Vanished chicken.. potentially broody?

[Moolinda]

Hi all! Just introduced myself on the new page. I'm very worried so I want to get right down to it. What brings me here is last night one of our barred rocks, the boss of the four, Martha, went missing without a trace. They free range in our backyard which is 3/4 fenced in except for the driveway and near the road. It's partially wooded so they have plenty of cover from predators. They have never wandered in front of the house so I'm not worried she crossed the road. There's a chance a fox grabbed her but we also have a husky that also roams the yard (never unsupervised), and surpsingly is very gentle and protective of the ladies. The dog pretty much scares away any predators. They are just under four months and I'm worried she got broody somewhere for the first time and is hiding. I also feel like she's hiding versus a predator because last week one of our buff orpingtons disappeared when we were putting them in their run during an afternoon when we were going out. We have no idea where she was hiding, but once we gave up searching and let the girls back out to free range she just appeared from the wooded area. We had checked that area a million times and searched for 45 minutes. Any suggestions on what kind of places our barred rock might be hiding? Do they go high in trees or look for holes? Do predators really snag hem without a trace? I am mentally preparing for the worst but hoping she's out there hiding on her first egg.

 

[Maeschak]

I am sorry to say but yes, chickens can be taken by predators 'without a trace.' Just lost 2 in the last few weeks that way. If the missing chickens are completely full grown, large, and go missing during broad daylight I usually suspect a fox. If they are smaller chickens such as yours and they go away during the day I usually suspect hawk. Although, I have absolutely zero clue bc they go missing without a trace! Night time predators around here are usually raccoon, opossum, skunk, mink/weasel. By the way, I have never had a dog attach my chickens but I hear when they go after chickens there is always a bunch of feathers around and the carcass is just cast off somewhere nearby.

Anyway, I hope you find her! It is also absolutely possible that she is just hiding and having a great time in the woods by herself.

 

[The Moonshiner]

At 4 months old I wouldn't be expecting one to go broody. Not that they couldn't but I've never had on that young do it.
Yes birds get taken without a trace a lot. You other hen could of gotten away from a different attack and been hiding the day she was gone.
Hope for the best but be aware of the worst and get on the defense so if it is a predator you won't lose any more.

 

[azygous]

Without a trace? Not usually. At least in my experience, there are feathers from the encounter. If you do a thorough ground search, you should discover some familiar feathers if a predator snatched this chicken. I'd look in those woods.

At four months it's highly unlikely she's broody. They need to lay a bunch of eggs first. How many has this pullet laid, if any?

Now, don't assume the worst. After a predator attack, the victim will usually remain in hiding for as much as 24 hours. You will find them in the most unlikely places, high in a tree, wedged between trash cans, tightly squeezed into a crack between stacked wood, and don't rule out the front of your house, porch, etc. They will run to places they usually don't frequent to hide from a predator.

 

[Moolinda]

Hi all. Thanks for the kind words and advice. Unfortunately we're pretty sure a fox got our girl. I searched all around this afternoon and I talked to my neighbor, he has a flock of 30. He's seen lots of foxes around. He tries to take em out but he said there's at least two foxes that have evaded him.

This is my first loss and it's really heartbreaking. His wife said it seems like her favorite is always the one to be snatched. We'll be monitoring our three remaining girls much more closely.
I think it stings the most cause the two barred rocks had distinct beak markings, and we could easily tell them apart. We can't really tell the Buff orpingtons apart. Pour one out for my girl Martha