Lost Australorp

[ArtJuice]

So yesterday my chickens had broken out and after a while of taking care of them, I count and I have ...six.
I'm supposed to have seven. I'm supposed to have two black Australorp hens and I only have one.
I spent two hours searching for her yesterday. I don't know what calls to make to lure her out. I tried looking for about twenty minutes today before I came back inside. I'm gonna try to go back out there soon and maybe scatter some feed to lure her out.
We have lots and lots of tall grass so I wouldn't know where to look. I've tried looking underneath nearly every place. There are a bunch of unreachable places that need to be cut down with tools. The only thing we found yesterday was that my mom pointed out some footprints that must have happened after the rain the night before.

I'm a bit worried. We live in a rural area so it is definitely a predator area. One of our neighbors is totally in a forest, so if she's there I wouldn't have any idea where to look. I am usually hesitant to reach out to neighbors on this stuff because, well, I don't know them.


I do not know any of the hens to be broody for any reason. I checked their coop yesterday though and was surprised to see SIX eggs, when we barely get ONE if we're lucky.

 

[nuthatched]

If she's gone, she's not likely to be lured out. Chickens are creatures of habit, they'll come back for food.

 

[CCsGarden]

Hope she comes back! And I'm sure she will at some point.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Best case scenario she went broody somewhere and will magically show up in a month.

Doesn't help with the one currently missing but you should train your birds to come when called. Have consistent sound or a call you use when handing out treats, and do it a couple times each day. They'll learn to associate the sound with treats and will be more likely to come running when they hear it.

 

[Bsmac]

I hope you she comes home!

 

[theoldchick]

Hope she returns.

 

[ArtJuice]

Best case scenario she went broody somewhere and will magically show up in a month.

Doesn't help with the one currently missing but you should train your birds to come when called. Have consistent sound or a call you use when handing out treats, and do it a couple times each day. They'll learn to associate the sound with treats and will be more likely to come running when they hear it.

Thank you for the advice! Most of them follow me to get food any time I take their feed container out of the run. I don't know if she'll see me carrying it around and come running though

 

[ArtJuice]

So, an update. I took a deeper look around today, and saw a pile of her feathers, but no bones. I guessed that she's either alive and bald, or something ate her whole. Or, she decomposed. It has been about three or four days.
I go poking around with a long metal stick to make sure her bones aren't buried, and I still don't find bones but instead I keep finding and pulling up these.

Rotting meat orange?
There are a lot of fall leaves in the area that never got swept, and this has the texture of a wet leaf (and a leaf is attached) but these are all the same shade and have those little white/yellow things attached to them. Do bodies get buried on their own when they decompose?

I'm about 80% sure she's dead, but what could have happened to her?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Some predators will bury food to eat later. Some will leave certain things and eat the rest (I found a pile of feathers and crop contents and nothing else once). I don’t see your location in your profile so I can’t say what predators you have but after a few days there won’t be much evidence anyway. What did the footprint look like?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have to add that I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. It is no fun.