Are your ducks escape artists?

[arrowti]

It seems no matter what we do the ducks WILL find a way to escape... if it's not going for a 30 minute trek through the woods around the pig enclosures, they find a way to DIG under the fence, or somehow move the bottom of the fence so they can go limbo under it...

Honestly, these guys are smarter than we give them credit for.

Ever since we blocked their path through the woods with electric wire because of a predator attack, they've been looking for a new way out... and they found it... they managed to shift the bottom of the fence over some bush that's growing, giving them just enough room to go under it.

Do you guys have escape addicts too?

 

[Welshies]

This should be fixed immediately or some predator WILL kill them all.
You can bury the wire or make a 6-18" apron around the bottom to contain them (and keep predators out much more efficiently). Also you can use a tight wire woven through the bottom of the fencing to keep it flush to the ground.
What kind of fence are they in now?

 

[Amiga]

Acht was always my fence tester when I used temporary fence during the day. If there was a weak spot, she would find it.

But because of the long list of predators here, the permanent pen and permanent fencing leaves the ducks no way to "jailbreak."

If the ducks can slip out, predators will have no problems getting in.

 

[Ren2014]

It seems no matter what we do the ducks WILL find a way to escape... if it's not going for a 30 minute trek through the woods around the pig enclosures, they find a way to DIG under the fence, or somehow move the bottom of the fence so they can go limbo under it...

Honestly, these guys are smarter than we give them credit for.

Ever since we blocked their path through the woods with electric wire because of a predator attack, they've been looking for a new way out... and they found it... they managed to shift the bottom of the fence over some bush that's growing, giving them just enough room to go under it.

Do you guys have escape addicts too?

Wow, this must be frustrating. I only pen ours up at night and they cannot escape their night pen because it is predator proof tight. How large of an area do you have them in? How many? Is there something outside of their pen they are trying to get to? Like someone already said, if they can get out, a predator can get in. I would tighten things up and then give them all of the comforts inside their pen that they may be looking for outside... pool, grass, bugs. Good luck

 

[arrowti]

We have a webbed fence because we have to move it once a week to bring back up the truck with grain to the pig feeders, and also move it for bringing pigs into the butcher. The problem is the ducks will see a weak spot and start to dig... and they're actually STRANGELY good at digging.

They really like the front lawn, since there grass is taller and there's more weeds since the chickens haven't gotten all of it. The front lawn is actually safer since the dog scares away all predators (meanwhile, the dog is actually terrified of the ducks), but the chicken/duck area is fenced in because without it, the chickens will sit in our deck all day long and poop.

The ducks have two pools inside but maybe we need to invest in some extra bugs... I don't mind the ducks being on the front lawn with the dog since the dog doesn't dare go near them and they don't poop. We only try to block them because we don't want the chickens to find their exit point! The wire along the bottom is a good idea though, and we might do that. I wish I could get the ducks their own separate enclosed area away from the chickens since the chickens turn everything into dirt and the ducks love lying in the grass.

Maybe I need to put some cinderblocks all around the fence so they can't dig under it!

 

[Amiga]

Something more secure, yes.

 

[Welshies]

We have a webbed fence because we have to move it once a week to bring back up the truck with grain to the pig feeders, and also move it for bringing pigs into the butcher. The problem is the ducks will see a weak spot and start to dig... and they're actually STRANGELY good at digging.

They really like the front lawn, since there grass is taller and there's more weeds since the chickens haven't gotten all of it. The front lawn is actually safer since the dog scares away all predators (meanwhile, the dog is actually terrified of the ducks), but the chicken/duck area is fenced in because without it, the chickens will sit in our deck all day long and poop.

The ducks have two pools inside but maybe we need to invest in some extra bugs... I don't mind the ducks being on the front lawn with the dog since the dog doesn't dare go near them and they don't poop. We only try to block them because we don't want the chickens to find their exit point! The wire along the bottom is a good idea though, and we might do that. I wish I could get the ducks their own separate enclosed area away from the chickens since the chickens turn everything into dirt and the ducks love lying in the grass.

Maybe I need to put some cinderblocks all around the fence so they can't dig under it!

What Amiga said...
Although, can you take 2x4s or 2x2s and make wooden panels- wood for the frame, and then wire in the middle?