Tell How Predators Got Your Ducks. Save Somebody Else From The Bad Experience

[PeanutnCashew]

I am copying this title from the chicken forum. It seems to have helped the chicken owners "protect" their chicks better by knowing how predators have done their dirty dead.

If you would like to share with us what happened for example: was it day/night, what kind of animal if you know, how did it get to the duck..like digging, climbing over, fly in...etc, what kind of shelter did "it" get through. Like the title says, maybe your story could save another.

I hope this to be a "helpful" thread, and my heartfelt apology to any who have gone through this.

 

[HEChicken]

I lost 2 muscovies this week - one on Tuesday and one yesterday. I had no idea how the predator got in on Tuesday, or what it was. It wreaked havoc - in addition to the duck it got a number of chickens. There were no gaps in the fence and no place where there was evidence something had tried to dig under. Wednesday, was nerve-wracking for all of us - the survivors in the flock and their human guardians. I lost count of how many times I ran down to check they were okay. Around 5:30 I found another duck attacked even though minutes before there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. The first had had its neck broken but was alive and I had to cull it. The second was able to move its head normally but its body was paralyzed. It died about 15 minutes after I found it.

After finding the predator had returned the second time, I never left the coop. DH went and got me my "predator neutralizer". I sat and waited - and didn't have to wait long. It was a fox. It got into the run by climbing the fence like it was a ladder. It was fast and agile and it was able to get over that fence in the blink of an eye (and apparently return over it with a bird in its mouth since 3 chickens are missing altogether). Last night I neutralized it permanently.

Since then, I have researched foxes and learned that they way they kill is to inflict multiple bite wounds in the neck and back. This was consistent with what I found in my chickens and ducks and explains the paralysis and broken necks. Also, they tend to go on a rampage and kill them all, then carry them away one at a time and bury them, "stashing" them for future use. I think both times I interrupted it in the middle of an attack and that is the only reason I have 2/3 of my flock still alive. Also, I've always thought of foxes as nocturnal predators. This happened around 5:30 in the afternoon when, being summer, it was still broad daylight.

 

[PeanutnCashew]

Oh my, that is awful! I thought most attacks were at night too..seems like chicks and ducks are so vulnerable all the time!

Thank you for sharing

 

[PeanutnCashew]

Hechicken, did you have a top on your fence, like chicken wire or anything like that, or was it open? During the day, mine are fenced, no top..

 

[HEChicken]

No top. My "pen" is really more of a chicken "yard". It is 240x60. Prohibitive to do in hardware cloth so it is 2x4 welded wire. I paid the extra to do it 5' high instead of the more common 4'. But no top. My coop is like Fort Knox and since I *thought* the predators around here were mostly nocturnal, I hoped that locking them up safely at night and having decent fencing and a couple of dogs during the day would deter any diurnal predators. Unfortunately the fence did NOT deter the fox and my dogs never even thought to alert me. I'm now looking seriously at an LGD as an alternate/additional method of protection.

 

[PeanutnCashew]

why is hardware cloth prohibited?

Same with me, mine have a play yard during the day..it is closed but not predator proof and no top. At night, I still bring them inside.

I am now very paranoid..I need to protect them better..I need to come up with something not too expensive. Barbed wire?

 

[Kevin565]

A lot of people use hardware cloth but it does give them a false sense of security. Predators are less likely to get in with it but it's never 100% protected.

 

[Kevin565]

One thing people need to remember is predators is not limited to animals. People and the Weather can be just as detrimental to flocks. Especially the heat this year. Make sure to keep your birds AND yourselves safe from it.

 

[ambrose]

why is hardware cloth prohibited?

prohibitive not prohibited. I assume as in "prohibitvely expensive."

 

[HEChicken]

prohibitive not prohibited. I assume as in "prohibitvely expensive."

Yeah sorry, I did mean it in the sense of "prohibitively expensive".