Lost chick!

[Dharmachick]

My cockerel was making a huge fuss this morning, and I figured he was just feeling his oats. Then the hens started a huge racket so I went outside, and my poor hen who sat on 10 eggs, only to have 1 hatch had lost her 3 week old chick. This chick never stops peeping even with food in her mouth. I was beside myself calling her and looking everywhere. No peeps. I thought an osprey might have gotten her, although there are many, many hiding places in the yard, and I was so upset. She was a cuckoo chocolate orpington, and I wanted to keep her. I wanted to start breeding orpingtons.

The hens were making so much noise that I couldn't hear much else, but I thought I heard a quiet peep, then I peeped back and she started peeping. She was having a good time in my veggie garden, helping herself. Mom just stood on the porch making that sad sound, so I called her and she found the chick. Yay! Floof, the chick, ran back to the broody coop and went to sleep. Enough adventure for both of us today!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So glad she was found

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Glad for a happy ending!

 

[MillersFarm]

So glad you found your chick! I remember when our neighbor's dog had managed to get into our brooder outside that had 16 chicks in it. I heard one one my light brahma chicks screaming so i came running out to see it trapped behind the door while the dog chased my chicks. Kicked the dog as hard as i could which seemed to work as it went off with a yelp. Found two dead chicks and five where missing. I was devastated , I looked everywhere and couldn't at all find them! Later in the day while i was repairing the brood all five of them showed up out of nowhere. Chickens can be very smart and will hide until they know for sure its safe to come out.

 

[pennyJo1960]

hey glad it all worked out hello from Mossyrock Washington state

 

[DesertBird]

My cockerel was making a huge fuss this morning, and I figured he was just feeling his oats. Then the hens started a huge racket so I went outside, and my poor hen who sat on 10 eggs, only to have 1 hatch had lost her 3 week old chick. This chick never stops peeping even with food in her mouth. I was beside myself calling her and looking everywhere. No peeps. I thought an osprey might have gotten her, although there are many, many hiding places in the yard, and I was so upset. She was a cuckoo chocolate orpington, and I wanted to keep her. I wanted to start breeding orpingtons.

The hens were making so much noise that I couldn't hear much else, but I thought I heard a quiet peep, then I peeped back and she started peeping. She was having a good time in my veggie garden, helping herself. Mom just stood on the porch making that sad sound, so I called her and she found the chick. Yay! Floof, the chick, ran back to the broody coop and went to sleep. Enough adventure for both of us today!

Yay for the happy ending!

So glad you found your chick! I remember when our neighbor's dog had managed to get into our brooder outside that had 16 chicks in it. I heard one one my light brahma chicks screaming so i came running out to see it trapped behind the door while the dog chased my chicks. Kicked the dog as hard as i could which seemed to work as it went off with a yelp. Found two dead chicks and five where missing. I was devastated , I looked everywhere and couldn't at all find them! Later in the day while i was repairing the brood all five of them showed up out of nowhere. Chickens can be very smart and will hide until they know for sure its safe to come out.

Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that. Our neighbors have cats that we've asked them multiple times to not let out of their yards, to at least put that invisible fence thing around their yard (lol), but they still let their cats into our yard to bug our chickens. There's also an owl that set up a nest in our yard about a month after we got our chickens, so I'm guessing they attracted them. The poor chickens can't free range on their own without us watching because of it, so they're constantly in a pen until we let them out. They maybe only get 3-4 hours of free range time, and it's just so dang hot out now it's hard to be out any longer as it is. Luckily, none of them have been nabbed yet.

 

[Dharmachick]

Thanks, everyone, I am fairly new at raising chickens, and I get attached so easily. We have osprey and golden eagles, and occasionally bald eagles, which is why I have so many hiding places. She and her mom live in the broody coop which has a covered run, and I let them out to free range several times a day. I also have 2 mastiffs, who get along great with the chickens, but still see chicks as prey, so they are never out at the same time.

 

[Dharmachick]

Hey back from Washougal Washington! Do you know of any Orpington breeders in WA?

 

[Dharmachick]

@BlockedRelic06, I would normally say how cool it is that you have an owl in your backyard, but when it comes to chickens, it is another story altogether.

@MillersFarm, I'm glad you found some of your chicks. My neighbor has two pit bulls, and one of them bit me, which they didn't believe, and the other jumped the fence into my chicken yard. Luckily, the chickens were free ranging and the dog saw me and jumped back. They neighbor was upset that he had to spend money to upgrade the fencing so "the chickens wouldn't be traumatized".

 

[DesertBird]

Thanks, everyone, I am fairly new at raising chickens, and I get attached so easily. We have osprey and golden eagles, and occasionally bald eagles, which is why I have so many hiding places. She and her mom live in the broody coop which has a covered run, and I let them out to free range several times a day. I also have 2 mastiffs, who get along great with the chickens, but still see chicks as prey, so they are never out at the same time.

Same here! I've got 14 chickens, 11 hens and 3 accidental roosters, and I am definitely attached to them all, even the ones that run from me. lol I've been told by some other BYCer's that I'll have to get rid of 1 or 2 of the roosters so the hens aren't stressed/harassed too much, so that's definitely not something I'm looking forward to. I have a German Shepard/Husky mix, and she's insanely energetic even though she's about 7 now, so we tried to carefully introduce her and it did not go well. lol Took her back inside before she could hurt any.

And definitely, when I first saw the owls it was super exciting, but then I was like, "Oh no, the chickens!" and there went the free ranging. lol