the hose pipe to go home! Daily. For months. Then, I found her INSIDE my chicken yard stealing food.

Honestly I don't know what her deal was; the neighbor seemed to have roosters that liked her well enough and she always went back to sleep and lay eggs. However, by the time she was spending 75% of her time on my porch or just breaking and entering my fenced chicken yard I figured she must like it here. The neighbor let her stay to reduce disease risks between flocks.

 

[McChooky]

I've never had any chickens wander off and come back with chicks. My observations are only from growing up around free ranged leghorns .We didn't have a coop or nesting boxes back then.

 

[McChooky]

I own a hen now that belonged to two different neighbors prior. Apparently she didn't bond with her hatchmates at the farm well enough to not wander, and was given away to hopefully be happier elsewhere. Well, my next-door neighbors got her next, but they don't do full fencing and her wandering habits took her to my porch (where feed is often spilled and with my chicken yard only a few yards away). She was caught, herded, chased, even threatened with the hose pipe to go home! Daily. For months. Then, I found her INSIDE my chicken yard stealing food.

Honestly I don't know what her deal was; the neighbor seemed to have roosters that liked her well enough and she always went back to sleep and lay eggs. However, by the time she was spending 75% of her time on my porch or just breaking and entering my fenced chicken yard I figured she must like it here. The neighbor let her stay to reduce disease risks between flocks.

After I rescued the sole survivor of my neighbors free range chickens( the rest were killed in a dog attack) she bonded with my 3 oldest hens (Dominiques) .In spite of us living less than 50 ft apart she's never attempted to go home

 

[McChooky]

There are two young ones, 10 mos. old, but they are actually acting normal, as in not overbreeding or doing it meanly and one doesn't even do anything at all but stays with the group. I thought of that too but they don't even mingle with the old hens. They have their own rooster and they keep to themselves, separate group. There's 7 old ones 3-6 yrs), and 7 newer ones (10 mos.)

These 2 are likely to be lowest in the pecking order and possibly in search of greener pastures.If Charlotte settled in quickly with the younger chicks maybe she'll make friends with one or two of them?Chickens that don't have a close pal wanderoff by themselves