Hen Disappearing for Most of the Day

[Faverolle Lover]

I have a bantam americauna hen that's been disappearing for more of the day for the past two weeks or so. She'll show up in the morning for a half hour to an hour and then won't be seen for the rest of the day. She'll gorge herself on food and water while she's out and about, and I try to make it as accessible for her. She isn't acting the same either, she's more anxious and she's making the growling sound that broody hens make. Does anyone know why she's doing this? I can't find where she's spending most of her day and she isn't coming into the coop at night. I've attached a picture of her (sorry she's wet, it rained a ton today) and a pic of her manure. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Feathered_Texans]

Sounds to me like she’s broody

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess is in about 20-24 days she'll come back... with some babies in tow.

 

[ellend]

Somebody is sitting on eggs!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I agree, I think she has a nest somewhere, and she's gonna be bringing the kids to meet everybody in a couple of weeks

 

[Cntry1958]

It sure sounds like she's going to be a mama soon and coming home with her own family. It will take 21 to 25 days for her to hatch her clutch of chicks. She should lay 1 egg per day for about a week to 10 days then she begin sitting on them. Which it sounds like she is doing now and only leaving the nest then she coming in to eat and get water.
She will show up with chicks in a few week and be a very proud mama.

 

[Faverolle Lover]

Well, the magpies in my area were going nuts the other day and I don't know why until today when I found one of her eggs in my backyard. It was cracked, covered in yolk, and freezing cold but I decided to candle it anyway and no light got through the egg so there was something inside any it was almost ready to hatch. If her nest was found by the magpies do you think that there is any chance some of her eggs survived? With all the raining that's going on I don't know if they survive her food trips. I'm getting really worried and I still can't find where she's nesting.

 

[Faverolle Lover]

My other worry is that if the demon magpies got to ask of her eggs then her new batch of eggs will no longer be fertilized. She vanished again today, so she's definitely not given up, but my roster died a month before she started doing this and I don't know how long it'll be until she's just sitting on rotten eggs.