Mystery disappearance

[Purelychicks]

My 5 year old brown leghorn hen, Becky has disappeared for about a week now. They are free range and she has hatched 2 batches of chicks in her lifespan so hoping she’s just sitting on a clutch of eggs. No sign blood or feathers anywhere, no animal tracks in the mud, couldn’t find anything anywhere. What do you guys think?

 

[sourland]

Hopefully she is setting on a hidden nest. Have any other birds 'disappeared'?

 

[Isadora]

If it was a predator with your birds free range, it really could be anything, but hawks, coyotes, and foxes are known for taking whole birds.

 

[Purelychicks]

Hopefully she is setting on a hidden nest. Have any other birds 'disappeared'?

No.

 

[DotToDot]

Do you have a rooster?

 

[Purelychicks]

Do you have a rooster?

Multiple.

 

[DotToDot]

Multiple.

Like @sourland said, she could have a hidden nest. I’ve seen lots of broodies run off to a nest, and come back three weeks later with a bunch of baby chicks.

 

[BastyPutt]

Like @sourland said, she could have a hidden nest. I’ve seen lots of broodies run off to a nest, and come back three weeks later with a bunch of baby chicks.

X2 - with no other evidence of any other birds being killed, I'd say this is likely. Predators usually don't stop until everyone is gone after they have happened upon a coop.

 

[Purelychicks]

X2 - with no other evidence of any other birds being killed, I'd say this is likely. Predators usually don't stop until everyone is gone after they have happened upon a coop.

We have had these “mystery disappearances” a year or 2 ago and they never came back so assuming maybe they sat on eggs and a fox/coyote picked them up at night?