Please help! Hen died and 2 others freaked!

[3Sprouts]

While I was out of town my favorite hen, Sweet Pea, somehow disappeared. There are feathers everywhere so I'm assuming something "got" her. Now my 2 other hens are scared to death of the coop, me, and just about everything. My dominate hen who has "put me in my place" (more than once) is scared of her own shadow. They have NEVER wanted to roost on my arm or shoulder and now they don't want to let go. They are whining and walking around aimlessly. I'm not sure what to do! I'm heart-broken so I know they must be too. They are also not laying..at least not where we can find the eggs. Is this normal? Will it right itself?
Also, I know this sounds callous to bring up now, but we were considering adding to our flock since we are consuming more eggs than they produce. I was already leery of introducing chicks. Now I feel like I'm betraying my current hens and REALLY don't know how they would react. I don't even know exactly how to a flock in the first place.
These are our first chickens and they are 10 months old. They are pets and considered part of our family. Please let me know how I should handle this situation. I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks! A Sprout from 3 Sprouts Farm

 

[Messipaw]

Oh I'm so sorry. I had a neighbor who went through a similar situation. It was a neighbors dog. She added to her flock which reinstated the hens security in numbers. The vet explained it's like us experiencing a home invasion gone terribly wrong. Makes sense to me. If it happened to me I would definitely add to your flock. They will integrate fine. In a few normal days of regular routine things will go back to normal. Good luck. Keep me posted.

 

[3Sprouts]

Thank you so much for your post. I will try adding to the flock. They are still completely clingy to me and won't go back in the coop, but I'm going to try a few of the tricks I've seen in other posts. Thanks again!

 

[lazy gardener]

Thank you so much for your post. I will try adding to the flock. They are still completely clingy to me and won't go back in the coop, but I'm going to try a few of the tricks I've seen in other posts. Thanks again!

I have a couple of questions for you. She disappeared when you were out of town. Were they shut in the coop at the time? What is your coop and run set up like? What kind of wire for the enclosed areas? Where did you find the feathers? If they are afraid to go in the coop, it's possible that the predator took her from inside of the coop. I'd go over the whole coop and run very carefully to see where any predator could gain access. It's likely that your predator will be back.