OMG I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!! My MOMMA DUCK IS GONE!!!! WAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! :'( My drake just keeps calling for her. OMG he is going to be misserable. WAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! :'( **** COYOTES!!!!!!
It just keeps coming here. I have lost my little Orpy Annie BO hen, just started laying. My Americana, and now my momma duck. All since new years.
Going to get cement and get that **** enclosure up NOW!!!! If they would just give me the chance to get it done. I'M LOSING ALL OF MY EGG LAYERS!!
I also lost my old horse Pooh but she was just very very old, New Years day.
I also lost 2 family members the day before Thanksgiving and Dec 19th.
My heart is so heavy right now. I was hoping for a better beginning to the year but the heart ache just keeps coming. :'(
Now I need to find a female Buff Orpington Duck or my drake will go mad. They were so happy. I was looking forward to ducklings this spring. WAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! :'(
I really can relate a little too well to this post and your predicament. I have had an absolute maddening time with predators, and it seems to be getting worse every year. After the pain of losing most of my best laying hens and 6 of my very best roosters, I started building "Fort Knox" coop enclosures out of the chain link dog kennel panels and gates. These come in a convenient kit at Lowes and can be set up in an afternoon and have birds safe by that evening.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_473440-5102...rentURL=?Ntt=chain+link+dog+kennel&facetInfo=
To secure the roof area, I lay two long sturdy boards across each other in a "plus" sign, and then staple welded wire mesh across the top and wire tie that to the sides at about 18 inch intervals.
That has stopped the frikkin barn owls, great horned owls, the prarie falcons, the coopers hawks, the harris hawks, the harriers, red shouldered hawks, coyotes, bobcats, feral cats, feral dogs .... all of which I have personally had problems with here! jeez, is there ANYTHING out there that hasnt stolen a bird or 3 from me and caused grief?!?!?! About the only thing I am still vulnerable to, is snakes. King snakes, bull snakes, garter snakes, rattlers will come into the coops to eat eggs and or chicks I am guessing, but they dont seem to go after the adult birds. Chicks are an all u can eat buffet for snakes, and I have had issues with them, until I built special welded wire and wood brooder pens to industrial specs. I like the king snakes because they supposedly eat rattlesnakes and ground squirrels too, so I dont kill those, although i've been REAL tempted to. Rattlers get executed in short order, particularly after my dog got bit and ran up a vet bill that I'd rather have spent the money on a vacation to Europe.
I then take chicken wire and wrap the exterior of the whole thing and wire tie that too. That stops the cats from reaching thru the chain link and ripping birds apart while they sleep. If chicken wire isnt strong enough for you, you can go with welded wire or what is known as "hardware cloth". The hardware cloth is a bit pricey, but when u are tired of losing birds, it seems like a logical option. The chicken wire can be bought fairly cheaply, in 3 x 75 foot or larger rolls.
Its absolutely ridiculous how many predators there are in AZ that love chickens and ducks, turkey etc. It pisses me off when city folk start lecturing with how coyotes belong here and are only doing what's natural. The thing is, the coyote can make a living preying on native desert wildlife, like he has for millenia. He is just a lazy predator, and an opportunistic feeder and will take the easy way out of stealing poultry from backyards, rather than chasing down a scrawny rabbit out in the desert. After so many losses, I am merciless now when I catch something on my land or in my airspace that doesnt belong there. I started hitting back. Until it has happened to you, it may be hard to relate to.
I do miss being able to free range my flocks, but the word must have spread thru the raptor and predator community that my place is easy-peasy for a quick meal. I occasionally will let my birds out of one of the "kennel coops" when I am going to be outside with them and can supervise, but even then, the hawks are very brazen and I've had them dive down and snatch birds less than 7 feet away from where I was standing, no lie! My dogs keep the predators at bay when they can, but they cant be everywhere on my place at once, and I have had predators come in from all four directions. Coyotes are highly intelligent and very methodical & organized. They are a formidable adversary and are relentless and also very patient and will wait for that one day you let your guard down, or your dog is asleep, or sick, etc, and they will strike. Its unreal.
Anyway, I hope my experiences and knowledge gained will help you and anybody else currently going thru the pain of dealing with losing your birds to predators.
I just keep in mind that he is, or must be the same with his partners. He is to controlling. In his 40's and alone. He has a lot going for him, but he is not interested in the B- personality. He keeps finding another A Type persons. 
I think he knows it too. For him it is easier to clean my house then his own, sort of to say. 
I'm such a cowered.
