OH NO! locked hens out of coop before dark--now they are gone. advice?

[haTHOR]

i'm an idiot. had too much going on and closed the popdoor to keep more aggressive hens away from laying hen and thought me or dh would get back to them before roosting time. unexpected chaos ensued in the house and suddenly i realized it is DARK! he went down to put them in and they are not in the pen (6 ft fence). they are brown leghorns, one year old.

what should we do? he is outside with a flashlight. i guess they flew out of the fence and into trees.

suggestions...if we can or can't locate them?

and yes, i do feel like a horrible, terrible, no good, chicken owner. feel free to tell me about it though.

 

[happyhensny]

Hope all your babies are safe and sound. Try to find them and if not they'll be waiting by the door in the am.

 

[wohneli]

Chances are if you haven't had a problem with predators in the past then your chickens will be fine for a night out in the wild blue yonder.
Good Luck.

 

[TheDuckCrew]

you are not a horrible, terrible, no good chicken owner. not at all. do they have a favorite treat? maybe you could go out and call them and if they know any words like "treats" or something, try that. keep looking with the flash lights. if they are up in the trees and won't come down, they might be okay. if you can't find them, they might have wandered off and could be in danger. try to keep looking for them. if you can't find them, its okay. hopefully they can make it into the trees. my ducks one day wouldn't get out of the pond and come home. we tried EVERYTHING and nothing worked. i ran out first thing in the morning and they were all fine. hopefully someone else can give you some better suggestions. but don't beat yourself up over it. it was just a mistake, and sometimes things come up and you lose track of the time. its okay. you are NOT a horrible chicken owner.

 

[thechickman04]

i think your birds will roost very close to the coop tonight and will be waiting for you in the morning to be let inside

 

[TheDuckCrew]

Quote:
me too. they'll be hungry! i know its very worrying, but they will be okay.

 

[al6517]

We all do it at some point, and believe me it won't be the last so I hedge my bet's. I have springs on all of my coop and run doors about 6 and covered runs. there have been a couple times when I had a lapse of memory and with that set-up I awoke to find peace & serenity in the chicken world.

AL

 

[Freebie]

I think they should be fine and be ready in the morning to eat.

 

[CoopCrazy]

I did this with my old flock. If you have any fir or evergreen trees close by take a flashlight and look up inside.. Thats where mine went.. Iwould say they found safe place and are just roosting til the am....

And don't beat yourself up. life happens.. I am a single dad od two boys 3 and 7 I understand how chaotic life gets,,, Deep breath and a big

.

 

[haTHOR]

found them in a doghouse. embarrassed but so glad they hadn't escaped. got them in the mobile coop but they bedded down under the open popdoor and wouldn't go up...we tried flashlight, coaxing, picking at their tailfeathers through the chicken wire--even brought the car around to light their way up. one eventually went up but the other didn't. i had to army crawl in and get the last one and crawl back out with her under my wing and put her through another door.

lesson learned, i hope. thanks to everyone for the kind words!