Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
– John Lennon
So Wednesday I left the hens loose in the yard when I left for work because it was kind of rainy and dreary and I figured the dogs would rather be inside. Then I worked until 12:30 am. Mike got home late and they had already gone in to roost. Apparently he did a quick headcount and thought everyone was there.
Yesterday morning I fed them and collected the eggs, but didn’t do a detailed head count since I was running late for work and operating on 4 hours sleep. Last night I didn’t even go to the coop because I got home from work at 7:45 and was asleep at 8:20 on the couch. This morning I let them out to discover there were only 5.
Not sure exactly when, or how, Danny went missing. But missing she is. She’s nowhere in the yard or the shed or the bushes. Not in the neighbors’ yards that I could see this morning. I knocked on a few doors to see if anyone had seen her and no one had. I called Animal Control and was told they’d had no reports of renegade chickens.
It’s been cold and rainy since Wednesday. And last night we had a pretty impressive windstorm. Since we know Jake didn’t chase her out of the yard I’m assuming at this point that a cat or a hawk got her. I can’t come up with any reason why she would have left the rest of the flock voluntarily. And with no sign of her in two days in anyone else’s yard I have to assume that she’s not trying to find her way home.
I’m not quite ready to declare her KIA, but she’s definitely MIA. Hopefully I’ll turn her up knocking on doors tonight after work or tomorrow morning. If not, I’m gone for 2 weeks and we’ll have to just hope that someone brings her back to Mike.
So if you’ve got a moment, send a little wish out into the ether that Danny the world’s smallest hen that looks like a crow finds her way home.
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Update: Danny has been found but is currently eluding capture. Small banty hens are cute, but dammit you should remember to clip their wings. She’s currently 30 feet up in my neighbor’s tree… May have to call out the fire department for this…
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Update #2: Turns out I should have just waited for Mike instead of wasting 45 minutes chasing her earlier. In a couple of swift moves he was able to sweep her up in the salmon net and deliver her safely back to me. Now that’s what husbands are for! Then we came inside and promptly clipped her wings before putting back in the coop. Maisie greeted her pint sized nest mate with a swift peck to the head and all is well again. Thanks to all for the well wishes!
Aw, so sorry to hear about Danny. I’ll keep her in my thoughts and picture her warm and safe and happy, wherever she is.
And I hope you get some rest soon!
I’m so glad you found her! I hope the tree rescue has gone well. :-)
How long did it take to find your banty? We had two rogue chicken who didn’t come home to roost. I found Prudence the next day in some brush in the front yard but have yet to recover Ginger Louise. There’s no sign of an incident but it’s been 4 days with no sign. She’s only 9 weeks old. Ginger Louise where are you?
Any advice? Where do chickens like to hide? (She’s a rhode island red)