Chicken help!

[Hairyfairy01]

Ok so I am looking after a friends 3 chickens who are loose during the day then come back into their coop at dusk where they are locked in for the night. Only one hasn't come back. It is raining heavily. AIBU to safety lock the other 2 away and hope the other one is just sheltering from the heavy rain somewhere. It's dark now and quite frankly k want to go to bed.

yabu

it will be dead by morning

I think you'll have to shut the others in for the night now. Chickens can't see very well in the dark so it wont be coming back now. Unfortunately if they are free roaming then there is a good possibility a fox has taken them, might be worth looking for a small trail of feathers in the morning, as that will be the most tell tale sign of a fox attack 😢

Sorry, also might be worth mentioning - check the immediate area around the coop, sometimes if a chicken is feeling poorly or off-colour they will fail to take themselves into the coop and sit down somewhere on the ground near to it

That's a bit harsh.

Not necessarily, OP. It could have found a tree to roost in.

Hens can't see in the dark, so if she's not back now she won't be home tonight.

It may have gone broody and be sleeping away. The others you can find are your priority :)
One of mine stays out hidden when broody and we see her the next day. Fox is not the only reason they may not have come back.

How far do they get to roam?

I have left the light on for a good few hours (it's a big coop, a bit like a stable) and have had a good look around but no sign. The rain is really heavy so I hope it's just sheltering somewhere. I've turned the light off now and locked the 2 remaining ones in so at least they are safe for the night. Hope I've done the right thing. Not my chickens and no idea what breed they are but they look quite fancy to me.

As far as they like. It's a big country house with land. Pretty rural.

You did the right thing. It was worth having a look in case it had roosted somewhere nearby, but that didn't work so now all you can do is keep the others safe and hope it puts in an appearance tomorrow.

@Hairyfairy01 did she come back?

Ah, I wish I'd seen this yesterday! Shaking the food bucket is usually fool proof. Although if she hasn't come back by dark (actually well before dark), I'd worry something has already happened to her. Ime it's only happened when they've been trapped somewhere or already dead.

Well after a restless night fearing the worse I was up at dawn and it still didn't appear despite feeding the others and the rain having stopped. Then mid morning it suddenly turned up alive and well! No idea where it had been. And no issues last night thankfully!

Yay! A happy ending :)

I have had this twice with my own chicks in the 20+ years I have kept pet chickens. One turned up in a neighbours garden. The other rooster in our veg patch and was only found when she was banging on the gate to get into the main garden!

We lost a couple to a fox. Rest assumed dead too. Next day found 2 huddled under a tree.. Some were left untouched in the coop....

Hurrah!