I HAD/have three mixed chickens that were/are approx. three months old. A hen hatched them w/o my knowledge, so they were/are destined for the soup pot.
Anyway, these three found an opening along the bottom of coop that they could squeeze threw and then out into the yard. They did this every morning as the older chickens picked on them. They have been doing this now for about two months.
Last night I came home and I only saw one rooster running around the yard. I thought, oh no. I walked the entire yard and so no evidence of any type of struggle, not feather one. I looked and looked in all the possible hiding spots and found no chickens, I even got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and looked under the coop, no sign of the other two chickens, one is hen the other a rooster. The rooster by the way was blind in one eye, he hatched this way.
This morning I found the little hen in the run quite freaked out, she immediately ran like the dickens when she saw me. I watched her a few minutes and then she flapped her wings. I thought that one wing didn't look right. So I went in picked her up and most of her flight feathers are missing on her right wing and upon further investigation a found a half dollar size area on her left side in which the skin was pulled back, no puncture wound.
She definately hid herself well that is for sure and I was surprised to see her this morning because I let the other chickens out for about an hour or so in the evening and I thought if the two were hiding they would reappear once the other chickens were out running around.
The rooster was definately at a disadvantage with the one blind eye so my guess is he probably never saw whatever it was coming.
Then a dove made a low flight over the run and the rest of the chickens completely freaked out and they have never reacted this way to a small bird like that, this is why I suspect a hawk.
The two are now in a cage.
What puzzles me is that there are no feathers, this rooster was a RIR cross and mainly had red feathers. I walked the yard again this morning looking for the hens wing feathers and could not find them.
Thoughts?
Anyway, these three found an opening along the bottom of coop that they could squeeze threw and then out into the yard. They did this every morning as the older chickens picked on them. They have been doing this now for about two months.
Last night I came home and I only saw one rooster running around the yard. I thought, oh no. I walked the entire yard and so no evidence of any type of struggle, not feather one. I looked and looked in all the possible hiding spots and found no chickens, I even got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and looked under the coop, no sign of the other two chickens, one is hen the other a rooster. The rooster by the way was blind in one eye, he hatched this way.
This morning I found the little hen in the run quite freaked out, she immediately ran like the dickens when she saw me. I watched her a few minutes and then she flapped her wings. I thought that one wing didn't look right. So I went in picked her up and most of her flight feathers are missing on her right wing and upon further investigation a found a half dollar size area on her left side in which the skin was pulled back, no puncture wound.
She definately hid herself well that is for sure and I was surprised to see her this morning because I let the other chickens out for about an hour or so in the evening and I thought if the two were hiding they would reappear once the other chickens were out running around.
The rooster was definately at a disadvantage with the one blind eye so my guess is he probably never saw whatever it was coming.
Then a dove made a low flight over the run and the rest of the chickens completely freaked out and they have never reacted this way to a small bird like that, this is why I suspect a hawk.
The two are now in a cage.
What puzzles me is that there are no feathers, this rooster was a RIR cross and mainly had red feathers. I walked the yard again this morning looking for the hens wing feathers and could not find them.
Thoughts?
