Please tell me what happened**Update 6/17**

[smiley]

So, I got a new batch of baby chicks. I put them in the basement as always with the heat lamp inside a huge cage used for my former guinea pig. I turn the overhead light on every morning to simulate daylight and shut it off at sundown.

I check them 4 times a day and handle them. I have raised 25 chicks this way over the years.

Well, I go down in the morning; turn overhead light on; and change water and handle. Everyone is great. I have a playdate in the afternoon and bring the other mother and child downstairs to see the chicks and they are GONE.

They just vanished. There is no way they could have gotten out on their own. The cage has a solid bottom with solid sides about 6 inches that changes to a wire top. The wire has wire pieces that are fairly close together- maybe an inch. The 2 closures on the top of cage were secure. The bottom of cage was secure to the top of cage.

I looked everywhere and didn't see or hear anything.

It is really freaking us all out. It's like they just vanished out of thin air.

What on earth could have possibly happened?

 

[giasmom]

Snake? Maybe someone else took them out for a play date?

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Are there any stray/feral cats that could have gotten to them? What about 2-legged predators?

 

[ChickieNikki]

How old are they? Are they still very young? If so, and if the cage is that secure, they may have been stolen. Chicks do weird things sometimes, but I don't think they vaporize. Did anyone else have access to them?

 

[lunkerchicken]

Is there anybody in the house that would have taken them for show and tell? Are there any parts of the brooder that has been compromised?
I am so sorry they are missing. Please keep us posted!

 

[ChickieNikki]

Quote:
I wonder if a snake would have been able to eat them and fit back through the cage...but I don't know how big the wire was, so that's a good thought...didn't think of that one.

 

[smiley]

No....nobody else could have taken them. My husband was out of state. My 2 year old son can't get downstairs alone as we have 3 safety locks all the way up door.

No cats or dogs could have gotten down there.

I am telling you guys...it is the most bizarre thing. I am so freaked out.

The chicks were 4-5 days old. Well, They shipped on a monday; I picked them up on Tuesday; and Friday they were gone.

I have seen a snake down there once years ago. However, my husband says that a snake couldn't have eaten 5 chicks and then fit through the cage to get out.

I am really bummed as I had started bonding and picking out certain features and behaviors between the chicks.

 

[smiley]

Sorry ...must have posted at same time.

I just ran downstairs and measured with the tape measure.

6 1/2 " from solid part of cage to wire so they couldn't have flown and jammed themselves through slats.

The space between each wire is exactly 1 inch.

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

,,,I had something similar happen last year..I had two young ducks in a wire cage..I had put heavy cardboard up 5-6 in.all around, the opening was on top..I had then on an enclosed back porch..went out one morning there was only one..no feathers..no sign of anything out of place etc. that night my hubby went on porch to get ice cream out of freezer..didn't turn on light..he saw movement on top of the cage..a huge rat..I could not believe it as I had seen no signs of rats and can't believe it was able to get the duck from the cage..after closer examining the cage my hubby found one spot with a little duck fuzz..we suppose that it was pulled and eaten bit by bit through the wire..I hope this isn't what happened to you but is it possible??

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Have you looked under the shavings, or under any other objects in the brooder?