three of my chickens are lost

[chickenlady2004]

hi everyone. today i let my chickens out around 5pm, as there was a small rain storm. it died down so i thought it would be safe to let them out to stretch their legs. i stayed out with them then went inside for maybe 20 min. came back out to put them to bed and three of my chickens are no where i’m sight. i checked under absolutely everything and inside every thing i could think of. i walked as far back in the woods as i could and nothing. the weather has picked up and it’s not good out. the two other chickens are in the coop with the door closed. should i keep it open in case they come back tonight? i would hate for the other two to leave or get hurt if i leave it open though. i will be sleeping in the living room to watch out the window, since we have automatic lights. what should i do? i’m a crying mess right now lol i feel like an idiot.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Is it dark yet where you are? I would leave the coop open until it’s dark to see if they come back home. Is there a light near the coop?

 

[chickenlady2004]

Is it dark yet where you are? I would leave the coop open until it’s dark to see if they come back home. Is there a light near the coop?

it’s pitch black here unfortunately. it gets dark around here fast, they always come back when the sun goes down but didn’t tonight. there’s three automatic lights around the coop

 

[tlcmurphy]

I hope they come back, if not tonight then tomorrow

 

[WingsysRoost]

I definitely wouldn't reccommend leaving the coop open overnight. That will only leave the others open to attack from any predators that might be in the area. They won't likely be doing any moving around in the dark, anyway. (I have chickens that sometimes leave the roost and walk around the coop at midnight, but I'm sure that isn't exactly typical behavior.)

They might have gotten scared by something and ran off to hide, or possibly just wandered too far away to get back to the coop before dark. The second thing happened with one of my hens. She came back the next morning, completely fine. Hopefully, that will be the case for your birds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hopefully you'll wake up to find them wandering around outside your coop tomorrow.

If you haven't already trained your flock to come to you, it's a good idea to start working on that. As long as they haven't wandered away so far that they can't hear you, you only need one from the group to hear and come running, and that should draw the others.

 

[chickenlady2004]

Hopefully you'll wake up to find them wandering around outside your coop tomorrow.

If you haven't already trained your flock to come to you, it's a good idea to start working on that. As long as they haven't wandered away so far that they can't hear you, you only need one from the group to hear and come running, and that should draw the others.

they come when i call but it was storming so bad last night the wind and thunder was much louder than my call

i found them all outside my window this morning. picked them up and put them in the coop to warm up, so glad they were smart enough to hide somewhere safe for the night.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I’m so glad you found them!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Glad you found them!

 

[TaylorGlade]

i found them all outside my window this morning. picked them up and put them in the coop to warm up, so glad they were smart enough to hide somewhere safe for the night.

This is fabulous news! I know you must be so relieved