Opossum attack and missing birds in the aftermath

[JENBRISENO]

Hello! My husband jumped up from the sofa just after dark last night and ran out the door. When I followed him I heard our hens making a terrible ruckus. Went into the coop and an opossum had one of our girls by the neck on the ground. She appeared to be dead. We trapped the opossum and I was contemplating what to do with the dead bird when I noticed she might be breathing. After a few minutes, the bird started squawking, then got up and was running into the hardware cloth on the run area of the coop. I put her in a covered dog kennel in the screen room to calm down and she has no visible wounds and is alive and eating today. BUT, 3 of my hens made a run for it when I opened the door to the coop and we haven't been able to find them. We looked with flashlights for hours last night, and they still haven't been home today. Anyone have experience with spooked birds? Do they ever come home? Should I assume something got them? Our chickens are beloved pets and we are heartbroken our girls are out in the cold rain alone or lost.
Also, this was 100% our fault. We lock the girls up at night, but we have a coop attached to a hardware cloth covered run with an opening between and due to rain and ground settling (I guess) what was a 1 inch gap is now about 8 inches. Mr. Opossum went through the gap and strolled right in to the coop while the girls were sleeping. We are fixing that before it gets dark today.

 

[sourland]

Frequently they will return home around dusk. Hope that yours do so.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So sorry this happened! Glad your bird survived though, lucky girl. Let us know if/when your missing girls come home. We've seen it happen. When they do, might be a good idea to treat them for shock.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

We had a raccoon attack one morning and one of my Ameraucanas was nowhere to be found afterward. Found her wandering around the front yard the next morning. Yours will most likely turn up! Keep us posted