Runaway Chicken?

[Chip Gilleland]

I thought that I had lost one of our RIRs about 5 days ago to a hawk or owl. To my amazment the "lost" hen came back this morning and flew to the top of my house. We rejoiced and I brought her inside for a bit. Seemed fine. She ate cracked corn and I thought everything was fine. Now, 5 hours later I noticed she is gone AGAIN! Is she sitting on a nest (in the snow) somewhere in the wilderness? Will clipping her wings help or hurt? We have 4 free range hens and our missing bird seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order. I will put her little but on lock-down next time she comes home but has this happened to anyone else? I lock them in the coop at night but my runaway no longer roosts with the others.

 

[gsim]

Is it possible that the coop is too crowded? If she cannot escape the bullying and pecking every night, that might be an incentive to stay away since they all free-range anyway.

 

[Chip Gilleland]

I don't think so. There are 4 seperate roosts inside the coop and aside from the broody Jersey Giant (who rarely leaves the nest) the 3 other RIRs seemed to group together on a single roost. I think she may have the "Call of the Wild" syndrome. When I get her again its clip the wings and time out inside the fence.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Even though this bird is a RIR, it's still possible that she is broody. Last year I had a duck who ran away for days at a time only to come out of her hiding place for food and water. We didn't know she was broody, or what she was doing, until we followed her back to the nest.

Then again, she might be gone for another reason. The post above me sounds possible as well. And perhaps more likely, since RIRs aren't known for their broodiness. Honestly, I've had hens refuse to roost with the others until I put them in and had them work it out on their own.

You can clip wings. If you get the right ones, rather, the ones you are supposed to cut, the hen won't even feel it. The only downside to clipping wings is that they are unable to fly away (as best they can, considering chickens can't fly) from danger until they moult new feathers back annually.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Somebody has to convince my chickens that they can't fly because they easily go from a standing start and fly twenty feet in the air, 65 feet across the yard and land on the top of my house. Eagle crosses?
Terry in Tennessee

 

[fordmommy]

She probably has secrect nest somewhere. Clipping her wings will not hurt her. But until you find her nest, it won't do you any good. She'll still go and want to sit on them.

And as for the clipping....I clipped my girls' wings last summer. 3x in one week because they still kept flying way. After that I vowed never to clip them again. At least this way they could try to get a way from predators.