Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Congrats! Amazing she got any chicks after last week's weather. My poor roo got a touch of frostbite on the tips of his giant comb. I'm so looking forward to spring right now.

This will be my 1st spring with large Orpingtons. Do they go broody often or once in a while? (I used to always avoid the broody breeds, so I'm not very knowledgeable about such things.) Do hens mostly go broody in spring or whenever they feel the need?

 

[NotAFarm]

What cuties you have

and what a dedicated hen

to keep them warm through the weather we've been having!!

I have a broody breed, Icelandics, so I expect them to go broody (I can even "make" them broody by letting eggs/golf balls accumulate to 10 or 12 in a nest....they can't resist sitting on a nest full of eggs).

My difficulty comes with trying to keep them from being broody until the middle of March

so I'm not dealing with chicks before they can get out on the grass.

I have had Wyandottes (three), Javas (two) and German Line New Hampshires (only one from a group of 15) go broody here in the past. They were all broody in the spring, rarely early spring, more often Mayish. I love broody hens and watching them with their chicks is the best form of chicken TV.

 

[Nwchickma]

I think a hawk took my hen It was pretty warm so I opened a side door of the garage where I'm keeping the chickens for now. The girls came out into the patio with me but wouldn't go much further bc of the snow. They haven't been out in weeks. I ran into the house to change their water and came back out and Hermione was gone! No chicken prints in the snow, no feathers or blood, nothing! I looked everywhere even drove around a little to see if something grabbed her and either dropped her or was eating her. Nothing! I was literally gone 3mins.

Has this happened to anyone? Is it possible for a red tailed hawk to carry a full grown speckled Sussex away without a trace?

 

[Nwchickma]

OK, I'm still in shock! After looking for this chicken everywhere, neighbors yard, trees, up and down the alley, everywhere! I get home at 6:30 and she was standing in the yard. My husband had just taken the dogs out and didn't see her. I really can't even imagine where she was for 3 hours. No scratches, nothing. Her legs were really pink but not too cold to the touch so she's in the basement on towels in a large dog crate. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her.

Do I need to watch for anything besides frostbite? Shock?

 

[Faraday40]

OK, I'm still in shock! After looking for this chicken everywhere, neighbors yard, trees, up and down the alley, everywhere! I get home at 6:30 and she was standing in the yard. My husband had just taken the dogs out and didn't see her. I really can't even imagine where she was for 3 hours. No scratches, nothing. Her legs were really pink but not too cold to the touch so she's in the basement on towels in a large dog crate. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her.

Do I need to watch for anything besides frostbite? Shock?

So glad she's OK. She's been outside in your garage all year, so she's probably OK temperature-wise. The harder part will be introducing her back outside after spending time inside. Anything greater than a 20 degree temp difference all at once may cause shock. She'll need to be re-acclimated slowly. Thankfully, I think we're having a warm up this weekend. Poor thing was probably scared in the dark.

Very strange b/c I "lost" my roo for about 10 min this morning. While I was cleaning the coop, the chickens were walking around on the patio. They won't even attempt to step off the concrete & allow their feet to touch snow. They do, however, have a fascination with eating it.... Anyway, I called them back inside the coop & when I counted, Tank was missing. I looked around the patio, back inside all 3 sections of the coop/run, checked the garage, coop again, walked the perimeter of the area, & still no Tank. A hawk strike was unlikely b/c the hens were acting fine. None of my chickens really fly. I was about to call DH outside to help search & there was Tank standing in the center of the patio. Like you, I have no idea where the chicken went. I felt so silly "losing" a giant, 10 lb chicken.

On a positive note, I think we have a new layer. My Coronation Sussex may have made this beauty today. The shell color is very light for my Orpingtons & the Sussex was in the nest at the time. She hatched July 15th, so she's exactly 6 mo today.

 

[SixChickFlock]

Wow. I'm glad you you found her! I've had two go missing like that, but in the summer. Keep us posted... I think you're doing the right thing by keeping a close eye on her.

 

[Nwchickma]

She seems OK, I closed the heat vents down there and it's supposed to be almost 40 sat so hopefully it will be OK. If she has frostbite on the bottoms of her feet, will it show up before sat?

Faraday - so weird but Tank does blend into the snow so maybe he was hidden in plain sight, as they say.

On a separate note, this chicken has had poop stuck to the feathers around her butt. This started a few weeks ago. I got most of it last week but it's back and I want to make sure to get it all clean. I really don't want to bathe her, she's been through enough and she's a biter! Is there an easy way to clean the crusty poop off her behind feathers while I've got her in the house?

 

[Faraday40]

I know what you mean about the poop. Last year I never had any issues, but this year, most of my chicken breeds have extra fluffy bottoms. Personally, I'll be looking forward to summer chicken baths.

I've heard of people trimming the feathers near the vent area, but if she's a squirmy one, I wouldn't try. I'm guessing here, but maybe you could use a warm wet cloth to soften & clean the area rather than a bath.

PS- Hermione's looking so pretty now that she's all grown up. Is she laying yet?

 

[NotAFarm]

OK, I'm still in shock! After looking for this chicken everywhere, neighbors yard, trees, up and down the alley, everywhere! I get home at 6:30 and she was standing in the yard. My husband had just taken the dogs out and didn't see her. I really can't even imagine where she was for 3 hours. No scratches, nothing. Her legs were really pink but not too cold to the touch so she's in the basement on towels in a large dog crate. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her.

Do I need to watch for anything besides frostbite? Shock?

So glad to hear you found her and she is okay! Remember that their legs have scales and are not like skin so more than likely if there is a problem it might be on the soles of her feet. Check for blisters on them. Do you have a dog house on your deck or a "hidden away" place that she may have gone into to lay an egg?

 

[Nwchickma]

So glad to hear you found her and she is okay!  Remember that their  legs have scales and are not like skin so more than likely if there is a problem it might be on the soles of her feet.  Check for blisters on them.  Do you have  a dog house on your deck or a "hidden away" place that she may have gone into to lay an egg?

Checked her soles and they look OK today. I'll get a better look later when I have help holding her. The girls had all laid there eggs for the day (I only have 3 hens and collected 3eggs) and there isn't anywhere to hide. Everything is put away for the winter. Only thing I can think is she got spooked by something and took a running start over the privacy fence. I tried looking in there yard and didn't see anything moving but I should have just went in. I thought I would hear her making that noise they make when there nervous if she was over there.