1st loss hen

[jma6004]

After two years with 8 buff hens and no losses I think I lost my first hen. I'm afraid it's my fault too. I work nights and today, like usual, I let them out at 8 am when I got home. I fell asleep late and when I woke up it was 9 pm, oops, I went to close up the coop. Apparently the wind closed the door to the coop. So, I had 6 birds roosting on the fence outside and one bird who must have been inside when the door closed because she was roosting inside the coop. By my math I'm missing one. I looked everywhere on our two acres; barn, trees, fence lines with no luck. Maybe she will turn up in the morning? How high could I expect a two year old unclipped buff to fly? Could she be in a tree, I have 12 huge live oak trees? Or would a predator have taken the whole hen somewhere? Thanks

 

[Mattemma]

It might turn up.Someone had a chicken show up weeks later.Put a rock or a log by the door to keep it cracked open during the day. I have that and a tarp covering the door to decrease the wind/snow/rain. On days like this I just feed them and lock the door up.

Hopefully your hen will turn up. I have forgotten to close the shed door a few times,and even locked a hen outside a few times I forgot to do a head count.

Best wishes!!!!!

 

[JanetS]

Any luck finding your hen??

 

[jma6004]

No. I looked around the property. No luck... A friend said there have been a lot of chicken hawks around. Maybe thats what got her. Not sure. I do not see feathers anywhere so I am leaning away from coyote/dog.

 

[JanetS]

Did you ever find your chicken??

 

[redneck farmer]

Try leaving some feed under those 12 big trees of yours. She may find that an stay there. Then check those trees in the morning, afternoon and dusk- if she's alive she might get tiyered of bugs an hit that feed.

 

[jma6004]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Fentressfarmer]

Don't give up just yet, last year I had a red tailed hawk scare my girls to death, I thought I had lost 7 out of 9 girls. I went so far as to take the two that were left to my best friends house and two weeks later my wife walks in the door and tells me she heard chickens when she was walking in. To my suprise I walk out to the coop and find 6 of my hens standing there looking at me like where have you been? So I took them to my friends house to be with the others. I had givin up on the other one and at almost a month after the hawk attack I'm outside mowing the grass and low and behold I look in the vacant lot next to our place and see my long lost hen standing there eating grass!!!! No idea where she'd been hiding but was alive and well! So here I am a year later and back in the chicken business and was I ever happy to bring all my girls home! So hang in there she may show up yet if they have room to run they will,