Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: skyarrow on August 16, 2010, 11:33:48 pm
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well i have a question for those of yall that have chickens. today when i came home for lunch i noticed that some of my chickens were not in there normal places in the yard which is fine i know they will travel quite some distance from the pen but for some reason it did not seem normal so i had lunch and headed back to work. i came home and i only found 4 of my 5 hens and my rooster was missing also ugg. so i started calling the rooster and he answered about 150 yards in my back pasture and he never goes that far because i let that stay all grown up so the wildlife will come up so i trudge over and to find him just sitting there like he was lookn for something he wont follow me home so u head back to the house and eat supper then head back to see if he came back to roost. well he traviled further now across the creek about 200 yards from the house so i grab some feed and try to get him to follow me no luck there and now i try to herd him back stubborn little guy he acts like he did not want to go back uug. so i commence to catch him then 15 minutes later i do lol man is he fast well now all of my chickens are back less one hen i dont know where she is or what happend to her so i head back in grab my bow,quiver, & leg knife and start the hunt in finding her i found no tracks, no blood, no feathers , nothing its like she disappeared. so here is the question for those who have raised chickens have you seen this before a rooster that does not want to come home. my guess is that she was taken by a predator and he followed it to find her or she is brooding some where but none of my chickens are showing the signs of brooding. i know its prolly seems weird that i am so passionate on finding my chicken but i see it as 7 less eggs a week :(. my rooster keeps his pimp hand strong he never lets his hens out of site and when one is in trouble he is always there to help. let me know what yall think mite have happend ttyl
sterling
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I got nothing for you, except to refer you to either a chicken psychologist or a great blues singer:
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
Keep everything in the barnyard, upset in every way
Oh the dogs begin to bark,
and the hound begin to howl
Oh the dogs begin to bark, hound begin to howl
Ooh watch out strange kind people,
Cause little red rooster is on the prowl
If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
There ain't no peace in the barnyard,
Since the little red rooster been gone
Willie Dixon
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only thing i can think of is(it might be a little controversial)
aliens took the hen,thats why ther were no signs of a struggle,foot prints etc.
the cock was just ding like you said,looking for her
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Sounds like Willie Dixon had the same problem! ;D
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Got eagles or other large raptors where you live? An eagle can carry off a poodle, to say nothing of a chicken. If it's a raptor, nothing you can do about it because it's a felony if you do. That would explain no tracks and no blood. Something that does tend to scare raptors off is to get a bunch of fake ravens like they sell for Halloween (or make some raven decoys) and plant them around the chicken coop. Ravens mob raptors and raptors try to avoid groups of them.
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i think are largest is a red tailed hawk "chicken hawk" but these hens are way to big for them to fly one off
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Probably got a coyote and the tracks got rubbed away by the other chickens after.
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Got a trail timer? Maybe set one up I use one in back yard when I get a guest coming in causing trouble..Just a thought
Thanks Leroy
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Sounds like a job for CSI-Texas!!!! ;)
I do hope you don't lose any more!! Sounds like coyote...trail camera may tell!!
Lost young peacocks years ago the same way.
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good idea on the trail cam will hook my old one up to see if it still works ;)
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csi texas lol. i like it
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Some roosters are very protective of their hens. I have alot of Bantys and boy them guys are serious about anything or anyone bothering them. My guess is something did catch one and he tried to follow to help. Most likely you found him in the direction that the varmit carried her off.
A coon got into our coop last week,and now the banty hens will not go back in...Can't even herd them in. They are now roosting in the trees.
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Some roosters are very protective of their hens. I have alot of Bantys and boy them guys are serious about anything or anyone bothering them. My guess is something did catch one and he tried to follow to help. Most likely you found him in the direction that the varmit carried her off.
A coon got into our coop last week,and now the banty hens will not go back in...Can't even herd them in. They are now roosting in the trees.
man that sucks tim i hope you get them back in
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A coon got into the coop. It's saying it's food! ;D Roast raccoon with sweet potatoes!
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A big red-tail has no problem at all completely toting off a good-sized chicken, I've seen 'em do it before. Foxes will usually carry a chicken off with no trace before stopping to eat it in a safe place, too. Chickens might as well have DORITOS wrote on their backs, because they're the tater chips of the animal world. I kept chickens for many years, and I've lost them to foxes, yotes, bobcats, hawks, owls, skunks, dogs, weasels, possums, coons, wharf rats, minks, and lord knows what else. Your rooster was probably either terrified of whatever got the hen and ran off, or was following the critter trying to protect the hen, one or the other.
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Hey, don't you live in Texas, Skyarrow? We got it solved: Chupacabra!
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Hey, don't you live in Texas, Skyarrow? We got it solved: Chupacabra!
hahhaha and yes :D
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well im sticking with my alien theory
it seems the most plausible and possible ;D
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C.S.I. TEXAS todays log 1 chicken snake eating eggs scared the snake and it spit the eggs up lol further investigation on missing chicken lol
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Not likely that any raptor would fly off with the chicken. A big redtailed hawk would weigh 3 1/2 lbs and would be capable of carrying off prey up to about 30% of her bodyweight (in hawks, owls, eagles, vultures, etc the female is always the largest). Elise, the redtailed hawk I work with, is right about 5 lbs and may well be the world's record fattest redtail in captivity, but she was raised on hotdogs, raw hamburger, and bologna by the halfwit bonehead that stole her from her nest 24 yrs ago. Calculating 30# of her bodywieght leaves you with 1.5 lbs of live chicken weight, mighty tiny chickens. Typically when a raptor kills something like a chicken (or grouse, pheasant, duck), they eat it right on the spot.
Betting it was a ground predator; fox, skink, coyote, chupacabra, etc that scattered the flock.
Try the trailcam trick to find your culprit. With the photos on the trailcam, the state Game/Fish guys can help you with trapping. You can bet once the local predators find an easy source of food they will be back for seconds. Prolly explains why lil red rooster was upset and wouldn't crow for days.