Juniperchick15
In the Brooder
Does anyone have an idea of what happened to my chicken? My black Sex link, June, just disappeared last week. She is 3 years old so about 7-8lbs fully grown hen. Our backyard is fenced in but she would occasionally fly the fence and be on her own in the frontyard. The other girls never leave the backyard. It was one of these times when she was on her own that something must have got her. We can't find her anywhere and the only trace was a rough circle of about 60 perfectly plucked feathers. No blood, no "meat" sorry for the description. Just the feathers and missing chicken. I've searched all the common signs of predator attacks but nothing seems to match perfectly. I don't know if a hawk just grabbedher and took off, but I've narrowed the time down to between 5-6 in the evening. So that's not a lot of time and she was a decent size bird to just pick up and go. it's close to summer so it doesn't get dark till about 8 now. I wish I had taken pictures but I was a bit upset at the time and didn't think about it. We've never had predator problems before in the 3 years I've had chickens and they do free range a lot so I knew it would happen one day, I would just like to know what it was so I can protect them better next time. We live on 3 acres and most of it is wooded. Thanks for the help!!
