How far will they go????

Okay, so let's just say 5 of my chickens go separated from the flock. It's the first weekend I have let them free range as they are 9 weeks old. They wandered off… and my question is how far will they go if they cannot find the run???

All of my other birds (including two pheasants and 5 guineas) are the same age and allowed to free range, however, they will not go more than a 20 feet from the run. The weather is beautiful outside right now, roughly 75 degrees and partly cloudy, yet all the guineas, the pheasants, and all the other chickens are in the run and most in the coop… I have no idea why, they were outside and then just decided to chill in the run, and they are not acting fearful, just lazy.

My only question is if these 5 young chickens cannot find the run, how far will they go? I cannot find them, they probably went into one of the neighbors yards which are mostly overgrown with trees and shrubs. I am just hoping they tend to stay in one area and will eventually (by this evening) stumble upon the coop… They don't like to be away from the flock, they just got separated.

Here are some things to do to try to find them:
Give the call you always make when feeding them
Bring a noisy chicken with you to call them back
Leave a trail of treats (during the day, so predators don't want to come)
Ask neighbors if they saw them

Birds memorize where their coop is, but if they got startled and ran into tall grass they may not know their way back, especially if they haven't been out free-ranging for long.

I hope you find them soon!

GitaBooks said:

Here are some things to do to try to find them:
Give the call you always make when feeding them
Bring a noisy chicken with you to call them back
Leave a trail of treats (during the day, so predators don't want to come)
Ask neighbors if they saw them

Birds memorize where their coop is, but if they got startled and ran into tall grass they may not know their way back, especially if they haven't been out free-ranging for long.

I hope you find them soon!

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He is right, You can Bang pots like you might do when feeding them or make your other chickens very loud, Chickens usually roost on trees so you can look in the trees.

Thank you both, I found them!

They were in tall grass bunkered down. The only reason I found them is because one of them got brave and took off in flight towards the coop (must have heard her friends). So I went to where it flew from about 40 yards into some grass and there they were!

Awesome! I'm so glad they are okay!

Good, I'm glad you found them

I have one that likes to wander in the tall grass near the coop. Sometimes she has a hard time finding her way back out. If I call her she will usually start making her way to the sound of my voice. Chicken Marco Polo.