SamLockwood
Songster
- Sep 29, 2022
- 280
- 597
- 156
Apoligies if this isn't the appropriate category, as this isn't really either a disease or emergency.
I've got this ancient speckled sussex hen, the last of a quartet of chickens that just showed up at my mother's house seven years ago. She was at least a year old then. When we started free-ranging the flock last September she had a bit of a last hurrah and managed to infrequently lay smallish, somewhat brittle-shelled eggs.
I was surprised she made it through the arctic blast in January, especially she's part of the trio that likes to sleep on the roosting bars in the run no matter what the weather.
She has been getting more creaky the last month or so: going out of her way to assert dominance on the younger, faster birds and the last week or so she noticeably has difficulty getting up to her spot in the top roosting bar in the run.
Saturday night I was one short in my nightly head-count as I locked the flock up for the night, and sure enough the old biddy was the one missing. I'd had to shoot an opossum that rushed the guineas at sunset, so I figured something got her.
I even tramped around the property for about an hour trying to find her remains or at least some sign of the predator attack I was sure got her, including a couple of areas I know are their favorite hiding spots when trouble shows up.
Nothing.
Yesterday morning when I go to let the flock out, the old biddy is pacing back & forth by the run door waiting to get at the waters and feeders, looking none the worse for her nocturnal adventures.
When I locked the them in again last night sure enough she was absent again. She didn't show up again this morning. It's weird because there's a lot of places with lower roosting spots she could have used overnight, in and outside the run (these were the first places I looked).
Never having free-ranged chickens before, I just wondered if this was maybe a "thing" they do when they get too old or sick or just because they've gone senile? I've had elderly cats get outside and crawl off to die somewhere.
I've got this ancient speckled sussex hen, the last of a quartet of chickens that just showed up at my mother's house seven years ago. She was at least a year old then. When we started free-ranging the flock last September she had a bit of a last hurrah and managed to infrequently lay smallish, somewhat brittle-shelled eggs.
I was surprised she made it through the arctic blast in January, especially she's part of the trio that likes to sleep on the roosting bars in the run no matter what the weather.
She has been getting more creaky the last month or so: going out of her way to assert dominance on the younger, faster birds and the last week or so she noticeably has difficulty getting up to her spot in the top roosting bar in the run.
Saturday night I was one short in my nightly head-count as I locked the flock up for the night, and sure enough the old biddy was the one missing. I'd had to shoot an opossum that rushed the guineas at sunset, so I figured something got her.
I even tramped around the property for about an hour trying to find her remains or at least some sign of the predator attack I was sure got her, including a couple of areas I know are their favorite hiding spots when trouble shows up.
Nothing.
Yesterday morning when I go to let the flock out, the old biddy is pacing back & forth by the run door waiting to get at the waters and feeders, looking none the worse for her nocturnal adventures.
When I locked the them in again last night sure enough she was absent again. She didn't show up again this morning. It's weird because there's a lot of places with lower roosting spots she could have used overnight, in and outside the run (these were the first places I looked).
Never having free-ranged chickens before, I just wondered if this was maybe a "thing" they do when they get too old or sick or just because they've gone senile? I've had elderly cats get outside and crawl off to die somewhere.
