Chick disappears overnight

[blmack]

My hen hatched only one chick about 5 days ago. Everything has been fine until this morning. the chick is gone. The mama is hanging around in the hen house looking for it. When I closed them up last night all was well. This same hen also had two of the fertilized eggs that I put under her disappear. What would take a chick or an egg right out from under the hen?

 

[rIrs roost]

Snake maybe

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Lots of things... when the eggs disappeared it was an indication you need to revisit coop security. If you post photos we can help you identify where predators are or can enter

 

[blmack]

Snake maybe

That's what I'm thinking. My brother has had a same problem. His eggs disappear constantly and his chicks if he manages to get any disappear 3-4 at a time overnight until they are all gone. this is the first time it has happened to me.

 

[blmack]

Snake maybe

I didn't know that my broody hen had lost two of her four fertilized eggs until the chicks hatched and I checked under her.

 

[rIrs roost]

I walked inside my coop one night to find a snake with an egg in its mouth. I usually let black snakes live but when they are in the nesting box in the coop I kill them. I've killed 5 already.

I didn't know that my broody hen had lost two of her four fertilized eggs until the chicks hatched and I checked under her.

 

[blmack]

Lots of things... when the eggs disappeared it was an indication you need to revisit coop security. If you post photos we can help you identify where predators are or can enter

I didn't know that my broody hen had lost two of her four fertilized eggs until the chicks hatched and I checked under her.

 

[PatrickRoo]

Please post pictures of your coop. We can help you identify where a predator could've got in. I agree with @rIrs roost It could possibly be a snake. Snakes can slip through the tiniest cracks or crevices.

 

[Yardpimp]

Sounds like a snake to me,although in the animal world weird things happen,I once lost a full grown hen with no explanation.She was there at bedtime but gone in the morning,all other hens there and no trace of her,no feathers,no hole in the pen,nothing.I guess she was abducted by aliens!

 

[chick mansion]

My hen hatched only one chick about 5 days ago. Everything has been fine until this morning. the chick is gone. The mama is hanging around in the hen house looking for it. When I closed them up last night all was well. This same hen also had two of the fertilized eggs that I put under her disappear. What would take a chick or an egg right out from under the hen?

Probably some sort of small rodent like a snake or a rat. If I were you I would really make sure that your coop is secure so nothing can get in.