OMG!!! its finally happened to me, i lost a chicken!

[mom wewantchicks!]

i am so sick and upset right now, yesterday evening when i went out to put up all the girls, one was gone!! one of my 8-9 week old barred rocks! she was nowhere to be seen. the others that are her age where all up in the tree by the coop so i was hoping that maybe, just maybe she was in the bushes and i couldnt see her. the others didnt look like they where scared, i think they where just showing off to the bigger girls(13-14 weeks) who couldnt jump up into the tree! so after looking over the entire yard i was praying this morning she would be at the coop door to greet me. no such luck. there are no feathers, blood, nothing to make it seem like she was killed. im thinking maybe hawk?(whick i have never seen!) im also thinking maybe she wondered over to the neighbors, i will go over to check and there she will be! my poor girls, they love to free range and i hate to keep them in, but i dont want to risk and more of them disappearing!!

 

[SoccerMomof7]

I am sorry to hear that I will keep my fingers crossed for the best!

 

[cheeptrick]

We just lost 4 ourselves to a fox...it was very traumatic!!

I feel for you...our family was completely devastated.

I hope your chicken shows up.

 

[dixygirl]

Oh no. Try to fence in that area where they like to roam and throw a net over it at least. I wouldn't let them roam unattended and with no protective barriers.

Look at this one for some ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=69364
They have those nets on Ebay at an incredible price.
Good luck
dixy

 

[DDRanch]

I am sorry...we all know what that is like. I hope she shows up.
Anne

 

[mom wewantchicks!]

well no chicken tonight, she must be gone! it has been a stressfull week, we are looking for a house on a tight budget and now this. my husband thinks im crazy, but tommorow im checking at the neighbors. i didnt today because i wanted to give her a day just incase. she was my sons chicken, and he keeps asking if she is still lost. can chickens stay lost forever? or do i have to tell a 4 year old his pet is dead!?

 

[Their Other Mother]

What is it about our pets? we get so attached to them. My kids are always saying, "it's just a ________ Mom!"

I saw an item on TV about People who treat their animals like people and the problems that have risen from it.

Any input?

 

[PotterWatch]

I feel for you. We lost one of our RIRs about a week ago... snatched right off the roost in the closed-up coop. We found some feathers but nothing more than that.

Sorry to hear of your loss!

 

[mom wewantchicks!]

well the neighbors have not been home. they are older and we dont really talk for all i know they could be out of the country! i quess for now i will just belive that she is gone! poor little baby...

 

[birdwoman]

I am feeling angry and sad just like you. Last week we lost a half-grown chicken...it simply vanished. A neighbor said he'd seen a hawk. We kept the remaining three inside for several days, built a 10' "corral" out of hardware wire and kept it beneath a large shady tree. Tonight I saw them about a half hour before dusk and they were fine, about an hour later it was dark. Two were hunkered down by the fence and the largest one was missing. She probably weighed nearly 2 pounds. No sign of her or feathers or anything. Nothing happened to the corral. Spent a half hour combing the yard for her. What kind of predator could take a 2 lb chicken and not leave a trace? I am worried and mystified. I wish I'd brought them in earlier, though they really like to run around if it's not dark.
I'm glad I found this website. Thanks for listening.
birdwoman in Utah