Chicken mysteriously disappeared while I was in the yard with her

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JessicaDotta

JessicaDotta

Songster
Oct 27, 2020
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On Thursday, I was out in my backyard doing some tidying up. I was going in and out of my house for small errands. My flock was right alongside me, curious about everything I was doing.

At 6:30 p.m. I snapped a picture of my hens who had snuck into my mudroom and were looking at chicks in the brooder (before I shooed them back outdoors).

At 7pm, I noticed they were hopping in their coop, so I went to lock them up for the night but one was missing. It's very strange for her to go off by herself at that time of night, so I assumed she was just out of sight, so I left the coop open for a while longer.

1 a.m. I bolted out of my sleep with the realization that I never locked the coop. I went out to complete the job and was surprised to find her still missing.

Here's what strange. I was with them the entire time. Wouldn't she have raised a fuss (or the other chickens have given a warning?)

For the first time in my life, I saw a mink about three weeks ago, just beyond my property (normally a dry creek bed, but we'd just had flooding.)

I've been hearing a great-horned owl.

My neighbor said he saw a fox about a week ago.

I've seen no feathers. Heard no squawks. None of my ducks or chickens (or me) noticed that it happened.

What do you guys reckon it was?
 
Curious, indeed! So was it one of the adult hens that vanished? Did this happen while you were going in and out of the house, so you may have missed whatever happened? What breed is the missing hen (LF or bantam) and was she full-size adult?
 
If it was a predator it could be any one of the ones you mentioned. Maybe she is hiding and will show up. One day I was out and let my special bird out with me. I got distracted and that quick a fox snatched her. I never saw the fox take her but did find feathers when I went looking for her. I never found her body. The last time I saw her she was dust bathing in one of the garden beds. She would always come to me when I called her but she didn't this time which was odd. I'm still angry with myself for not putting her back into her pen while I was distracted. It only takes a moment. I have several cameras up on my property and saw the fox on a camera. I hope yours returns. Good luck...
 
**warning graphic * * * Well . . . . I've found what's left of her. In the backyard, there's a bunch of white (petticoat) feathers. In the front yard, at the edge of the property, near a bush, there are her brown feathers. A couple of big chunks of skin connecting feathers. Maybe her fanned tail?

So, I'm guessing she was snatched in the backyard and brought to the front yard?

Does this sound consistent with any particular predator?
 
Well darn. I had hoped she was setting on a hidden nest and she'd show up with a clutch of chicks in a few weeks. I'm sorry that happy little scenario wasn't meant to be. But I'm glad you found her so at least you know she's gone. Unfortunately, the evidence is not conclusive enough to point to any particular predator, at least not in my experience. I think we can rule out fox which would probably have taken her back to its den, though. I'm very sorry for your loss. :hugs
 
Thanks for the support!

She was one of my first four chickens and less than a year into egg-laying :0(

Happily, though, I experimented with hatching my own chicks, so hopefully one of my chicks is hers . . and she lives on.
 

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