Animal killed 10 of my ducks.

[BackyardBirds1]

I started out with 11 ducks then my white pekin momma got attacked saving her eggs and ended up dying. Then it came back at least every night and took one, But I'm a little confused because one of the nights my ducks got in my neighbors yard and I couldn't get them out till the next morning the only thing they had to hide in was high weeds/grass and the next morning they we're all still there so it only attacks them when they are in there own pen. I had my last 2 Ducks My pekin male(Dude) and one of his daughters(born jan 1st) We put a big flood light up shining into the field and part of there pen and the thing stayed away for the first 2 nights then last night it got the female.. PS... the only evidence we had found so far is feathers and little bits of blood no bones or guts or anything just feathers.


..Sorry if you can't understand it that well my keyboard and computer don't work very weel..

 

[thomasboyle]

Very sorry for your losses. When you are losing ducks and don't know why, I would get a motion sensor trail camera. I have 2 of them, and this allows me to know what is coming around when I am not there. I was losing chickens, guineas and ducks, and the camera let me know I had a bobcat coming around. I invested in some electric net fences, and that put an end to the attacks and missing birds. No, they don't truly free range any more since they are fenced in, but they have a large 1/2 acre yard to enjoy and I don't have to worry as much about losing any more birds.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Could be a fox. It didn't find them when they were at your neighbor's because they weren't where it expected to find them.

A pen if uncovered won't be enough to keep foxes, raccoons, owls, weasels and any host of animals at bay.

They didn't want to go back into the pen because they knew they weren't safe there.

 

[CrazyTalk]

A pen that keeps the ducks/chickens in, but doesn't keep predators out isn't only not safe for them, it's basically a kill box.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

good point

I've had birds unconfined at night that evaded capture. If locked up, they were all killed.

 

[ChickMagnet64]

I've been doing this now for less than a year so I'm pretty new but if I've learned anything it's that fox and raccoons (my two main problems) are very clever and will exploit any weakness in your housing. You just have to take the time and expense to make them relatively bullet proof or you will keep losing birds.

 

[BackyardBirds1]

Thanks for the help, I brought the last duck up on my back porch and I am gonna gonna figure out everything else tomorrow. There are holes being dug under there fencing but look like there being dug from the inside would/could my ducks have dug them?

 

[thomasboyle]

In my experience, ducks can dabble and dig a small hole as a result, but it will be around 1 inch in diameter. If you are seeing larger holes, I would suspect something else.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Agree with Thomas, with one caveat - if you have areas that stay wet, the ducks can dig pretty big holes just by snorkeling around in the mud.