Question about broody wandering hen

[blr8t2]

It may not have an answer but I will try. SO a couple of months ago a black hen disappeared. i thought she wandered and got eaten so i closed the coop for the night and hoped for the best. Next morning she was at the front door. That night she left again but I never saw her again Not long after that her "sister" another black one was gone. I cannot tell them apart I have too many black one but these were the youngest of them all. Anyway after coming to terms that I lost both hens, this morning one shows up by the coop. She looked(s) very tired and confused and I'm wondering if something stole her eggs. She has the usual feathers missing from her backside from mating but also all along the back of her neck it is bare, maybe something attacked her last night. The deal is we have 4 acres, 2 of which she likely would have nested in, the other 2 or so is across an irrigation ditch not likely to ever be crossed by annyof the chickens. I had looked for her nest with no luck. So my question is has anyone ever has this happen? I did once with a serama and looked all over only to find her nestled behind a bucket on the other side of one wall of the coop. Do they wander far to make nests? Always close? I have a pile of wood she may have been under but I never saw anything when looking. I want to break open a glow stick on her, let her go again and see where she goes tonight! She is quite upset and doing the broody hen gurgle. I have her on lockdown right now, maybe if i give her a nice nest and some eggs she will calm down??
Would be nice for one of them to hatch some so i wont have to buy next spring!

 

[CayugaLover]

It may not have an answer but I will try. SO a couple of months ago a black hen disappeared. i thought she wandered and got eaten so i closed the coop for the night and hoped for the best. Next morning she was at the front door. That night she left again but I never saw her again Not long after that her "sister" another black one was gone. I cannot tell them apart I have too many black one but these were the youngest of them all. Anyway after coming to terms that I lost both hens, this morning one shows up by the coop. She looked(s) very tired and confused and I'm wondering if something stole her eggs. She has the usual feathers missing from her backside from mating but also all along the back of her neck it is bare, maybe something attacked her last night. The deal is we have 4 acres, 2 of which she likely would have nested in, the other 2 or so is across an irrigation ditch not likely to ever be crossed by annyof the chickens. I had looked for her nest with no luck. So my question is has anyone ever has this happen? I did once with a serama and looked all over only to find her nestled behind a bucket on the other side of one wall of the coop. Do they wander far to make nests? Always close? I have a pile of wood she may have been under but I never saw anything when looking. I want to break open a glow stick on her, let her go again and see where she goes tonight! She is quite upset and doing the broody hen gurgle. I have her on lockdown right now, maybe if i give her a nice nest and some eggs she will calm down??
Would be nice for one of them to hatch some so i wont have to buy next spring!

sometimes they wander far to make nests, but the chicken i had that wanted to go broody out in the forest didn't. a glowstick is a creative idea, just don't let her eat it!! what i would do is let her out sometime in the afternoon, and follow her to see where she goes. she might lead you to her nest if you're sneaky enough and she doesn't notice you.

 

[blr8t2]

Im thinking since she was here this morning when I got up, and still moping around 3 hours later when i got home from work, that her nest is no more I will give her tomorrows eggs and see if she is ok with that. Im starting up the bator for a couple of super tiny serama eggs, want to see if they are fertile. So if she doesnt sit I can just do them myself. I really don't want the hassle so hopefully she can do it lol. She is eating like crazy though right now, I think she must not have eaten much in the week she was missing!