Curious question about muscovy duckling

[Skye'sDucks]

Some fun pictures of the babies this evening, if anyone is still interested in seeing their growth.

Still haven't seen or caught that pesky predator that killed my other poor drake...I'm worried it'll show up tomorrow, since it has now been two days since the attack.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are beautiful ❤ Do you lock your ducks up at night?

 

[Skye'sDucks]

They are beautiful ❤ Do you lock your ducks up at night?

Thank you!

Sadly, no. My whole flock is of Muscovies so they can all fly at the very least. We had a coop for a year or so, but when we let my hen hatch out about 20 babies when they grew up my parents decided that we'd let them free range 24/7, and since its their yard I didn't have much say in the matter. I always build a pen for any injured ducks too. I wish we could coop them but all I can be thankful for is that we have very few predators in the area. We even caught 3 raccoons recently and removed them from the area. I've had the ducks for almost 3 years now and this is my second attack ever.
Right now I'm waking up at 6:30 and staying out there with them until almost 8 in the morning, when it gets very bright out, and frequently checking on them throughout the day and particularly at dusk. It's the most I can do. We also have set up our live trap every night since the attack.

I understand it isn't the smartest decision to not coop them, and I'd love to, but I try my very hardest to keep them safe and well cared for.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

I'm sorry for not updating this thread in a while...I haven't gotten many new pictures which I need to do!

The two babies still have some growing to do, but they are getting there. My girl can fly quite well at this point but I have yet to see my boy fly, although I saw him on the fence once so I think he is just lazy lol. The girls have always loved flying way more than my boys.

Part of the reason for no update is because they have been very unfriendly. I have had 2 attacks with 2 poor ducks dead, and my second night getting them into the coop I made was a disaster and everyone hated me for a while. Most have forgiven, but my big boy I have been documenting on here has been giving me a very cold shoulder since and I haven't been able to get close for good pics...

We have been lazy about getting a camera, so we have no evidence if the predator has returned, but it has been 2 weeks since the last attack and I am still very on edge, especially since my ducks don't trust me still and I haven't been able to get any but 2 of them in at night. My hope is I can build up their trust once more and then use a less traumatic (aka not nabbing them but instead herding them) into the cage.

I'll update with pictures soon!

Do you guys think the predator will return, or already has but has not been successful in getting another one? With the 2 that got killed I noticed that since they were almost in the exact same spot, it was in an open area both ducks frequently passed thru but the other ones almost never do...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I will take a wild guess an say yes the predator will be back. Herd them ducks inside they may not like it but they will still be alive in the morning. What did the bodies look like when you found them maybe we can figure out what predator your dealing with.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

I will take a wild guess an say yes the predator will be back. Herd them ducks inside they may not like it but they will still be alive in the morning. What did the bodies look like when you found them maybe we can figure out what predator your dealing with.

The big mystery about it is that the bodies were totally gone. All that were left was a pile of feathers and the wings. I can attach pictures I took of the second attack site. I studied this second one way harder but I could find no clues. There was a broken egg since it was one of my hens this time, and it looked like some half digested food bits among the feathers? But no blood or other body parts or any kind of meat. My first drake had a foot left as well, but not this time with the hen. They were a week apart and now it has been 2 weeks since my hen was killed.

And my issue is that it's hard to herd them in since they have to go thru a gate into the backyard, and since I've tried it a couple of times it can be difficult to even get them in the right position to herd them. They scatter so easily. I'll have to get a second person out there to successfully do it I'm thinking. It doesn't help we ran out of treats and can't really go up to the store unless we need to, and I keep forgetting to ask my mom to pick up some cat food when she does go out... I'll be working on it. I really hate not being able to get them in.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so sorry! Let’s see if others may know what this could be. @MasterOfClucker @Jpat yes get someone to help and walk slow behind using your arms to guide them where you want them to go. It will take some doing but eventually they’ll not be so hard to herd.

 

[Isaac 0]

I've had many ducks die due to foxes, what you have there is what I usually end up finding. Set a trail camera where the bodies are and most likely he will be back.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

I am so sorry! Let’s see if others may know what this could be. @MasterOfClucker @Jpat yes get someone to help and walk slow behind using your arms to guide them where you want them to go. It will take some doing but eventually they’ll not be so hard to herd.

Thank you! I didn't try that tonight but I will definitely tomorrow. I will finally ask my mom about getting a camera so we can see what goes on out there. There was a neighborhood one we were gonna use but it's currently being used for neighborhood purposes so we can't get it, so I think we just lapsed into not looking into buying our own since it hasn't been back or at the very least not killed a bird.

I've had many ducks die due to foxes, what you have there is what I usually end up finding. Set a trail camera where the bodies are and most likely he will be back.

Thanks so much for the reply, the bodies are long gone but I figure if its gotten 2 meals it will probably be back for more, I'm just lucky it either hasn't come back or just hasn't gotten any of my birds. I will look into getting a camera tomorrow.

 

[Isaac 0]

Very sorry for your losses!

Hopefully you can find out what killed them.