The Rhode Island Red pullet I’d given up for dead is alive and well and living in a juniper thicket across the ditch from the chicken coop.
And refusing to let me within ten feet of her. The net’s hopeless: I’m trying to lure her into a cage filled with water and delicious scratch, to the door of which I’ve tied a very long length of baling twine. But that’s not working so far: I need a more automatic trap.
UPDATE: Got her. And get this: She ignored the food and water I’d already put out for her, went into the Fortress of Attitude, got set upon by Selma, and I rescued her after she got stuck in the fencing trying to escape again. Anyway, I left her in a cage in the powershed to chill with a bunch of food and water (which she attacked) and I’ll put her in with the other pullets when I collect eggs in a few hours. They’re fine, BTW. So are the Cornish pullets. I just need to put out more water, because they can’t use the regular waterer there.
Have all the predators gone on vacation?
The coyotes don’t usually approach the cabin (as a rule – exceptions have been noted) and she’s staying under cover much of the time which will protect her from raptors while she does it. So it’s not that exceptional. But yeah, over time if I can’t capture her she’s toast.
For future reference, try catching escapees after dark. Once they roost somewhere they’re practically dead to the world.
Yeah, I know. I tried. Before you can catch them you have to find them, and there’s a lot of places to hide in the juniper thickets around here.