Chicken Hide and Seek

Snowball, our black Modern Game Bantam, took to playing hide-and-seek the past two days. We let the flock roam the backyard when we're home and we put them in at dusk. Saturday evening, Snowball was nowhere to be found. The other three hens trotted on into the enclosure, and Henny Penny settled on the roost where she always sleeps with Snowball beside her, but Snowball wasn't there. We searched our yard, our neighbors' yards, trees, and the sidewalks. No chicken anywhere. Once it turned dark, we gave up, for finding a black chicken at night would be almost impossible and she'd have settled down somewhere by then and be hard to find anyway.

The next morning, at 6:30 AM, there she was in the backyard, looking for grubs. We corralled her with the others. That evening, she vanished again and returned this morning at 7. Now she's grounded; we've let the other chickens out but not her. I suspect she dug a nest somewhere under a bush, maybe laid an egg or two there, and is calling it home. We've called her home and will hope she drops the habit after a few days of being cooped up.

- Bruce