!!!!their Missing!!!!! Please Tell Me Their Ok! UPDATE. Their Back!!!

[JordanFamily]

Ok so I have been letting my chickens freerange all day and they put themselves to bed every night... Well this mourning I saw my little black frizzle girl on my pourch and then I haven't seen her all day long... Then around 5pm I went out and saw all the flock walking around the outside of the barn, all except the one that has been gone all day.... Then I just went to close the barn door for the night and noticed 2 more girls are not in the barn!!! Do they sometimes roost in trees??? I looked around everywhere and can't find them... Please tell me that sometimes when the weather is nicer they will roost in trees... I'm scared to death something is going to eat them!!! At least I know there are 3 missing so maybe they have eachother wherever they are!!! Oh and we live on a 10 acre farm... What do you think???

OK this mourning I agian looked all over our property and did not find them... Then I looked in the barn and there they are!!! They must of roosted where I could not see them... So all that work for nothing... Although the one that was missing since mourning is still no where to be found.... hmmmm..... Oh and even though I locked them in something got in and killed & ate the young Roo, he was still a good sized bird... One of my hens was killed the day before in her nest box... And I keep getting cracked eggs eaten out... The Roo was roosting on the floor so it could have been anthing... It ate him out from the butt and lower stomach area and his neck and head... Do you think it is a weasel gettin in the barn through a crack some place??? I'm going to get a live trap today... any ideas on what to use for bait??? maybe the rest of the dead chicken or cat food???? Any help would be appriciated... Thanks!

 

[Imp]

They can find the oddest places to hide. I've had them walk into the garden shed, go to the back darkest corner and go to roost in the middle of the day. They can also find the smallest places to hide. Don't panic mine have always shown back up in the morning. Hope yours will too.

Good luck

Imp

 

[sourland]

I'm hoping that they return

, but if for some reason they don't- keep your other chickens locked up securely until you can determine what is going on. The fact that the black hen disappeared early in the day concerns me.

 

[JordanFamily]

Quote:
Well I had thought maybe she went to sit on eggs she had stashed some place... Never did that before but really I have no idea where they have been laying so thought that could be a possibility... I don't know any preditors that would take them during the day... If they get killed it is usually when a opposum or coon gets them in the barn at night not in braud daylight... I just saw the two hens an hour before walking around with the rest but they did not go in to roost with the others... I walked around outside for an hour with a flashlight looking into trees and on top of everything but did not see them... I did have two others, a young Roo that was ousted by the older Roo and a young pullet, that were roosting in a tree near the barn and I had to put them up in the barn so hopefuly the other girls also roosted in the trees... They like to eat the dog food on the pourch so I put some out for them to eat in the mourning and then if they come I can catch them and put them in the barn... It's going to be lockdown for a while....

 

[PatS]

One of mine didn't turn up at lights-out time tonight at our place, either. I'm worried that a hawk may have gotten her. I spent 30 minutes with a flashlight covering our 2 acres and couldn't find her or signs of a struggle. I'm hoping she shows up in the morning. We're having a week of rain and below freezing temps forecast here, so I hope she hasn't gone broody in the bushes...

 

[Imp]

10 & 2 acres. I cannot imagine. I searched my urban lot for hours and usually cannot find mine in the dark.

Imp

 

[FeathersFlying]

Periodically we have hens that go AWOL. I do a beak count every night and they always seem to pick the dreariest, coldest, most inclement weather possible to "forget" to go to bed. My kids and I prowl through the bushes and in pine trees...almost always finding those MIA. A few times we couldn't locate the ones who were missing and I just "knew" that a coon or coyote would be having a tasty treat but each time, the next morning, they are waiting impatiently for me to come out and feed them.

It isn't my kids who are giving me gray hairs...it's the chickens!

Hope you find your critters safe and sound in the morning.

 

[Gypsy07]

I have two or three hens (out of a flock of 27) who always stay out as late as possible and often don't come back to the coop at night. I have no idea where they sleep when they're outside all night but they always appear safe and sound either the next day or after a couple of days. We have a lot of foxes and our neighbours have lost three chickens to them over the last 18 months but I haven't lost any yet. We have lots of open sheds and barns with hidey holes and roosting places so when I'm missing one of the wandering chooks I don't worry too much.

I also have six or seven dopey young pullets who sometimes don't make it back to the coop and just shut down and stick their heads under their wings wherever they happen to be when it gets dark. If those ones are missing at night I go out with a light and hunt for them as I don't think they're smart enough to keep themselves safe. I usually find them nestled down in straw on the floor of one of our open sheds. Aaaaarrgghhh!!!! They might as well hang an 'eat me' sign round their necks!

I also have dogs who sometimes like to stay out at night and chase foxes...