Chances of survival?

[patman75]

Neighbors are raising some peckin ducks.

Their current predator security is a 6 foot tall dog kennel fence. Fence not buried. No top to the dog kennel. Red heat lamp in 3X3 coop. Coop is not locked at night. They have a dog but the dog stays inside at night.

I catch around 6-10 raccoons per year around my coops. Other neighbor catches 20+ raccoons. I will not be setting out traps this year, my coops are secure and really don't want to bother catching coons unless they become a problem.

Do you think their ducks have a chance to make it?

 

[ericmcginn5]

you can never be too carfull to keep your birds safe i have had tbe eaten before and it is not fun.

 

[Dogchickenboy]

Basicly it depends on how bad the raccons want to get in ther and how old the ducks are. snakes might be a problem too.

 

[patman75]

Basicly it depends on how bad the raccons want to get in ther and how old the ducks are. snakes might be a problem too.

I'm convinced the local town dumps raccoons out by us. There is no way we should be able to trap 30 plus raccoons a year on our street. No snakes to worry about here in Michigan, just coyotes, foxes, raccoons, opposums, skunks, dogs and cats.

 

[jdywntr]

I'd say their chances are slim. Ducks don't roost but sleep on the ground so they are literally "sitting ducks". 3X3 is really only big enough for maybe 3 Pekin and thats pushing it a bit. If they have more than that, they may lose some to illness. Ducks are resilient but much messier than chickens.

You never know. They could be lucky and not have a problem right away. On the duck thread there are TONS of posts saying "but they'd been fine for years with no predators"

 

[JanetS]

Maybe I should get some ducks than. The predators certainly love my chickens.