Help with missing chickens! Will they come back?

[Cheysr21]

Help! So today I let my 4 chickens out to free range, and this evening when I came to close the coop only 1 was in there! We searched our property for about an hour we didn't find any signs that they were attacked. And it's hard to believe all 3 would be missing If they did. My question is, could they have just decided to roost in a bush for the night if they wandered too far? Had this ever happened to anyone else? There are a lot of thick bushes and we tried to look in most of them but we couldn't see them. We put the one chicken in a crate in the house for the night since it's really cold. And we left the coop open in case the others come back in the morning.
But also we were wondering if maybe someone stole them. Would a person do that? Please help.

 

[chickenmole]

I had one of ours disappear, and she came back - with her wings clipped! Whoever had her was trying to keep her from escaping. They failed and she came home. It made me angry though. They had to know that was someone's chicken! Rude.

Yours might well have roosted up in a bush together though. If they were out foraging when the sun started to set(I swear ours lose track of time and roost in some weird places all the time).

I hope they come back soon! Go out first thing in the morning with treats, it always works with mine.

 

[Jenn7000]

One of ours got scared away by two Jack Russells, but an hours (or so) later she turned back up at the coop. Leave the coop open, if you're able. Best.