Lost our first hen....

[cozycrestmom]

.. I am so sad. I went out to close up the coop and pen doors,,, counted my babies and I am missing one... I looked everywhere.. Can not find any sign of her.
We free range them right now,, But I think we will be starting to build the run..they are about 3 months old now..
If I lose one more, they are staying in until we get the run built..But they love going outside so much...
I knew that it was only a matter of time.. But I was hoping that that time wouldn't come...
Missing my thelma...

 

[forrestacres]

Your missing girl may be in a tree near the coop. Go out with a flashlight and look in the trees around the coop.

 

[theoldchick]

How sad!

 

[newbie coops]

She might be "just missing" for a night. If you were there all day and evening and didn't hear a commotion, she may be roosting in a near-by tree, bush, or something. When it gets dark, those chickens can't see and if dusk creeps up on them, they'll go to the nearest sheltered site and roost. In the dead of winter just last year, we thought ALL chickens were accounted-for. Had a HUGE snow storm overnight. Huge. Next day, sunny, bright, I see Geraldine (a plucky Black Star) come out from under a tarp so close to the ground you'd have thought it was almost part of it. She started rooting in the snow, scratching and pecking as though nothing was ever amiss. Seemed impervious to the circumstances.

It's possible she's gone for good, but it's also quite possible she's just weathering her circumstances.

Don't fear. This is the way it goes when you raise chickens. They pull at your heart strings but in the larger perspective of life, they're here to enhance ours. And make you smile.

 

[Lynette]

That is so sad. I hope you find her and she is okay.

 

[Lobzi]

Yep, she just might show up. I had a hen and 3 babies spend the night outside the secure area on night. I just assumed they were in the nest box until the next morning when I went out to open up the pen and here she comes from around back of the pen with her 3 babies in tow. I still cant believe she did such a great job hiding herself and the babies. I have nightly raccoon and possum visits.

 

[Lobzi]

Oh I should add that I have had to chase a occasional hen from the trees and off the roof of the pen at dusk. For some reason they get a desire to spend the night off the regular roost. I can usually associate this behavior with unrest and fighting between them all at roosting time.

 

[mgw]

dont give up on her if you didnt hear anything like chickens going crazy she probably hiding out somewhere or stuck somewhere. we are hoping for the best!!

 

[fiddleblue]

I hope your missing girl turns up and didn't meet the fate my Easter Egger met today. I lost my first chicken, 3 month old Wendy, to a coon about an hour ago. Heard a squawk and crying and went out and found the coon dragging Wendy out through a gap in the chicken wire. She had been roosting outdoors with her buddy Abigail. The rest of the girls were in the henhouse. I pulled her body away from the coon, then shot the coon in the face with a pellet gun. Poor Wendy. She was a magnificent, intelligent and very personable Easter Egger, I'll miss her a lot.

 

[cozycrestmom]

Thanks you guys...She did show up actually... She (Thelma) is a wonderer.. Her and another Chicken (Louise) are my wonderers... And always the last in at night.. Hence the names.. "Thelma and Louise" ! However, Louise turned out to be "Lois" my hen turned Roo....!