Duck caring for injured chicken

[Zen_chirps]

We have an unusual chicken that often hops the fence to lay her eggs. I kept warning her about predators, but she often argued. I think she's injured & hiding under a shed. She hasn't come out in over a week. It's too far too narrow under there to be able to extract the chicken manually, but we may need to try something (pulling the floor up from the shed?). I imagine the hen could soon die of dehydration.

We've noticed our female mallard keeps going under the shed (that's how we discovered the hiding hen). Every night the mallard goes under the shed, presumably to care for the hen. Each morning she comes out and joins the rest of the flock.

Is the mallard taking food to the chicken?

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Is there any water down there? If not, she's already dead.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Without being able to see down there, it's impossible to know. Also how do you know she hasn't come out in a week, if you can't see down there?

My guess is she's broody.

 

[aart]

We have an unusual chicken that often hops the fence to lay her eggs. I kept warning her about predators, but she often argued. I think she's injured & hiding under a shed. She hasn't come out in over a week. It's too far too narrow under there to be able to extract the chicken manually, but we may need to try something (pulling the floor up from the shed?). I imagine the hen could soon die of dehydration.

We've noticed our female mallard keeps going under the shed (that's how we discovered the hiding hen). Every night the mallard goes under the shed, presumably to care for the hen. Each morning she comes out and joins the rest of the flock.

Is the mallard taking food to the chicken?

A lot of speculation.
Get the bird out of there and block access to it.

 

[AprilsZoo]

We have an unusual chicken that often hops the fence to lay her eggs. I kept warning her about predators, but she often argued. I think she's injured & hiding under a shed. She hasn't come out in over a week. It's too far too narrow under there to be able to extract the chicken manually, but we may need to try something (pulling the floor up from the shed?). I imagine the hen could soon die of dehydration.

We've noticed our female mallard keeps going under the shed (that's how we discovered the hiding hen). Every night the mallard goes under the shed, presumably to care for the hen. Each morning she comes out and joins the rest of the flock.

Is the mallard taking food to the chicken?

Two thoughts: <tongue firmly planted in cheek >

1. You have a talking chicken and you haven’t kept her securely penned? Surely such a hen (who can understand warnings and form coherent arguments for why she should be allowed to do as she pleases) must be very, very valuable? If I had a chicken like that, I’d be keeping her in the Fort Knox of coops.
   
   
2. Have you seen the duck going under the shed carrying food? It sounds like the mallard might be very talented as well, if she can carry enough food & water to keep your chicken alive into the super-tiny space under a shed.
   Too bad your duck can’t carry on the same kind of conversations as the hen... maybe it would be worth trying to tell the duck about why the is unsafe & see if Ms. Mallard can convince the chicken to come out?

On a serious note— if your hen isn’t coming out to eat & drink when you aren’t watching, then she won’t have lived long. The duck is most assuredly not taking suste to your chicken. You can decide whether to let her Rest In Peace under the floor, or pull up portions of the flooring to retrieve her...
Good luck with what ever you decide.