All of my ducks were killed last night!

[sourland]

Set a live trap baited with part of a duck.

 

[can you hear me now?]

I know you say the opening is pretty small, but raccoon would surprise you in the small holes hey can get in through. A few years back I decided to make a baby pen for my. Hicks till hey were big enough to go with my older girls. Left what I considered to be a really teen tiny opening in one spot. That was all it took for one to go in and wipe it clean. I think I end3d up with three babies that survived that one attack. The coons was just a baby coin and could easily squeeze in and out. It was also the first of many we caught and disposed of with our live traps. I guess what I am saying is don't rule out racoons. I would bait a trap with one of the ducks and see what emerges.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I had a similar thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago. A mink got into my duck house through an opening about 1 1/2 inches wide and killed 12 of my calls and also got into a cage and killed some of my lavender orpington chicks. I know it was a mink because it just went for the back of the neck and it was a bloody mess. And it came back the next night to kill my adult lavenders. I just happened to walk outside (before dark) and found it with one of my roosters pinned down by the head. I sent the dog after it, but he didn't catch it. Mink have a terrible smell to them (similar to a ferret). I could faintly smell it the morning after my ducks were killed and the second night it was very strong because it was fresh. They like to stay near water, so if you live anywhere near a lake, river, stream etc. it was likely a mink. They are hard to catch, but you should be able to catch it by putting dead animal in a live trap. They will not eat rat poison they like fish, small animals and birds. I haven't tried to catch the one that killed my birds, though I do see his tracks in my yard so I know he comes back.

 

[BlackBart]

I was talking to my Neighbor and he said another person in our area had a Mink kill all of his hens (maybe 10 hens) but left the Roo.

I am sure that Rooster is traumatized for the rest of his life.

 

[dieselgrl48]

Sound's like a Racoon to me.First time in over 6 years I had a loss of 25 young birds in one coop this year to rats.Never thought they would actualy kill bird's.I have had people tell me We have Mink here but never had an instance of one etc.Get a live trap and put some can tuna or cat food in and Snap.Soooooooo sorry about your ducks Hugssssssssss

 

[chikky]

So sorry for your loss

I had the same thing happen - something (coons?) grabbed the ducks through the fence and....I felt just awful that I didn't protect them well enough - lesson learned the hard way.

Anyways, if your garage has a vent in the top, for air flow, it may be possible that the murderers are sneaking in from the upper area of the garage, or under the eaves.

Definitely cover your cage in hardware cloth.


Good luck, and give yourself a break.

 

[Sierra pachie bars]

You would be surpised how predators manage to get in. I last week had a large pack of coyotoes come in which we thought was safe. They pulled a tiny bit of the fence and got in and pushed thru a closed gate. Left me with only three ducks. They left nothing. I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[javajanie]

So sorry! A possum got one of my chickens last week. Poor thing was all over the place.

Hope you catch the varmint!

 

[dumb_cluck]

I took my chickens into the house yesterday afternoon. I didn't want a repeat performance. What I cannot understand is why all the ducks? They were in 3 separate cages. And why not the chickens?

Did I go down to feed them just before they could have been killed? Or are the chickens too flighty to grab through the cage? Same cage type as the ducks, just much larger.

I know the ducks will fight and I have seen them stick their heads through to grab at any food I may have dropped. The chickens however do not stick their heads through.

What is also puzzling is that my adult rouen drake got it too. He is MUCH larger than the mallards.....and was in his own cage.

I had the camera on all night (with sound) and I didn't see or hear anything. The two mini horses are still there and have not made any commotion. I've had the ducks and horses out in that garage for over a year. The chickens were added this summer.

The garage has no vents that access the room. I have found rat poop and I got rat bait and got three of them. The only way I can see to get in the garage is the gap between the sliding door and the concrete lip of the garage floor.

I had my duck funeral yesterday and cremated the bodies because I didn't want to bury them to find out something dug them up.

I think I may try a trap with tuna fish before I even attempt to relocate the chickens back to the garage.

Any other thoughts? I am so depressed, but angry enough to strangle whatever did this.

 

[chickensioux]

OMG I am so sorry. That does sound like a coon or weasel. If a coon is too big to get in than it had to be a weasel or similar. Not sure a rat could do that much damage. Again, so sorry.