I let my flock free-range on the weekend, as usual, but as the sun set, we were missing 3 chickens. We found one rooster over the fence, and after searching the surrounding woods and neighbor's yards, we found our Cochin hiding in the garage. The only bird still missing is my Sicilian Buttercup, who is in the middle of a sudden, full molt. She is just getting pin feathers back, but they have not fluffed out yet, and she was shivering during the day. The temps have been 35 for a high and down to the low 20's at night.
Since we saw no signs of an attack, I'm thinking she just got too cold and hunkered down somewhere. Could she possibly survive? Buttercups are very small chickens and not heavily feathered to start out with, and in the state she's in now, I have a bad feeling about this!
Poor girl! She looked so miserable, but she decided not to stay inside, and I have no other ideas on where to look for her :-(
Since we saw no signs of an attack, I'm thinking she just got too cold and hunkered down somewhere. Could she possibly survive? Buttercups are very small chickens and not heavily feathered to start out with, and in the state she's in now, I have a bad feeling about this!
Poor girl! She looked so miserable, but she decided not to stay inside, and I have no other ideas on where to look for her :-(