Momma hen went missing, now I'll be raising them.

[jdywntr]

Late yesterday afternoon as I was coming in the front door I saw a dog in the birds area in the back. I grabbed a gun and ran out in my socks. The dog got away

I then did a head count and thought everyone was accounted for. Then I heard a lot of peeping from the chicken's coop. I went in to find 9 of 10 almost 2 week old chicks and no mom. I rounded them up and put them in a box and went looking around in the woods where the dog ran off to. I heard peeping and eventually found the 10th chick. It was cold, shaking and looked slobbered on but appeared okay.

I brought the chicks in the house and put them in with 15 others I had in a brooder which is now far too small. I put the possibly injured one with my 5 little bitties so it could recover without being trampled.

I went out to look for mom. I found no trace of her. I've lost chickens to a hawk, coyote and dogs but there was always some trace even if just a few feathers. I found nothing. I was, not very optimistically, thinking that maybe she got chased off and was hunkered down hiding somewhere and would appear this morning. She didn't.

I'm going to go further out in the woods today to see if I find any trace, it would make me feel better knowing she died and isn't injured somewhere. So, now I have 25 chicks in the house. Lost my first ever broody. And need to move the birds ranging area as I cannot secure the back section properly.

 

[Feathers n Fur]

My heart goes out to you and those 10 little peepers! What an ordeal to go through. I hope you find closure with the misssing mama. She may still be hunckered down. Before I got chickens my neighbor had a few show roosters and hens. A cyote got into the hen house and cleaned him out of all but a few roos who took refuge in the trees for a few days. Hopefully she is hold up in a safe place not ready to come out yet.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Oh no!!! I hope mama is ok! It's too bad you didn't get the dog...for I'm sure it will be back. I'm wondering, since you didn't find any trace of her, two things: The good thought that she's hiding and will be back soon (I hope and pray!). The bad thought is that the dog wasn't alone, and before you got out there it had snatched mama hen and took off. I'm hoping for the good scenario! Maybe if a couple times a day you take babies outside in a box and get them peeping really loud, it may draw mama back?

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[jdywntr]

Thank you. I think that if she was alive she would've been back by now. I made a brooder out in the coop so the chicks can have a more "chicken like" time growing up and be able to see the adults. Her babies can show the ropes to the cornish cross and BO chicks I picked up the other day. They are about the same age.

I do think the one chick got hurt. It has a bit of a limp but I'm hoping with a few days of quiet with the littler ones, it may be able to move outside with it's siblings.

In a bit, I'm going to start moving fences. I'm going to put them back in the pasture (I had to move them before because our landlord's cows kept busting through their fence but the cows are gone). I need to get some chicken wire to put on the field fence so I can stop the birds from going far out in the pasture though. So, for now they are locked in their run.