Chicken escaped - but in the dark AND at a new location

[LisaMarie81]

Evening all. I have a small flock of only 10 birds divided into 2 coops. Today we relocated both coops from an old house to my new home. As I was securing the coops for the night I noticed one of my girls refusing to go into the coop. Since I border about 45 acres of wildlife forest now obviously I wanted her IN the coop. when I went to grab her I accidentally hit the door and it opened. She is now out, in the dark, on land she does not know (named the wildlife management area - loaded with predators).
My assumption is at this point I just have to wait and see if she comes back (safely). Not sure what I can do. My question is - the other birds are locked tight in their coop so do I leave the run door open for her in case she comes back? or will that put the other birds in too much danger by eliminating that second line of protection? I'm afraid for both scenario's - leave the door open, easy predator entry with the coop only to contend with, close the door and she has nowhere to go.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Also, if she does come back tonight or in the morning how the hell do I get her back in the run? When she got out she walked around and around it (with the door OPEN) and would not go in.

Anyway - crossing my fingers for her tonight and will check back on what to do with the coop for the evening. I do have a trail cam on both coops, but honestly it sucks.

 

[Kale Chips]

If I were you I would keep the door closed and hope she makes it back safely tomorrow morning. Maybe check around the coop tonight to make sure she isn't waiting to be let back in, and if she still hasn't turned up you could do a quick search if you were up for it. Chickens cannot see in the dark so if you do find her, it will be a fairly easy retrieval (so long as she isn't high up in a tree) since she won't be able to run away. This also means that leaving the door open is probably useless, because she won't be walking around looking for it in the dark. I hope you find your hen!

 

[Willowspirit]

Because we kept having quail escape a couple of BYCers recommended getting a net. I know you can’t do it now but going forward you might consider it.

All of our escaped quail came back to the coop to try to get back with the others. Your hen might do this too. Good luck!

And I agree it does suck!

 

[BDutch]

Do not leave the door open during night time and keep the other chickens safe. The hen that escaped will sleep somewere in a bush or a tree. With a little luck she survives. The hen will search the other flock members in the morning at sunrise and comes for food. She probably will make noises for reply from the other chickens. If its possible be on the lookout to lock her in.

 

[LisaMarie81]

Thanks all, the run door is open right now, but I am up and watching the trail cam. I won't leave it open all night, I will close it. I have scanned the woods as I figured she wasn't far, but she's also brown and tan so blends in well with the trees. I do have lights on around the house so "maybe" she'll be able to see the coop? Who knows.
I guess my biggest concern is this is a brand new location, nothing she has ever seen before. I'm just hoping what was said here is true - she hunkered down where she was and hopefully survives the night

 

[LisaMarie81]

Also I guess I'm surprised she's "gone" or can't be seen? She was right behind the second coop, I went inside to get my headlamp, came back out and she's nowhere to be found. Maybe she's closer than I'm thinking and I just didn't see her.
Cross your fingers!
But again - if she survives the night how the hell do I get her back in the run? It will be closed overnight. I can open it in the morning, but even tonight with it open she wouldn't go back in and I''m concerned it's because it was in a new home and she didn't recognize that it was hers. (i.e. - new smells, new surroundings, etc)

 

[Willowspirit]

I forgot to say our quail hunkered down at night and came back in the morning. Who knows where they were.

 

[BDutch]

As long as it is dark the hen won't come out of the trees. At least that is my experience.

E.g. A few days ago I let my hens free range. But when I wanted to close them in the run a few hours later, they were gone. 5 returned to the run/coop before dark. Three were missing. I suppose they were frightened by something. Maybe from the young dog from our neighbours.

Next morning 2 hens where back, waiting near the door of the run. The third one was calling from a distance. She probably had trouble finding her way back. After a few minutes calling and answering she found her way back again.

I have good hopes that you're chicken will go searching for her flock in the morning. Even if its a new place

 

[LisaMarie81]

Thanks all. Will keep you posted.....

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Do you have a routine for calling your chickens? Maybe shaking a container of scratch? Mine would climb a mountain and ford a river for a handful of scratch.