Chicken went missing. My guess is she flew over the fence (she was the only one that would occasionally do that) and didn't make it back into the coop last night when I shut it up (I shut it up well after they are all in there but have given up counting them) and ran into trouble during the night. I'll send the kids around the property to see if they see any signs, but I may never know. There is nothing in the immediate coop area.
Poor Gracie.....
Gwen
First casualty
Yes Gwen it does happen. Just lately I had a hen the would not go into the coop with all the others every night she would roost atop of the dog house, I tried to tell her it was dangerous and got tired of having to put her in every night. The first night I did not put her in she disappeared without any trace. Thats just the way it is. Unfortunately we do all we can but renegades in birds and people usually leads to disaster. Sorry about your loss. Haystack
Actually, she's back! I mentioned to my son that one was missing and he said no, they're all there. I think I must have not looked hard enough for her. She was probably hiding behind something! Of course, I just had to go put her back inside their area. She had flown over again. And had a friend with her. She's teaching the others bad habits! At least she's safe and sound....for now. And I will start counting them at night now!
Gwen
That's great news! Would it help to clip her wings?
Probably. I'm afraid to do that. I don't want to hurt her. I can hardly cut my dogs' toenails without going into the quick. The last time I did Kenzie's, I made her bleed and I felt sooooo bad.
Gwen
Gwen, clipping wings is a lot easier than clipping dog nails. It's obvious where the base feathers end and the flight feathers start. I can do chickens but I leave the other to the dog groomer. I usually clip only one wing so that the bird is unbalanced, but if they still fly I do the other, too.
My hens sometimes start going missing when they are looking for a place to go broody. They will be erratic for a few days, then vanish. Two that I was sure had been killed eventually showed up weeks later with chicks in tow.
Greenhouse_gal, If someone were to show me up close and personal, I probably could do it. But I would have to have someone show me. Maybe I'll ask around, people I know here who have chickens.
Catscan, say it isn't so! We don't have room for any more chickens right now. Mine *just* started laying and they aren't all laying yet. How long before they start going broody?
Gwen
I think the age (or if ever) they go broody depends on the breed and the individual bird--Silkies and Nankins seem to go broody almost as soon as they start to lay--others, like Leghorns will never go broody--most breeds are somewhere between the two and it also depends on the time of year they mature and when they start to lay.
I think most birds that will go broody do it sometime in their first year, at least a month after they start laying.
The San Diego Zoo clips the primaries of both wings, so the birds aren't unbalanced and don't tumble if they try to fly, which can cause sprains and bone breaks. Clipping the primaries prevents altitude gain, while allowing the bird to control its descent using the secondary feathers.
Just stretch the wing out, and cut off the 5 large full feathers at the tip... you don't have to clip close; if you even get 2/3-3/4 of the feather, they can't get any height. If any feather looks like it's still growing, because it's not flat and featherish looking, don't cut it. It may be a blood feather.
It's more like cutting hair than nails. Or trimming manes.