Something got in the coop and ate one silkie chicken and badly injured another one

[MK02026]

This morning around 4 am let my silkies out of their nesting area as you can see it has a small door on one side of the coop for them to free range and have more space most of the time they freely roam our yard but lately we have been seeing lots of hawk and skunks and as well opossums lurking around so we tend to keep them enclosed. We have two roosters and 3 hens unfortunately when I heard few hours later some commotion with the roosters crowing unusually I went outside to check and one of the hens were killed and eaten right inside the black gates fenced part what ever it was put a big fight pretty much head and insides gone no blood at all which I find it odd. And my other very badly injured rooster had its comb nearly taken off bloody and on its back is literally mauled off i am not sure of survival rate I have taken him inside to clean the areas off and bandage him and have him in a heated area he was wet and cold from the rain it seems like a 20% survival there is none veterinary opened I wanted to at least try at least help it to survive if the poor thing survives its injuries if anyone can please give me some advice on what can I do to help clean and heal the wounds so far I have cleaned it with water and added some hydrogen peroxide around the wounds and put some Neosporin and covered with some gauze and wrapped him in a blanket I’m going to attached photos if anyone can also give me an idea on what could of attacked my chickens thanks !

 

[Silkie Princess]

Wow that's bad. I'm really sorry for your loss @Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor guy!
Do you have any Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine)? If possible, I would use that to clean the wounds out really well. Not knocking you at all! When birds are in a panic, there's wet weather, dirt, etc. chickens can get a lot of dirt on them. Do the best you can to clean out the wound really well. Again, Hibiclens is what I would use, if not, then I would make some homemade saline and rinse well. Peroxide is ok for initial cleaning too, but repeated use can damage tissue. Try to get as much of the dirt flushed away - trim feathers away from the wound so they don't get into the wound or stuck in ointment.

You can use a hair dryer to dry feathers and warm him up after you've cleaned the wounds. Neosporin is good to put on the wound to keep it moist. Leave the wound uncovered unless he's picking at it. Covering a wound like that, even though you flush it out will hold bacteria and dirt.

Keep him warmed, you can give him warmed sugar water or room temp electrolytes (you got Gatorade?) Hydration and Warmth! You want to get him through shock.
Once he's drinking on his own or with holding a cup to his beak, then introduce bits of food - wet feed, egg, a little something he likes or will be interested in.
Since he's a Silkie, I would also start getting Vitamin E (400IU) and B-Complex (1/4 tablet) into him.

Comb doesn't look too bad from what I can see. Wipe it off and apply your ointment.

Keep us posted on how he's doing.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Poor guy!
Do you have any Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine)? If possible, I would use that to clean the wounds out really well. Not knocking you at all! When birds are in a panic, there's wet weather, dirt, etc. chickens can get a lot of dirt on them. Do the best you can to clean out the wound really well. Again, Hibiclens is what I would use, if not, then I would make some homemade saline and rinse well. Peroxide is ok for initial cleaning too, but repeated use can damage tissue. Try to get as much of the dirt flushed away - trim feathers away from the wound so they don't get into the wound or stuck in ointment.

You can use a hair dryer to dry feathers and warm him up after you've cleaned the wounds. Neosporin is good to put on the wound to keep it moist. Leave the wound uncovered unless he's picking at it. Covering a wound like that, even though you flush it out will hold bacteria and dirt.

Keep him warmed, you can give him warmed sugar water or room temp electrolytes (you got Gatorade?) Hydration and Warmth! You want to get him through shock.
Once he's drinking on his own or with holding a cup to his beak, then introduce bits of food - wet feed, egg, a little something he likes or will be interested in.
Since he's a Silkie, I would also start getting Vitamin E (400IU) and B-Complex (1/4 tablet) into him.

Comb doesn't look too bad from what I can see. Wipe it off and apply your ointment.

Keep us posted on how he's doing.

Agreed...maybe post pics after cleaning if you could

 

[Eggcessive]

Were they out in the dark at 4 am in that open pen with no top? Or were they inside the coop run? I agree with all of the info Wyorp Rock has given you. Where we live, there are raccoons, owls, foxes, and all sorts of predators. I would keep them in until daylight, and probably only let them into the run for now, since whatever got your chickens will be back. A game cam out there might be a good idea to see what is lurking.

 

[MK02026]

Poor guy!
Do you have any Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine)? If possible, I would use that to clean the wounds out really well. Not knocking you at all! When birds are in a panic, there's wet weather, dirt, etc. chickens can get a lot of dirt on them. Do the best you can to clean out the wound really well. Again, Hibiclens is what I would use, if not, then I would make some homemade saline and rinse well. Peroxide is ok for initial cleaning too, but repeated use can damage tissue. Try to get as much of the dirt flushed away - trim feathers away from the wound so they don't get into the wound or stuck in ointment.

You can use a hair dryer to dry feathers and warm him up after you've cleaned the wounds. Neosporin is good to put on the wound to keep it moist. Leave the wound uncovered unless he's picking at it. Covering a wound like that, even though you flush it out will hold bacteria and dirt.

Keep him warmed, you can give him warmed sugar water or room temp electrolytes (you got Gatorade?) Hydration and Warmth! You want to get him through shock.
Once he's drinking on his own or with holding a cup to his beak, then introduce bits of food - wet feed, egg, a little something he likes or will be interested in.
Since he's a Silkie, I would also start getting Vitamin E (400IU) and B-Complex (1/4 tablet) into him.

Comb doesn't look too bad from what I can see. Wipe it off and apply your ointment.

Keep us posted on how he's doing.

Thanks for the advise I actually did have hibiclens i did use it after I tried to clean more dirt off him and had to rinse off the cornstarch that I heard helps the bleeding to stop, he seemed very calm through out everything what he went through poor thing must of been in so much pain but Thank you he passed away last night I noticed more damage to his neck as I was cleaning him more what ever it was broke part of the vertebrae bones as well as other very deep puncture wounds and missing chunks all over the back and lower neck he was basically eaten alive i don’t know how he survived that pain I should’ve just put him out of his misery poor thing he lasted so many hours but I have a feeling it could of been maybe a raccoon I’ve never seen any at all the past two years I’ve lived here I’ve seen skunks,Opossums and fisher cats I’ve seen one time they are known around here the neighborhood so It might of been it I have two roosters the alpha rooster was crowing as usually around 5 this most likely attracted this animal what ever it was the alpha rooster was not harmed at all just feathers missing I believe he did try to defend them both but unfortunately what ever this was was roaming in the daylight

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear he died

There's a number of predators it could have been, but whatever it was, it will return.
Setting up a game cam will give you information.
For Possum and Racoon I use a cage trap, they are (for me) easy to use. You will want to dispatch them once they are caught.
Some folks use other types of traps for catching various critters so you may want to check out the predators forum for some trapping tips.

 

[MK02026]

Were they out in the dark at 4 am in that open pen with no top? Or were they inside the coop run? I agree with all of the info Wyorp Rock has given you. Where we live, there are raccoons, owls, foxes, and all sorts of predators. I would keep them in until daylight, and probably only let them into the run for now, since whatever got your chickens will be back. A game cam out there might be a good idea to see what is lurking.

No I opened there door at 430 but they didn’t come out until 530 one of the two roosters he is the alpha one he was crowing as usual inside the nesting area I have a feeling what ever it was heard it and came for them I believe it could of been a raccoon but I’ve never seen any whatsoever in my yard the only animals I’ve seen were opossums,skunks,hawks,and I saw a fisher cat before I’ve heard those things are vicious

 

[MK02026]

Were they out in the dark at 4 am in that open pen with no top? Or were they inside the coop run? I agree with all of the info Wyorp Rock has given you. Where we live, there are raccoons, owls, foxes, and all sorts of predators. I would keep them in until daylight, and probably only let them into the run for now, since whatever got your chickens will be back. A game cam out there might be a good idea to see what is lurking.

And also for the most part I do let them in the run only but so many animals had dug into the coop I’ve seen a skunk and opossum before so anything can really just make it’s way in the coop no matter what I was thinking to put some kind of traps around but I don’t want anything like rabbits which we have a lot in the area

 

[MK02026]

I'm sorry to hear he died

There's a number of predators it could have been, but whatever it was, it will return.
Setting up a game cam will give you information.
For Possum and Racoon I use a cage trap, they are (for me) easy to use. You will want to dispatch them once they are caught.
Some folks use other types of traps for catching various critters so you may want to check out the predators forum for some trapping tips.

Im going to look into that I only have 3 silkies left two hens and the rooster. Do you have any recommendations on a game cam ?