Recent content by The Dapper Duck

Something for scale would help, as would some context for where you found them. But looks to me like mink/marten/fisher. Scale and setting are the best way to sort those out, but in any case, keep your birds locked up tight.

There is a little confusion here about secondary poisoning. It is true that most rat poisons on the market contain anti-coagulants (e.g., warfarin, bromethalin) which absolutely will cause secondary poisoning. But there are alternatives that act on being metabolized and rendered inert. Terad3 is...

It looks like just coated chicken wire, which will get roughed up when you bury it or when something digs at it, leaving you with essentially expensive chicken wire. I wouldn't spend the extra money on that when you could just get a 3' roll of chicken wire and lay it down with some overlap on...

Good analogy.

I wouldn't worry about him being alone causing problems, especially if it's a drake. My current hens are all from different groups from around my area, and they can be catty to each other, but everyone loves the big, doofy drake. Same happened with my first one. He came back, saw some ladies...

Feral means any animal that was domesticated or comes from a domesticated line that is no longer tended by humans. So even though domestic ducks come from mallards, they are no longer wild mallards. If you saw a loose cow or pig out of someone's pasture and say, "Oh, look at that wild auroch and...

It's not necessarily illegal, unless there are local laws. It's been a while since I looked into it, but you can have your own live animals processed by another person who isn't inspected as long as you are the consumer of the product. Meaning, you can't then sell that meat to another person.

I used to mimic that gargly noise and get everyone to pick up their heads and look around. I'm a jerk to my chickens sometimes, haha.

Yea, that should work.

I would guess raccoon too. At least those aren't too hard to trap in a box trap.

You almost surely do if there are any creeks or ponds around. And weasels are found in dry areas.

Yea, I think a skunk could snag an egg and take it away to eat it. We used to have a nest thief in our yard that would take the eggs under the house to eat them, well away from where the girls were laying. Do nightly sweeps for eggs so if the next one comes strolling by there isn't anything to...

I've had them co-op nests but they raised the ducklings together. Never had one steal ducklings. I mean, one hen is as good a mother as the next I suppose, as long as they aren't hurting the ducklings while fighting over them.

That does seem strange. What are they eating? How much? How old are they? Have there been any changes in their yard/enclosure? I would bring the sick ones in or have a vet come out and check on them. Have you picked them up and felt their body to see if they feel healthy or if they are losing...

Yea, if we knew which woods you lived in it would help narrow it a bit, but you're still probably looking at red or gray fox and raccoon. I think anything larger would not have left much to find, and the other things like mink, skunks, and opossums just don't usually behave like that. There...