The Poultry Keeper

crazypianolady · Joined: 26 Mar 2008 Posts: 667 Location: Nottinghamshire

Hope she turns up.

Autumn · Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 310 Location: Suffolk

Thanks everyone. Still no sign, but we're still going out calling and leaving the garden gate open for her at night in case she comes early in the morning.... Smile

E Girl, What a lovely story about your old cat Bob, so glad you found him - isn't it just the most amazing feeling when you see them again. I don't know about Bob, but Herbie did become the most spoiled cat ever!! It is true that you don't realise what you have until it's gone....and I'd add to that and you get it back again!! Very Happy

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 894 Location: Cornwall

Any news on the missing chook yet?

Autumn · Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 310 Location: Suffolk

Hello P! Thanks for asking. No, no sign at all. Sad

She seems to have just vanished. If she went broody would she just sit somewhere for a few days before giving up and coming back....or is that just a bit too hopeful? Embarassed

The others make enough noise that she'd find her way to them again! Very Happy

Teasal · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject:

We had one that must have been laying on the railway banking without us knowing. She then disappeared and we thought foxes had got her, and then she appeared back with 12 chicks - walked them down the banking, and through the hedge, along the track and home. This was some years ago, no way would she survive now with all the foxes around.

I would have thought yours would not sit somewhere unless she had laid eggs - you would have noticed her broody before she left.

One of my hens goes under the field gate, and we have found her right up the lane - but the good thing is she always returns at night fall.

I am wondering if a car, or even someone on a bike has scared her and she has run quite a way, and is now unable to find her way home. Hopefully she will roost up high at night, and perhaps some kind person like me will have taken pity on her and brought her in for safety ....

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 894 Location: Cornwall

Oh dear, I'm really sorry, I was hoping she'd found her way back by now.

Teasel could have a point, her being frightened by a car or even a dog chasing her. When they panic they run 'blind' so she wouldnt find her way home.

It could be worth asking the neighbours again, she might have wandered into one of their gardens by now looking for her way home.

Stujan · Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 177 Location: East Sussex

We are so sorry to realise you lost one of your girls Autumn, we hope she is ok and you find her soon.
This might sound daft but is it possible for you to borrow a cockeral with a kind of restrainer harness around it and take it for a walk all around ..... he may suss where she is and she might get very vocal if she hears him also. good luck duckie

Autumn · Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 310 Location: Suffolk

Thanks everyone.
Stujan - great idea, but I think my neighbours would really think we'd lost the plot... we go around shouting 'Hattie' and 'chook, chook, chook' as it is - but never say never - we need a tame cockeral first Very Happy

. We're going to do a leaflet drop a bit futher than our close - just in case. Just found a photo of our kittens looking out of the window at the new girls...and Hattie is the one we can see Sad

Teasal · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:05 pm Post subject:

Yes, I would widen your search a bit, its surprising how far a chicken can go if its been chased. Someone could have managed to catch it and have it in their garden shed wondering what to do with a lost chicken, so a leaflet drop is a good idea.

I am trying to imagine our Charlie walking round on a harness looking for one of our lost hens - and the looks on the neighbours faces. There again, they think me and all my menagerie are mad, so why not!!

Autumn · Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 310 Location: Suffolk

Welsh Duck · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:15 pm Post subject:

Hope you find her. I remember kristal posting on here ages ago that she lost her favourite chicken to find it turned up. I think it had wandered to a local farm if I remember rightly. It had gone for weeks before she found it