Got a missing crybaby ? For those who keep a backyard flock in an urban or suburban setting , a missing bird seems unthinkable . How could a Gallus gallus perhaps get out of its tidy , bear chicken coop - and - run jazz band or its fenced backyard ?
For those of us who populate in a rural residential or agricultural geographical zone , however , discover a fellow member of our flock is missing at lock - up is not as rare as you ’d think . Combine loose - ranging with a chicken ’s innate curiosity and you ’ll have plenty of reason why you might be short one chicken .
If this happens to you when you ’re close up your henhouse for the Nox , do n’t panic . Take a deep intimation . Then take on one or more of these five suggestions .
#1 Is Your Bird Having a Slumber Party?
If you raise multiple flocks of chickens , prospect are your birds have not only noticed each other but have also communicated back and onward through clucks , warbles , crows and other vox . Commonly , these calls keep each other inform of the condition of their territorial dominion . This is especially true if you keep more than one rooster .
Occasionally , your bird ’ chattering may actually be more neighbourly . Chickens will separate out where each of them stands in the expanded fowl society incorporate of all your flocks . If you discover that one of your hen is missing , hold back your other coops .
I ’ve lost count of how many times we ’ve base members our BBS Orpington flock peacefully snooze on the pole in the Buff Orpington hencoop and Buffs on the Blue Orpington perch . If your birds are having a sleepover , there ’s no need to agitate them ( unless roosters are present and you engender separate diverseness ) .
Just sort everyone back out when you release them in the morning .
#2 Your Missing Chicken Could Be a High Flyer
With few exception , Gallus gallus prefer their roost several foot off the ground . According to Dr. Richard Fulton , a fowl skill professor at Michigan State University , the inclination to roost up high-pitched originates from an instinct to stay out of reach of primer - establish predators .
Most birds are content with the height of their henhouse perches . But others look for higher ground .
Our Dutch Bantam , Cutie , and our Golden Sebright , Dennis , always perched up in the rafters of their hencoop , well above the heads of the rest of their sight . Dennis went missing one evening , and I spent several hour look for the surround forest for that petite hoot .
I finally give up and head back to the house . Then I caught an orange gleam richly up in one of our maples . certainly enough , there was Dennis , cozy as could be and doze away .
If your missing chicken is a bantam or a strain that fly well , such as Ameraucana , Lakenvelder or Fayoumi , get out your flashlight and search in the boughs of nearby tree . Chances are your mazed chook is perch on a low subdivision .
#3 Mamma Mia! (It Could Be Broodiness)
Even if our coops are equipped with nest boxes , sometimes a miss in Mama Hen fashion wants more privacy than we provide . Instead of setting eggs within the safety of their henhouses , these dame venture out to find brooding grounds of their own .
Ten twelvemonth ago , our Easter Egger , Keynoter , went miss from sacking until lock - up every day for more than two week . I in the end tail her to the Grant Wood on the southeast corner of our prop . Here I find her — and her clutch of 18 eggs — tucked out of hatful beneath a fall tree .
Our Black Orpington , Fitz , pull a similar stunt four years ago , except she did not return at dark . We ’d give her up for dead … until the weekend we were weed around our pole barn . There was Fitz , all fluffed up and growling at us from beneath our overgrown rhubarb plant , where she was stew nine egg .
We were fortunate that our hens were n’t overly adventurous . Mari , a local breeder I bang , lost her award - gain Salmon Faverolle hen one summertime eventide a few years back . Her family seek everywhere for the angelic - tempered hen , to no service .
About three weeks later , that Faverolle reappeared , trooping out of the wood and looking very worn , tatty and grumpy … with a scout group of chicks accompany her .
If your missing snort is a hen who has demonstrated a penchant for brooding , check under shrubs and George H.W. Bush , beneath fallen trees and behind air - conditioning unit .
Look inside old tire , too . That ’s where we found Ebony Orpington and her egg - filled nest .
#4 A Missing Chicken Could Mean Predatory Danger
alas , sometimes our razz do n’t leave of their own accord . crybaby predatorsexist jolly much anywhere Gallus gallus live , peculiarly if you live in a suburban , rural or farming domain .
While many predator pull up stakes behind vivid evidence of their visits , some take hold of and go with minimal commotion . If your biddy seems to have vanish without a trace , chances are it was take off by a bobcat , fox or coyote … or by a hawk or owl .
Each of these predatorsprefers to carry off their preyversus stamp out and eat it in situ .
year ago , our Buff Orpington girl , Buttercup , vanish without a trace . My husband , Jae , and I had n’t mow recently , however . I managed to track a trail of upset marvellous sess into the Natalie Wood and right up to a fox ’s hideout dug out under a fallen tree .
Sure enough , Buttercup ’s leg were sticking out of the entryway . The fox was nowhere in sight , so we retrieved our poor girl and gave her a proper burial . If your crybaby has seemingly disappeared , she may have been the dupe of a predator .
#5 Don’t Give up If Your Chicken Goes Missing
If your head count is off at lock - up or at any other time and you ’ve already exhaust the steps adumbrate above , do n’t give up hope just yet . Call your neighbors and postulate them to keep an eye open for your neglect shuttle .
( Our Henrietta once decided to relocate herself to the grassy backyard of neighbour about a half mile to the magnetic north . )
Carefully check your route for mark of a wimp unsuccessfully assay to cross a road . Inspect your garage , garden shed and any other structure on your prop and on your neighbors ’ belongings , too . If you belong to to a local poultry chemical group , put out the word — and share a picture , if you have one — that your chicken is missing .
The more people searching , the more chances you ’ll witness your bird .
This article about what to do about a missing chicken was written for Chickens magazine . Click here to take .
