Docsflocks
In the Brooder
- Mar 13, 2021
- 8
- 3
- 11
About 10 days ago we had our second chicken/ alpha rooster come up missing. What prompted me that something was wrong was when I came down to close the coop I looked off in the distance and I saw one of the hens standing in some leaves. I went over to her and it one point she ran into this pile of branches like she’s been there before and I left her alone and she eventually returned. That strange behavior I noted turned to sadness as I came to realize that Brutus (rooster) was missing. A couple days ago headcount yielded two less chickens. We of course assumed the worst As we thought we may have found the spot where one of our chickens met their demise. However today as my wife was walking in the yard she saw the same chicken that had been acting strangely, in the woods. Three days after we assume she was dead. We’ve never seen her getting picked on and there are no sicknesses that we are aware of in the coop. We do not routinely watch them and so we have no proof that she hasn’t returned during the day to eat or get water. Could she be reacting to her coopmates being snatched by predators? Mourning The rooster as she was kind of his favorite? We’ve lost three birds this year, But she is surviving by herself in the woods? Any thoughts?
