Chickens did not come home

[Randirampage]

We have 9 hens and 1 rooster, we let them out to roam free during the day. When going to lock up the coop tonight, my husband only found one chicken in the coop. We are worried and searched our property, there was no signs of being eaten. Thinking they are in the trees somewhere and hoping they will be back tomorrow but if anyone has had this happen or any advice, please help!

 

[CoconutCoffee]

In my experience, if they werent in the coop at bedtime then they never came back. In September I had 4 go missing in one day then decided to keep them in a run until I can get a privacy fence up. But others have had better experiences than I have and had chickens come back the next day or even several days later. If you know any little hiding places they may have then try looking there. Otherwise it looks like a wait and see situation.

 

[The WinterWolf]

We have 9 hens and 1 rooster, we let them out to roam free during the day. When going to lock up the coop tonight, my husband only found one chicken in the coop. We are worried and searched our property, there was no signs of being eaten. Thinking they are in the trees somewhere and hoping they will be back tomorrow but if anyone has had this happen or any advice, please help!

iv'e had hens disappear. then a few days later i found them broody in a hidden place. i'm not sure about the roo. don't give up hope.

 

[MountainWoman73]

This happened to me once. I had 12 in my flock, and one night no one came home. In the morning, I found them all in my neighbor's yard. They'd gone on some chicken exploration mission, gotten inside her fence (only goes around 3 sides of her yard) and we're too stupid to get back out. They were all bunched up against the fence, obviously trying to get back home, but couldn't figure out how to walk back around.

I've also had several hens disappear after a hawk scare and come back hours later. It could be that yours got spooked by a predator or something, and hid out for the night. Good luck!

 

[OzarkChooks]

This has happened to me a couple times. Both times the chickens were roosting HIGH in a tree. Hopefully they come out in the morning!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hopefully they are roosting in trees close by and will return in the morning. Go out early and call them in.
How old are they?

 

[NatJ]

We have 9 hens and 1 rooster, we let them out to roam free during the day. When going to lock up the coop tonight, my husband only found one chicken in the coop. We are worried and searched our property, there was no signs of being eaten. Thinking they are in the trees somewhere and hoping they will be back tomorrow but if anyone has had this happen or any advice, please help!

Did they turn up again today?

I would try listening as well as looking, especially at this time of year: some colors of chickens among fallen leaves can be almost invisible, but the leaves crackle as they scratch around. (Obviously, this applies to brown chickens in dry leaves, but not white chickens in wet leaves!)

 

[Randirampage]

Well three were eaten by something last night, feathers everywhere. But found the others two houses down in their trees. Thankful to have them come back this morning!! Sad for the other 3

 

[NatJ]

Well three were eaten by something last night, feathers everywhere. But found the others two houses down in their trees. Thankful to have them come back this morning!! Sad for the other 3

I'm sad to hear about the 3 that died
But glad the other 7 managed to be safe

You've probably thought of this already, but you may want to keep them shut in for a while, because whatever ate those 3 will probably come back looking for more. And of course you don't want them to get in the habit of sleeping in someone else's trees even if they are safe there too.