Discovering a raided coop is a shock, and shock scrambles priorities. The first hour has an order, and the order exists because each step protects the next: survivors secured, injured birds checked, heads counted, cover searched, the breach sealed before dark, and the flock shut in early that night. Work it step by step, and keep one safety rule in mind throughout: if the predator is still present, never confront it.
First: Make the Survivors Safe
Gather the remaining birds and shut them in somewhere secure before anything else: the coop with its door fastened, a closed shed, a dog-proof run, anywhere with walls and a latch that holds. Survivors scatter and freeze in odd corners after an attack, so check the coop's dark corners, nesting boxes and the ground beneath it as you gather, and handle each bird gently and briefly as you move her.
A scattered, terrified flock left in an open run is still lunch if the predator circles back, and predators do test a coop again within the hour.
Second: Check for Injured Birds
With the survivors shut in, check each bird for injuries, working calmly and in good light. Birds hide damage under feathers, so part the plumage over the back, neck and under the wings, and look for bites, punctures and torn skin as well as obvious wounds.
Injured birds route to a veterinarian or a wildlife rehabilitator the same day. Keep an injured bird warm, quiet and confined in a ventilated box in the meantime, and protect any wound from dirt and from the other birds without attempting treatment yourself: wounds are never home-treated beyond that protection, because bite wounds in particular carry infection deep in ways a surface clean cannot reach.
Third: Count Heads
Count heads, exactly, against the number you should have. Count the birds in the coop, count the injured separately, and write the numbers down, because the difference between a bird taken outright and a bird missing and hiding is the difference between grief and a rescue still possible. The count defines the rest of the hour.
Fourth: Search Nearby Cover for Scattered Survivors
Search nearby cover for scattered survivors hiding. Chickens flee an attack into hedges, under outbuildings, into woodpiles, dense shrubs, long grass and any dark, low shelter within running distance of the coop, and a hiding hen will sit silent and still rather than answer your calls.
Take a container of feed and shake it as you search; the familiar sound draws out birds that your voice alone will not. Any bird found goes straight back to the secure flock, checked quickly for injury on the way.
Fifth: Seal the Breach Before Dark
Find how the predator got in. Walk the fence line, the coop walls, the roof edges and the ground at the base of the run, looking for dug earth, bent wire, a lifted panel, a rotten board or a gap at a gate.
Secure it properly, with wire, board or fastening that resists a determined push, not a temporary block that a returning predator will shoulder aside. Then shut the flock in early that night, well before dusk: a predator that fed once at a coop will try that coop again, often at the same hour, and an early lock-in on the first night is cheap insurance while repairs settle.
For the Birds Still Unaccounted For
The hour ends with two groups: birds safe in the coop, and birds still unaccounted for. Only the second group needs an alert, and it needs one while the trail is fresh, because a hen hiding two gardens away may be spotted by a neighbor this evening and be gone by morning. Only for hens still missing should the Lost Pet Alert System on KinsLe be used, broadcasting to households nearby while opening a direct message path back to the owner, so anyone who spots a stray hen can reach the flock's keeper in one step instead of posting into the void.