Missing 1-Month-Old Chick -- Any Ideas?

[cowcreekgeek]

These chicks have been raised in an outdoor brooder, and have been conditioned to temperature variations, and are exceptionally well feathered for their age, so I'm not as worried about the temperature falling below 40 degrees as I am the owl that perches in the eaves, directly across the road from the hillside she went missing on ... they fly up to the top edge of the brooder's glass divider to visit, every time I open the top lid and throw back the net.

But, this one dropped off the edge, while my hands were full w/ several others. I spotted her repeatedly, but I have extremely poor vision, so I'd lose her again w/in seconds. Eventually, she vanished (possibly in the talons of the hawk that wasn't too far away )-;~

I've out of ideas here, and I suspect she's gonna run out of time out there ... any suggestions?

 

[PekinBantam]

Have you tried showing the chick food? Maybe if you would leave food in a cage repeatedly, you could find it...

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Have you tried showing the chick food? Maybe if you would leave food in a cage repeatedly, you could find it...

Thank you for responding ... I tried the feeder, but it chose to wander up into the brush. With the hawk perched in a tree a few hundred yards away, I sorta crowded her, rather than being patient enough to let her come to me ...

There is food under the brooder, and I was keeping the birds active/noisy until after dark. And, I keep posting Niko on guard on that side of the house, in the hopes that nothin' gets her ( if she's still around )-;~

She's not my fanciest bird, but she fancied me most ...

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Have you tried showing the chick food? Maybe if you would leave food in a cage repeatedly, you could find it...

She showed up around 16:00 hours, milling around under a large cluster of flowering quince bushes. She was a bit tattered, and extremely nervous. Tried your suggestion, and after I got the feeder she'd been using? She eventually came over to eat, and I caught her. And, then, she got lose before I could adjust my grip ... so, she didn't want much to do with me after that.

Although it wasn't very wet, the skies here were clear, and the temperature dipped into the thirties last night. Proof that, if accustomed to life outdoors, they ain't so overly sensitive.

However, for future reference? Turns out that the best thing to catch a chicken with is another chicken ...
Once she saw the one I was holding with both hands eating? She quickly began to as well. And, I poked at her 'til she became comfortable enough for me to pick her up again ...

​

So, I cleaned her (and myself) up a bit, and reluctantly put her back w/ the other twenty-five. If she's picked up something? My guineas will be exposed as well, 'cause I found her on that side while they were swarming a freshly filled feeder (she likes to live dangerously ~'-)

 

[PekinBantam]

Turns out that the best thing to catch a chicken with is another chicken ...

I know what you mean, if I want to check a chicken for an injury or some other reason, I just show a smaller chicken to her/him and the chicken I want to catch advances wanting to attack the chick...

 

[cowcreekgeek]

I know what you mean, if I want to check a chicken for an injury or some other reason, I just show a smaller chicken to her/him and the chicken I want to catch advances wanting to attack the chick...

This was it's sibling, and served to let it see that I had no intentions of eatin' her. At least, not just yet ~'-)

Don't get me wrong -- this was entirely my own fault, despite her apparently bein' Houdini's sister, and I was relieved that she made it through w/o bein' one of our many predator's source of nutrition. But, I sure was cussin' her under my breath for not just hoppin' right up onto me as she normally does.