My favorite chicken disappeared.

[Maxamus]

I don't know what to do. My sweet Mable dissapered today, which I found out when I went to lock the girls in. My and my mother walked the land but it was dark out and we couldn't see.We ran into a skunk and had to run and end the serch. The chickens free range but always come back at night and I don't know what to do. Any chance she's still with us?

 

[cavemanrich]

There's always a chance she is still with (you).. I have had chickens go MIA and return after one day away. One was due to escaping like 7734 ( read that upside down) from a predator raccoon . She hid all the next day. I don't know where, possibly neighboring yards, and returned the second day evening. I also had one disappear for 2 weeks and returned. Still an unsolved mystery and she was called Phantom. She lived for 8 more years after.
As to surprising skunks.......... I am sure skunk was just as afraid of you if not more than you of skunk.. I doubt the skunk is the culprit in the disappearance. Your chicken may be up in a tree or in between some shrubs or bushes.. In the morning she may come out..
WISHING YOU BEST..

Keep us updated what you find out tomorrow.

 

[critterkeeper25]

I am hoping for the best for you and your chickens. We had the same thing happen to us over Columbus Day weekend. They still haven't returned. I came home one afternoon last week to see a fox killing another of our hens in our front yard. So I am assuming that the same fox also got our other 2 hens.

I hope the same isn't true for you. I wish I was wrong about our two missing hens, and that in a day or two they will still come home. We miss them terribly.

 

[Maxamus]

Day 2 and no sign of Mable, O searched everywhere but not so much as a feather. In starting to lose hope

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow she will show up (for a little while) if she is sitting on a clutch of hidden eggs. Can she be incubating a family of chicks? The skunk scares me because skunks are the major threat to brooding hens and their eggs.

 

[Mary in Nevada]

Same thing happened to me. Young hen started hiding her eggs, then disappeared. She came back every day or two for a few minutes then was gone again. Last Monday she showed up with four babies. Turns out she was nesting under the house so she was pretty safe but I still worried about her. Good luck.

 

[Maxamus]

Male returned out of the woods this morning! So happy! Should I lock up up in the tractor with the other chickens so she doesn't run off again.

 

[Maxamus]

Update:Mable has dissapered once again!What do I do???

 

[cavemanrich]

Update:Mable has dissapered once again!What do I do???

NEXT TIME SHE COMES BACK, SPY HER OUT TO SEE WHERE SHE IS GOING. She most likely is going to a hidden nest in the woods. You can just keep looking for her until you spot her. She is not far away, but in a well hidden spot. Kind of takes some Sherlock Holmes skills at this stage.

 

[Alex1010]

Did she seem broody?? When she came back?