counterWULF
Songster
- Aug 19, 2018
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On Monday I added two roosts and four new nesting boxes to their coop. We have 17 hens, a rooster, and seven of the hens are currently laying. They were all born around May 31st of this year, so about seven months old each. We were helping each of the layers understand that these are their new nesting boxes yesterday and two of them figured it out and laid eggs. We're getting on average four eggs a day from the seven. It's been hovering right around freezing/below freezing lately.
Anyways, while sitting out on guard with the chickens (see my previous thread) one of the layers decided to go investigate under the shed. It sits about a foot and half off the ground and the underneath is used to store old stuff. We're renting this house, so none of the "stuff" belongs to us. Just some random bricks, cinder blocks, tomato cages, etc. Yesterday was the first day that any of the chickens ever decided to go explore under there. Salome the hen, or Sail for short, would go under and come back out, then go under again. None of the others followed.
At some point, we realized she was gone and we couldn't find her. We spent all evening and night looking for her. I went out first thing this morning looking again. I even took our rooster out with me as he was cock-a-doodle-doing and I had hoped she would be able to hear this wherever she was and come back to us. Last night I crawled in as deep as I could looking for her, or a pile of feathers, or a body. Nothing. I don't see any holes or places to escape, get lost, or hide. The only animals we've seen go under the shed are a groundhog, rabbits, and a very large toad. We have mice and a rat around the area too that could go under there. Would any of these animals kill a chicken? And where would her body be?
We'll keep looking. My oldest (13) daughter is in tears. Sail was her chicken that she's raised from 1-2 days old. Until we find her, or proof of her, I can't let my dogs out in the yard off leash. I don't want them to find her, dead or alive. If she's alive, they'll surely kill her, and they've gone under this same shed before so they can fit and would find her. I'll assume in a few days we can count on her being gone for good and then the dogs can roam off leash again. This really complicates things, having to leash four big dogs each time they need to go potty. We'll do what we have to with the dogs. The important thing is finding Sail. We are all very upset about this.
I just posted my first thread about doing all we can to keep the entire flock safe and alive, so this is devastating us all. We had human presence out there all day yesterday with them to help keep predators away, but this might not even be a case of predation. It could just be an adventurous chicken who gets lost on the journey, and we need to help her find her way back home.
If anyone has ideas or similar stories where their chickens disappeared and magically reappeared alive days later, please share to give us some hope! Thank you.
Anyways, while sitting out on guard with the chickens (see my previous thread) one of the layers decided to go investigate under the shed. It sits about a foot and half off the ground and the underneath is used to store old stuff. We're renting this house, so none of the "stuff" belongs to us. Just some random bricks, cinder blocks, tomato cages, etc. Yesterday was the first day that any of the chickens ever decided to go explore under there. Salome the hen, or Sail for short, would go under and come back out, then go under again. None of the others followed.
At some point, we realized she was gone and we couldn't find her. We spent all evening and night looking for her. I went out first thing this morning looking again. I even took our rooster out with me as he was cock-a-doodle-doing and I had hoped she would be able to hear this wherever she was and come back to us. Last night I crawled in as deep as I could looking for her, or a pile of feathers, or a body. Nothing. I don't see any holes or places to escape, get lost, or hide. The only animals we've seen go under the shed are a groundhog, rabbits, and a very large toad. We have mice and a rat around the area too that could go under there. Would any of these animals kill a chicken? And where would her body be?
We'll keep looking. My oldest (13) daughter is in tears. Sail was her chicken that she's raised from 1-2 days old. Until we find her, or proof of her, I can't let my dogs out in the yard off leash. I don't want them to find her, dead or alive. If she's alive, they'll surely kill her, and they've gone under this same shed before so they can fit and would find her. I'll assume in a few days we can count on her being gone for good and then the dogs can roam off leash again. This really complicates things, having to leash four big dogs each time they need to go potty. We'll do what we have to with the dogs. The important thing is finding Sail. We are all very upset about this.
I just posted my first thread about doing all we can to keep the entire flock safe and alive, so this is devastating us all. We had human presence out there all day yesterday with them to help keep predators away, but this might not even be a case of predation. It could just be an adventurous chicken who gets lost on the journey, and we need to help her find her way back home.
If anyone has ideas or similar stories where their chickens disappeared and magically reappeared alive days later, please share to give us some hope! Thank you.
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