What got my chicken?

[Gary Willson]

I just talked with my neighbor, and she had an interesting observation. She says it might have been taken by an owl. We do hear hoot owls, so they're around. She says they'll pick them up and carry them off. Also, my chicken is yellow, and she says lighter animals don't do well in the wild. She has lost her light colored cats, but the dark one (she says is dumber than rocks) keeps on living and it's 14.

 

[chick lovers]

An owl would be possible but not likely especially since they hunt only at night and you're hen appears to have gone missing in the day. The last time you saw her was in the day and she never came back to the coop to be locked up, is that correct?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I lost my first chicken last night. She didn't come back to the coop, and there's not a trace of her anywhere. In my area, possibilities are: coyotes, foxes, raccoons, dogs, and hawks. I'm guessing a hawk. Wouldn't a ground based predator leave feathers around from the kill? A hawk would just swoop down and carry her away.

There was no mention of what breed or how large your MIA hen was or is. Any time chicken about 1.5 pounds or larger that is taken by a raptor you should find a feather pillow's worth of feathers because most raptors are unable to get air born with ANY STANDARD ADULT hen or rooster. A large adult Red Tail Hawk (the female hawk) only weighs about 4 pounds, top. West of the Mississippi that drops to 3 pounds. The male hawk is 1/2 the size of his mate. Many backyard hen chickens tip the scales at about 8 pounds. This requires the hawk to strip the feathers off its prize so that it can eat its fill or fill its crop with chicken meat to carry back to its young. After many trips a lightened corps can be removed but it seldom is. All you will find is a connected skeleton devoid of flesh SURROUNDED by feathers.

Ground based predator mothers didn't birth no stupid babies. Any ground based predator worth its chicken dinner that is able to, will be making tracks for the safety of the tall timber, your hen or rooster in it's mouth.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I just talked with my neighbor, and she had an interesting observation. She says it might have been taken by an owl. We do hear hoot owls, so they're around. She says they'll pick them up and carry them off. Also, my chicken is yellow, and she says lighter animals don't do well in the wild. She has lost her light colored cats, but the dark one (she says is dumber than rocks) keeps on living and it's 14.

Red Tail Hawks love the flavor of fu-fu puppies, and they will kill and eat a small pet dog in a heart beat if it takes them that long. Ditto for pet cats, but GH Owls are the cat napping and skunk eating specialist.

 

[cricketmt]

Not all owls are nocturnal, especially the pygmy owl, short-eared and burrowing. They're what's considered crepuscular or active during dawn and dusk hours.

ETA: THe pygmy is crepuscular, the other two hunt during the day as well.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I lost my first chicken last night. She didn't come back to the coop, and there's not a trace of her anywhere. In my area, possibilities are: coyotes, foxes, raccoons, dogs, and hawks. I'm guessing a hawk. Wouldn't a ground based predator leave feathers around from the kill? A hawk would just swoop down and carry her away.

If she is laying then there is a strong possibly that she has stolen her nest away and that she is now incubating a clutch of eggs. Look in, over, around, under, and through everything in your yard and you just may find her sitting on 12 - 18 eggs.

 

[chick lovers]

Ok I didn't know that, but do you think they are big enough to carry away a chicken? I'm not sure how big any of those are?

 

[Gary Willson]

@Chick lovers Yes, last time I saw her was in the daytime.
@chickengeorgeto She is(was) a full grown Americauna. I don't know weights very well, but I'd guess about 6 lbs.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

@Chick lovers Yes, last time I saw her was in the daytime.
@chickengeorgeto She is(was) a full grown Americauna. I don't know weights very well, but I'd guess about 6 lbs.

It is for sure and certain then that a 1.5 to 4 pound hawk hasn't flown off with a dead 6 pound hen.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If she is laying then there is a strong possibly that she has stolen her nest away and that she is now incubating a clutch of eggs. Look in, over, around, under, and through everything in your yard and you just may find her sitting on 12 - 18 eggs.

I had a hen steal a nest under the hood of a backup pickup truck.

When my everyday truck was down for service I drove my backup truck to the bank. While I was waiting at the drive in window the suspense was too great and the hen bailed. She keep herself alive and went back to laying in the bank's shrubbery. The tellers in the drive in windows kept me informed as to her whereabouts. When she took back to the nest I walked up after dark and just picked her up.