Predator Wounds

[LisaMarie81]

I'm still searching for posts that already have some of this information, but any quick info while I do is helpful.
I posted previously in another area of the forum I came home from a weekend away to find my run wide open and one of my birds missing with no evidence of a struggle. She was my broody hen and never left the coop so I figured if there was a predator there would be evidence in the coop where she sat. There was none. She was just gone.
Fast forward a few hours later and a neighbor reported she had a chicken on her back deck. My missing girl. We segregated her to the garage for observation.
After looking her over thoroughly we discovered some minor wounds meaning at some point over the weekend they were attacked by something. the photos are below. It's not actively bleeding but still not sure how to handle it
I have a second bird that appeared to have lost tail feathers as well, so I decided to go over her much further and did in fact find some wounds on her as well. Again, not actively bleeding, but hers are a little worse.
Now...what do I do? please forgive my stupidity. We have our run with 2 1/2 feet of metal skirting and about 200 six inch yard staples so a predator I figured I'd find evidenced of BEFORE it got in. I did not bank on the run just being wide open. (Please see my other post for that explanation).
Any help is appreciated. The wounds on both girls are fairly covered by existing feathers and not actively bleeding, but I know red is a trigger for them and I worry about infection too . Should I seek out a vet? Should I segregate them both? together? separately?
Any help is much appreciated.
Thank you

 

[Kathy Golla]

Man you got lucky, really lucky.
Are there only two birds?
Make sure there isn’t any caked dirt etc around those scabs. Spray scabs with vetricyn once a day.
Put them both back in the pen tonight for roosting. Secure them in coop/pen!
Let them rest tomorrow. Plenty of food water, no stress. Spray scabs once a day with vetricyn.
If there are other chickens, Make sure no others are pecking them tomorrow. Very important.
All should be fine. If others are pecking we go from there.

 

[LisaMarie81]

Yes. Only 2 birds. And yes I know we are VERY lucky. One is segregated in the garage. She has a nesting box and roost I put together in the garage. The other is in the coop, but Im thinking should be in the garage as well.
Someone else suggested Vetricyn so on my list for tomorrow

 

[Kathy Golla]

I didn’t read about your coop situation, but as long as your coop is secure you don’t need to isolate them, you can put them back together tomorrow. in the scheme of things their injuries are quite mild and with only two birds the risk of pecking is very low.
The more they can get back to “normal” in a familiar environment, the less their stress will be.
Is the coop/pen secure?

 

[LisaMarie81]

Thanks! Maybe I confused folks with my wording. I only have 2 birds injured, but we have 8 total. Still a small flock. I will put her back per your advice and just watch both injured birds carefully.
As for the coop, the run is not open, all enclosed. We also have 2 1/2 ft of metal skirting and 6 inch yard staples holding that down (about 200 of those). so any digging in attempts I would have seen. I did not bank for someone leaving the run door open. Long story short I was away Friday afternoon until late Saturday night. I woke Sunday morning to the run door wide open, the girls all in my yard and one girl completely missing. It's a door on the run we never use so it wasn't us. "Possible" something like a racoon "could" have opened it as I hear they are quite crafty but they go after eggs and all of ours were there. the latches on this run door are towards the bottom and 5 ft up so no other animal could have gotten it. My thoughts are the idiot kids I have in my neighborhood. we have some teen boys around our quiet neighborhood that have cause nuisance many times. Thinking they thought it was funny to open the door not realizing now my poor girls were easy targets for anything while I was away.
It just sucks because I can see the coop from my bedroom so had I been home I would have noticed immediately if it was open.

 

[LisaMarie81]

And just noticed a third bird. No visible wound but swollen back end where tail feathers USED to be and most tail feathers gone. She's a Bantam and would have been an easy catch so Now I'm confused as to what got at them. Raccoons eat eggs. Possums chickens but wounds would be low not all on their backs. Meaning predator was taller. Fox no doubt would have gotten at least one and they are all alive so probably not. Eagles would be puncture wounds. They have missing feathers on their tails only and mid back on one. Very minor scratch like wounds on the back of one, wound on tail of another that is already healing and no wound just missing feathers on the third. Anyone? Im kinda leaning towards maybe a dog? Chasing them and grabbing at their tail feathers then giving up because maybe was called back home or got tired of the game?? I'm very confused.
They are all back together in coop. I will watch daily for any pecking and picking up Vetrycin today if I can find it. Assuming places like a tractor supply?

 

[LisaMarie81]

And just noticed a third bird. No visible wound but swollen back end where tail feathers USED to be and most tail feathers gone. She's a Bantam and would have been an easy catch so Now I'm confused as to what got at them. Raccoons eat eggs. Possums chickens but wounds would be low not all on their backs. Meaning predator was taller. Fox no doubt would have gotten at least one and they are all alive so probably not. Eagles would be puncture wounds. They have missing feathers on their tails only and mid back on one. Very minor scratch like wounds on the back of one, wound on tail of another that is already healing and no wound just missing feathers on the third. Anyone? Im kinda leaning towards maybe a dog? Chasing them and grabbing at their tail feathers then giving up because maybe was called back home or got tired of the game?? I'm very confused.
They are all back together in coop. I will watch daily for any pecking and picking up Vetrycin today if I can find it. Assuming places like a tractor supply?

 

[Matzwd]

I agree, might have been a dog. One got my rooster a couple of weeks ago, and all his tail and back feathers are gone, along with some fluff from underneath (new feathers poking through now). Probably a chase and grab situation, with the chicken trying to run from the dog. Sounds like the dog that got yours would give up on one because of distraction of another. Chances are they were outside the run when it happened too. Otherwise, he might have been able to corner one of your girls. Glad they are all alive.

 

[LisaMarie81]

Agree Matzwd. Only thing I can think of - a dog chasing them, then giving up and chasing another.....like a game. Until he either got bored or got called home.
The thing that just threw me for a loop though is I just noticed the one that's hobbling all her feathers on her chest are missing too and NO wounds. Could this be a dog too? To grab feathers only from the chest area and not leave a mark? anyone see anything like this? Missing tail feathers and almost a completely naked chest/breast area but no wounds. I'm very confused.
Just in case this was a person, I have purchased 5 gun locks to loop through all the coop doors and access areas and I have a trail cam on the way that will push notifications to my phone upon any movement.
As for my injured ladies, I purchased antiseptic spray and have been using twice a day. The only bird that does have a wound looks like it's already healing, but I've been spraying their "naked" areas too (figure just in case). My bird that's hobbling has an appt with a vet tomorrow because I can't see any physical damage to her leg - does not appear broken and no wounds I can see, but she's still hobbling. Hoping vet finds something (and yes - chickens are her specialty)

 

[Matzwd]

To grab feathers only from the chest area and not leave a mark? anyone see anything like this? Missing tail feathers and almost a completely naked chest/breast area but no wounds.

This is almost exactly how my roster looked. He had lots of feathers missing from the breast area, but just some very minor abrasions there, and his back and tail were oven-ready. There were two puncture wounds and some scrapes (I assume from teeth) on his back. I didn't take pics of his chest. Here's what his back and tail looked like. This is almost three days after it happened. I thought id have to wait for his next molt for new feathers, but they started popping up within a week and are about 1/2" pins already.

I have a trail cam on the way that will push notifications to my phone upon any movement.

Which one did you order? I am expecting my Spypoint Link-Evo (cellular connected like yours) to arrive on Friday. The dog that did this is penned up now, but I have some other sneaky critter lurking about now, fox maybe??, that snatched one of my girls away on Monday. Have to be certain what we're dealing with.