Blanche is missing and I'm fearing the worst

[McGoo]

I'm sick with worry. Seems that all of the mishaps happen when my DH is watching the chickens. He forgot to close up the coop last night and now one of my buff girls, Blanche, is missing.

There are no signs of foul play so I believe she must have gotten out of the yard before bedtime and I'm hoping that she is okay. I've search the area and checked all the nooks and crannies. Any ideas on where I might want to check? Mr. Ed the Rooster is crowing continually.... Is he calling for her? If she was within earshot would she typically come to him?

thanks for any help.

 

[bantymum]

Hi, My heart goes out to you, be positive, The roo is probably calling her, he will notice that shes not where she should be. Go for a walk, take the cat and watch where he/she sniffs and look for signs. Pray to st Anthony" the returner", look under bushes and high in trees. She may be laying somewhere sneaky. I wish you the very best of luck finding her, your Dh must feel awful, try to be gentle on him.

 

[equine chick]

Is there a place maybe she might try to nest and hide her eggs like a barn, garage or shed. He probally is looking for her by his crowing and she might come back still. Try taking a container of feed and shaking it as you look for her. This always brings my freerangers out of the woods when I can't catch them. I had a barred rock missing for 3 days before we found her in an old shed on the property.

 

[McGoo]

THanks for your support. Mr. Ed continues to crow - calling to Blanche wherever she might be.

I will go for another walk and shake the feed jar. I'm not about to give up finding her.

 

[jjthink]

I feel your worry and understand it completely - I hope you find her, alive and well.

Because I have such a fear of not closing the coop I always try to remember to doublecheck that I have done it and not just imagined I did. I really can see how it could happen to me too and am pretty paranoid about it anymore!
I hope Blanche responds soon, to you, her roo and/or the enticement of food.
JJ

Edited to say DRAT - I just saw where you live. As with Jersey, you probably also had that wicked cold front come in last night. We had a horrendous storm - power out, trees down, etc. I truly hope you/Blanche were spared this.

 

[McGoo]

Yes, that's what happened to my dh... he really believed he'd closed the coop. I am also angry with myself for not checking when I came home later last night. I looked from the car and believed that the door was closed. I will never not double check again. I'm off to look again. Thanks.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Any luck finding Blanche?

McGoo, don't beat yourself up about it...we've all cut corners and not checked...I lost Tom because I was too lazy to put the coop back together correctly...a raccoon came and pulled down the tray and when she tumbled out, Rocky had a snack.

 

[jimnjay]

I had a youngster a few weeks ago turn up missing at night. He got out of the brooder and the garage door was open. He ended up spending the night somewhere, probably under our shed which is on skids. I was pretty concerned in the morning when he was not around. He wandered in around 10 am. I was very happy to see him. I had looked everywhere with a flashlight and the dog to sniff him out. Lots of good that did.

I hope your story turns out like mine. It really is a worry.

 

[McGoo]

Thanks for your concern. No sign of Blanche. Mr. Ed crowed like crazy again today. It almost makes me think that she's around somewhere... Maybe I'm just hoping. She's been laying in the nesting box on a regular basis .. and did so yesterday, so I doubt that she's found a spot somewhere else to nest. And last night when I went out to double check I clearly startled some little predators that were hanging around the yard...saw little eyes and heard squealing. This make me think that she might have been dinner.

I'm not the type of person to cry, but I've been feeling soooo badly - it's the not knowing that has me sick.

 

[silkiechicken]

Hope you can find her.

One thing I did to the coop was attach a reflector to the door. That way when I get home late and want to check if the door is closed, I take out my flashlight and hit the reflector. If it shines back at me, it's closed, if not, out I go to close it.

Good luck!