Vanished hen

[Vsackett]

One of my hens vanished. No signs of attack( feathers, etc.). I've checked all the bushes and trees. Any thoughts?

 

[Carolrich]

How long has she been gone? What type of environment do you live in?

 

[Vsackett]

Suburban/rural development. Lots of trees. I've seen an occasional hawk this summer and some black vultures. I did lose a hen after a snowstorm this past February to a hawk, but there were feathers everywhere and he/she ate her where she was killed. No roaming dogs or cats or other suspects. She's gone, without a trace. It's been several days. I have 2 pullets that were like shadows to her. I hoped they might take me to her if she was broody and hiding. No luck. It is a problem with free ranging.

 

[aart]

If no trace was probably a larger 4 legger able kill quick and carry off.

 

[rebrascora]

My bet would be that she is broody and tucked up somewhere and will be coming out once a day for a bite to eat and drink. You need to watch your feeder closely when you have a day off, but leave your watch for 20 mins and you might just miss her.

 

[Vsackett]

My bet would be that she is broody and tucked up somewhere and will be coming out once a day for a bite to eat and drink. You need to watch your feeder closely when you have a day off, but leave your watch for 20 mins and you might just miss her.

One can hope.

 

[Howard E]

That is also the signature move of a fox. They do a snatch and grab and often leave no trace. Then they keep coming back until they get them all, and for months after that checking to see if you restocked the cupboard.

 

[centrarchid]

Add Coyote to list of suspects. Sometimes even Bobcat can leave no trace. Both have urban representatives.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hens who are serious about incubating will typically only leave the nest once every 3 or 4 days. The time will be used to eat, drink, defecate, and perhaps snatch a quick dust bath. The defecation part may work in your favor. Usually the sitting hen poop will be on the order of the size of an extra large egg and shaped like a Cutie Orange. It will also assault your nose like gangbusters.

So do a slow and through smell-around and you just may sniff out evidence that your hen is alive and well.

PS: Hens hate laying in coops observed by a gaggle of other hens and/or in manmade structures and hens much prefer to lay in secret locations of their their own choosing. The perfect hens' nest only appears on calendars advertising funeral homes or farm stores. Hens have their own ideas on the subject. Most hen nests are a human invention that are designed to save us humans from breaking a sweat when looking for the fixings for breakfast or some homemade 'nillar' ice cream. If this were not so then why are there so many posts offering advice to new chicken keepers on how to break your hens from laying where they wish to lay and force them to lay where you wish they would lay?

 

[Carolrich]

I am very sad that you may have lost one of your girls. We live on 11 acres of wooded rural land. When we first got our chickens, we delighted in seeing them free range during the day when we were home. They would come running down the drive whenever I exited the house and responded always to my call of "Where are my girls?" We did this for nearly 2 years without incident. Then came the day when hawks took off two of my girls, Bella and Rosie. We found their headless bodies twenty feet into the tree line. Now we don't let them free grange except in the evening for a couple of hours when we are sitting with them and observing. Even when we are there watching, we have seen hawks swoop over. They are bold!
I suspect that if a predator took your girl, the predator will likely be back for more. Be careful and best of luck!