What bites heads off baby ducks?

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Filalady

Filalady

Hatching
5 Years
Jul 28, 2014
3
0
7
North idaho
I had about sixty baby ducks and now I'm down to about sixteen. Almost all the babies I've found have had their heads gone. A few were even skinned and gutted but not eaten have found a couple that were half grown. What would do this? Some are just tiny and I would think anything would be able to carry them off. So frustrating!!!
 
Filalady said:
I had about sixty baby ducks and now I'm down to about sixteen. Almost all the babies I've found have had their heads gone. A few were even skinned and gutted but not eaten have found a couple that were half grown. What would do this? Some are just tiny and I would think anything would be able to carry them off. So frustrating!!!
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Im so sorry that sounds awful. That sounds like a rat. We had a rat eat our silkies head and just leave the body!
 
Filalady said:
I had about sixty baby ducks and now I'm down to about sixteen. Almost all the babies I've found have had their heads gone. A few were even skinned and gutted but not eaten have found a couple that were half grown. What would do this? Some are just tiny and I would think anything would be able to carry them off. So frustrating!!!
Click to expand...

Over what sort of time period has this taken place - was it all one night, or over a period of days/weeks?
Are the birds in an enclosure and, if so, can you provide some details about it (this will help narrow who may/may not have been able to gain access to do the damage)?
 
My birds free range. I penned them last year but only got 2 or 3 babies, the ducks fought over nests and trampled the ducklings. I have a Mastif who sleeps where they are. The part that puzzles me is that I also have about 100 chickens from full grown down to week old banties that are also free range but have found no dead chicks.
 
So, was this over a period of time or all in one night? Knowing that there is no predator protection (dog aside) opens up the list of possible culprits considerably.
 
Do you lose them during the day or night? You may want to consider penning them at night. Like heavy duty protection now that the predator knows there's a free meal waiting.
 
If you decide to make a pen (even just at night) make sure you cover a few bases. Either make just the impenetrable pen. Make sure it's ventilated enough, but nothing large enough for duck eaters. If you make a pen I recommend regular 12 gauge wire and then a hardware cloth so no grubby paws can sneak through. I would either bury the fence into the ground or at least bring it out so nothing can dig underneath.
 
Thank you for your reply, I will try to put them up at night. They like to settle down in the brush at night. I'm unsure when they have been killed as every day I find two or three causalties. They roam on a couple of acres.
 

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