through my own fault i put the chickens out of the coop yesterday while i cleaned it. I left the door open and let them forage in the yard. I forgot about them and went out a couple hours later to feed them and put them in for the night. out of 13 we had 10 in the coop. looked for the missing 3 and found feathers just 2 clumps my heart sank i knew these were gone. today my oldest daughter was yelling mom theres a chicken out. went out and found one outside the coop. picked her up and went to put her in the coop and realized this was a missing chicken all 10 in the coop were accounted for. so far so well we bought her in the house and placed her in the old rabbit cage gave her food and water and she ate and drank right away. she is currently investigating the cage trying to find a way out so tomorrow we will return her to the coop if she continues to do well. shes a little beaten up has a lump on her back and some of her belly feathers are skinned off. so happy we have a happy story afterall.
YEAH! we had a couple dissapear one time and found out that our d'uccle likes to roost in our redbud trees and that's where she had gone. One of the others we thought had fallen prey but months later found out a little boy in the neighborhood had found her and was keeping her as his pet. I like happy endings! So glad she's ok!
I went to leave the house today and to my suprise and absolute delight I found another missing after the attack wandering down the driveway (missing 2 days). Shes in much worse shape but imediately put her in the cage with other one who was a bit roughed up and she started eatting and drinking imediately. So we are still down one fingers crossed she is found ok too. want to post pics of their injuries but dont want to upset them so i will wait a few more days to give them some more time to recoup
I love a happy ending. We had a dog attack one of my hens last fall. We immediately put her in the brooder box, put some antibiotic ointment on her injuries. She had a really deep puncture wound on her back. Gave her a few days of TLC and she was ready to go back out with the others. She still has a bit of a limp, and kind of leans to one side but she is healthy and seems to be happy.
Chickens are nothing if not resilient. It's amazing the attacks that they can survive. I had a RIR that had a huge chunk ripped out of her back end by a 'coon. She managed to heal up just fine and started laying eggs again. Now she has almost no control over her tail, and it just hangs down behind her all the time but she survived. I call her Droopy Drawers. Glad to hear that yours found their way back home. -S
really bothers me that i let them free range and forgot about them. poor darlings want out of the coop but have been in lockdown since. my cousins are coming up from long island this weekend so its going to be a busy weekend. really want to work on clearing out more of the brush but its been so wet and rainy last few days hopefully we can get this done starting sunday. pullet #1 we found is doing great. pullet#2 is very nervous and skittish. our 4 year old cannot play near her she gets very upset. moved them into a quieter area and seems to have helped her calm down
