Apparently it went way way down the streets and was stuck up high in a tree. Missing feathers. She must have been attacked and chased very far and couldn't find her way back. It's happened before with a couple other chickens in the past. They get attacked by a predator, fly and run frantically and lose sense of direction, and can't find their way back. This one was so far away i couldn't hear her squawking to find her fellow hens.
Yeah no big deal but i hadn't one loss since around August. A good 4-5 months no missing chickens is good. I noticed some raccoon tracks but didn't see any signs of a struggle (trail of feathers) and no half chewed chickens in vicinity. Most likely it was a hawk. The chickens been running across a grassy area of the property where they are vulnerable. Now they're hugging the tree line more the last few days.
They die all the time. It's ok. You didn't mess up. Get over yourself and keep going.
Raise about 2x as many layers as you need for your family. Buy new ones each year as they tend to stop laying as many eggs after the second year.
Apparently it went way way down the streets and was stuck up high in a tree. Missing feathers. She must have been attacked and chased very far and couldn't find her way back. It's happened before with a couple other chickens in the past. They get attacked by a predator, fly and run frantically and lose sense of direction, and can't find their way back. This one was so far away i couldn't hear her squawking to find her fellow hens.