One of our girls was missing for over two weeks...

[countryladyNH]

The reunification of the last 3 brooder chicks went smoothly. Waited until Henrietta had all the chicks out and about in the run, and then we just popped them in amongst their siblings. She didn't bat an eye.

Here's a family photo with all the little ones:

Fantastic photos and a beautiful hen! The Littles are all so adorable!

 

[BastyPutt]

That is quite the mix. Some white, some barred, some black! Wow

 

[NameIwish]

So he peeled back the tarp, and there was Henrietta!!! Safe and sound, pancaked over a clutch of eggs. We popped a small spare coop over her and gave her some food and water. Our elder cockerel, William, has been standing watch by her coop since we found her. He's such a good boy. I don't know how she even fit under the tarp, let alone managed to survive with no obvious food or water sources for 16 days. We walk across that tarp all the time when we are gardening, so it's a miracle she wasn't injured in all that time.

Hens don't necessarily know that what you consider a proper nesting location is that. Ours have laid in my tool box (lower opening), behind my Chop saw, under the sandpaper cabinet, and outside in the leaves - I also have found three wild bird nests in my workshop.

Birds know what they like and many know how to build nests way better than we can!

We had three hens go broody at once, they each picked a different spot and raised eight healthy chicks. I'd bet your Henrietta would have done fine if you hadn't found her.

Here are some pitchers of nests I built or put together:

 

[Little Tala Bug]

Hens don't necessarily know that what you consider a proper nesting location is that. Ours have laid in my tool box (lower opening), behind my Chop saw, under the sandpaper cabinet, and outside in the leaves - I also have found three wild bird nests in my workshop.

Birds know what they like and many know how to build nests way better than we can!

We had three hens go broody at once, they each picked a different spot and raised eight healthy chicks. I'd bet your Henrietta would have done fine if you hadn't found her.

Here are some pitchers of nests I built or put together:

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My issue with her nesting spot wasn't so much that it was unorthodox (as you said, she knows what she likes), it's more that we walk over that tarp all the time.

The fact that we hadn't stepped on her eggs in the two weeks she built her clutch, and hadn't stepped on her in the seventeen days she sat on it, is nothing short of a miracle. There was literally nothing stopping a wheelbarrow or steel toed boot from crashing right down on her at any given moment.

I still get anxiety thinking how many times she and her babies were centimetres from serious injury or death as I worked that area of the garden. We even strimmed the grass around the edge of the tarp which means she would have had a strimmer blade inches from her face, as she was right under the edge.

I don't mind if they choose weird and wonderful nests in the future, but I really hope they don't choose something that dangerous again.

 

[spaceylocust]

Lovely story and so happy that your girl wasn't injured before you found her!! This summer, I was planning on letting one broody hatch out one clutch. Welllllll, the other girls had other ideas. One girl was missing for 2 months--not sure why 2 months but something must have happened to her first clutch. She came and went with the flock on occasion because the head-count would be correct every once in a while. When the PLANNED clutch hatched, I was walking by and happened to look in the back area--there was a different momma with 6 chicks. I did a double-take because the color count was wrong. Looked over to where the planned clutch was and that head count was right. Okie dokie, now I had 2 clutches. My missing girl had chicks the same age as the planned clutch! And the planned girl (Bl. Austral.) wouldn't share space. She was super aggressive about her kids and her space so I had to rig up another brooder. Long story longer, they all grew, I sold them, and then a 3rd girl decided to start a clutch in the back. I heard the mother clucking noise while working in the garden and found the 3rd mamma with 7 chicks. These last 2 clutches from a breed the "experts" say don't go broody!!! HA!