What to do after a predator attack

[ArtJuice]

Five out of seven of my chickens were assumingly killed by a predator. One was killed weeks ago, THREE two days ago, and one overnight before I checked this afternoon.
I've got two left, who are probably obviously traumatized.
Apparently the predator got in through some openings that we promptly screwed shut BOTH times, as soon as we found out where they were getting in from.
I know others have definitely went through this before...what do I do now. I'm very upset. I don't know what to do with the remaining two chickens. I feel an immense amount of guilt for this even happening in the first place. It's my first flock.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any idea as to the type of predator (aerial, ground, big small? Any paw prints or hair tufts?) Photos of your set up would help immensely as well. Main thing to do is make sure the entire set up is predator proofed against whatever did the damage, because it will be back.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

If they free range, put them on lockdown for a week or two. Pictures of your setup will help. I do recommend an automatic coop door at night. They help a lot with nighttime predators like raccoons (assuming that is the only point of available entry into the coop). My flock was slaughtered in the middle of the night by one since I forgot to shut the door. The automatic coop door gives great peace of mind for when they free range.

 

[ArtJuice]

Any idea as to the type of predator (aerial, ground, big small? Any paw prints or hair tufts?) Photos of your set up would help immensely as well. Main thing to do is make sure the entire set up is predator proofed against whatever did the damage, because it will be back.

I'm guessing a land animal because today I saw a long trail of Brahma feathers as well as a couple of chunks. Whatever it did it left trails of my chickens feathers.

It killed my remaining Australorp the other day by pulling out it's intestine for all to see and apparently eating it's egg and leaving the shell right next to it (I'm supposing unformed because the egg was white, and none of the chickens lay white eggs.), and left the corpse mostly untouched, right next to my coop in broad daylight. When I came back that night, roughly six hours later, the body was gone.

Our setup has chicken wire stapled around it and I assume the staples came loose over time and left gaping holes for predators to squeeze in. We've pinned the chicken wire back in place by putting screws in.
It's the small square kind, by the way

 

[rosemarythyme]

Our setup has chicken wire stapled around it and I assume the staples came loose over time and left gaping holes for predators to squeeze in. We've pinned the chicken wire back in place by putting screws in.
It's the small square kind, by the way

Really need to see photos of this please, and if possible the area(s) that was breached specifically. You're calling it chicken wire but it sounds like hardware cloth. Staples are NOT at all secure and the wire mesh either needs to be sandwiched under trim wood and then screwed down, or screwed down with the addition of fender washers.

 

[ArtJuice]

Really need to see photos of this please, and if possible the area(s) that was breached specifically. You're calling it chicken wire but it sounds like hardware cloth. Staples are NOT at all secure and the wire mesh either needs to be sandwiched under trim wood and then screwed down, or screwed down with the addition of fender washers.

You're right. The coop is covered with hardware cloth. I am 21 and trying to figure out my life
Pictures may be coming soon, although I'm quite hesitant. No chickens were taken today but the predator tugged at the cloth and tried to dig in the front and back spots. Whatever it was it seemed to tear it a little. How persistent will it be?

 

[rosemarythyme]

You're right. The coop is covered with hardware cloth. I am 21 and trying to figure out my life
Pictures may be coming soon, although I'm quite hesitant. No chickens were taken today but the predator tugged at the cloth and tried to dig in the front and back spots. Whatever it was it seemed to tear it a little. How persistent will it be?

My guess is something like a raccoon, and it's already seen success in previous visits so it will persist because it knows it can get in if it just works at it enough.

As far as what it takes to secure HWC, here's a very good example of sandwiching wood over staples to secure it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481250

Or screws with fender washers (seen at the base of my coop). Note that my coop is entirely enclosed inside the run so this was just to keep chickens out of the underside of the coop - for security, you should have probably double the number of screws & washers compared to what I've used here:

 

[WingItRanch]

You're right. The coop is covered with hardware cloth. I am 21 and trying to figure out my life
Pictures may be coming soon, although I'm quite hesitant. No chickens were taken today but the predator tugged at the cloth and tried to dig in the front and back spots. Whatever it was it seemed to tear it a little. How persistent will it be?

Is it hardware cloth or chicken wire? In your previous post when the predator attack first happened, you said chicken wire. Just verifying.

 

[ArtJuice]

Is it hardware cloth or chicken wire? In your previous post when the predator attack first happened, you said chicken wire. Just verifying.

It is, in fact, hardware cloth.

 

[Callender Girl]

I am very sorry for your loss. It's heartbreaking and easy to blame yourself when a predator kills your birds. The fact is, few if any chicken keepers never lose a bird to a predator, no matter how secure your set-up or how vigilant you are.

Now, the focus needs to be on keeping your remaining girls safe, and yes, they will be traumatized for a while. It's possible they will be skittish, wary and act out in unexpected ways. The good news is, eventually, they can recover.

I had one hen who survived a mink attack that killed all of her coop mates. It took some time, but Honey settled down, made new friends and became her sweet self again.

Take care of the survivors and yourself.