Black Australorp hen MIA from Long Beach, CA

[562Jen]

My beloved Harriet went missing on Fri., March 5. She was a bit of a wanderer - she never liked me finding her eggs and would relocate her nesting spot, and her radius was beginning to expand to the neighbors' yards. But she always came home. There were no signs of foul play, so I suspect a chicken-napping. The same day she went AWOL, a woman knocked on our door to express her concern for her welfare and give some veiled hints about something happening to her. Could this have been a misguided but well-intentioned "rescuer?" Harriet was very friendly and liked to be held, so her social skills may have facilitated her disappearance. Flyers to the neighbors and a search at the local animal shelter have been fruitless. If you took my hen, please have some compassion and bring her home to the 800 block of Junipero. I miss her!

 

[sourland]

"Harriet" may have been kidnapped, killed by a predator, or gone broody in some secluded spot. These are the dangers we incur when we allow our chickens to free range. Good luck in finding her. Geo.

 

[562Jen]

I thought she may have gone broody, but my hopes are dim on that front now that it's been more than a week with the neighbors on full alert and she hasn't been spotted. Because there's no evidence of winged or 4-legged predators or Harriet's remains - and this is a suburban neighborhood with limited wildlife, I fear her predator is the worst kind - 2-legged. As in my fellow man. Or woman. I can handle all that Mother Nature can dish out in the form of disease, the food chain, etc. when it comes to my hens, but I go between heartbroken to angry to think this was likely a willful case of thievery. Chicken nabber, if you are out there and in my general vicinity, you have been forewarned - Harriet likes to roam and I am on the lookout!