[BlueDaisy]

One of my chooks is missing
We went to lock them up tonight, but we seem to be missing a blue orpy hen. Her pal was pacing up and down, agitated when we went up to sort them as it was just dusk. Everyone else was already in bed.
The orpys are kept in a separate pen from the rest of the gang but the 2 blue hens escaped a week or so ago, I spotted them mid-afetrnoon that time so just coralled them back where they were supposed to be.
This time though I don't know where the second blue one is, she wasn't in her own coop and isn't in the big coop either. The agitated one went to bed in the big coop while we were there, but we plucked her out and put her back in the orpy house.
I'm so worried about the other one, there's fireworks going off everywhere and the weather forecast is bad for tonight. Wish I had a decent blimmin torch!

[CameronS]

Hopefuly she has found somewhere safe to hide away, fingers crossed for you and her safe return

[BlueDaisy]

Thanks Cameron.
Just been out for another look.  It's freezing!
My thinking is that if she was around she would have been agitatedly trying to get back to her house when we went out to lock them up. But she was nowhere to be seen. I assumed she had gone to bed in the big coop, and it took us long enough to decide she definitely wasn't in there! If she managed to get out of the garden - God knows where she's gone!

[faith0504]

fingers and toes crossed she turns up for breakfast in the morning 

[CameronS]

on top of the sheds?
in the hadge?

 

[doganjo]

I have closed down my old shed and wanted all of mine to go in the big one, but two of my newest  ex batts are not keen, so I have found them roosting down in a corner behind the shed or up on top of the fence posts, and also in the tree that overhangs their run.  It has been extremely wet last two nights so tonight I left the shed door wide open in case it was the pop hole they were afraid of.  Hopefully they were sensible enough to go in with their sisters as it was too dark for me to count them without going in the run and triggering the security light - and that would have brought them ALL back out!  Hope you find your girl in the morning. I could do with a torch too so I can creep about without the Blackpool Illuminations being switched on 

[daddymatty82]

where you located ?do there eyes light up in the dark like other animals? be a good idea to torch light the area.

[Fleecewife]

We have two types of torch which are useful. The headtorch makes you look a bit of a nerd but means you can work handsfree.  It doesn't cast much light but is great for seeing where you are in the dark without disturbing the livestock. The batteries last for ages.  The other is the million candlepower type. This we use at lambing time for seeing eyes in distant corners of fields.  You have to keep recharging it and it only lasts for about 20 mins of light but can be a lifesaver.  We use the two in combination.
Hope your hen is back in the morning.  It is an odd time of year for her to have deliberately slunk off, so perhaps she has got stuck somewhere.  Poor lass - not the best night to go missing.

[knightquest]

I use a head torch....................Diane still takes the micky out of me but if it works, I use it 

Hope your chook turns up safe and well tomorrow.

Ian

[Womble]

Hiya,

I got one of these for christmas last year, and it's nothing short of superb. It's perfect for hens etc, as it can light up / sweep a whole area, but also has a low power mode for checking inside the coop without waking everybody up!



Absolutely not cheap, I'll grant you, but it does do exactly what it says on the tin, and the battery life is very good too.

[tazbabe]

poor chook, a terrible night tio be out!

last time that happened of one of ours, we never found her, and never found a scrap of evidence what happened to her. like the aliens took her!


l

[BlueDaisy]

I am happy - she has turned up safe and well - little blinking madam!

I went out as soon as light was coming into the sky, opened up the other houses and all the chooks came sleepily out. The orpy cockerel then decided to have a good old cockadoodle session! He nevers normally starts until mid morning, I think he was calling the missing one back! I think all the neighbours were already up though so not too bad
She was still nowhere to be seen, I was actually next door in the school grounds thinking she must have escaped in that direction, when I saw her in the garden trying to get back into the orpy pen! I think she must have been in the middle of a big cottoneaster bush all night. God knows how often I shone the (puny) torch in there and didn't see anything. She's obviously a late riser, and was waiting til it was properly light before getting up!
Blimmin escape artists!

[tazbabe]

oh that's good news! glad to hear she is ok.

a good torch really is a must for chook hunting, especially now the darker evenings are here. 

[daddymatty82]

i got one of them torches or a very simular one. I got a p7 and a p3 one is a head torch and one is the hand held torch very powerful as you say and i got mine for free but if anyone is near me i can get these at cost price  as my bro gets good discount so the offer is there

[faith0504]

so glad she is ok, we have head torches they are great for dog walking this time of year and doing hen head count at night, might look a d*** but hey ho, they are practical.