Chick vanished

[wvgal61]

I have eight cuckoo marans in a 6 foot dog lot. I also put 1x 1/2 screen around it and on top. went out today and one has disappeared. not a sign, no feathers no nothing. Don't know what happened. To beat it all it was a pullet. What could have gotten it.

 

[wvgal61]

any suggestions?

 

[NatashaF]

how big was the pullet that went missing? you say that it had a wire covering the top?

 

[wvgal61]

the top is covered. it is a 6ft.tall large chain link dog kennel. about 10 x20. I have 4 ft screen all the way around it and the top covered with it as well. I can't find any damage. The only thing I can think of is maybe a snake crawled up 4 ft. to where there is just regular chain link fence to crawl thru? There is a blackberry bush that has grown up the side of the kennel, I am going to cut it down in the morning. The chick is 5-6 weeks old so not very big.

 

[rikithemonk]

Check the cage really well, there may be a loose section that can be moved to form a gap. There is something you may be over looking. I doubt it was a snake. Snakes swallow their prey hole. If the chicken was too big to fit through the fence grid then the snake after feeding wouldn't be able to get back out for quite a while. It basically would have been trapped in the cage.

No feathers, no way out and simply gone.

1) Caretaker was distracted and didn't notice the chicken follow them out of the coop.
2) Human stole chicken
3)There is a gap your not seeing. One that isn't obvious somehow.
4)People from the future teleported the chicken in order to recreate the extinct breed

These are the only possibilities that I can come up with for a missing bird with zero signs of a struggle.

Riki

Distracted happened to my daughter. She had her school books, and was talking on her cell phone as she left for school. Walked out of the house locked the door and left. She never noticed that our miniature poodle followed her out of the house. The poor dog was stuck on the porch till I got home from work in the evening.

 

[wvgal61]

I go with answer 4. the chick was to big for me to put thru the chain link just barely. I was moving some vinyl siding away from the pen, and cut down a blackberry bush and did run across a large black snake. just cought sight of the last 4 inches or so going under some boards. I thought if it did come in and get it, it probably crushed it enough to get back out. I have the netting all the way around with wood blocks and rocks lining the bottom. I have to step over to get in after I open the gate, so I really don't think it could have snuck out with me. I don't really know what happened to it. If by some chance it did get out I haven't found it yet.

 

[Nambroth]

When I started taking my 8 week chicks outside, they horrified me by somehow squeezing out through wire gaps that I thought was physically impossible, and I have studied avian biology for decades. Chicks have a way to bend the laws of physics, I fear!