Dead ducks in 2 different spots

[hkisch2014]

Just a question. Went out this morning to let ducks out and came across two dead hens. One was in the locked up coop with its next twisted back and bent sitting on eggs in their tire nest box. The other was outside next to their water tank...neck meat and breast eaten out of it but spinal cord left...

Husband is thinking owl....any other suggestions? No obvious signs of anything getting into the coop...

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Sounds like an owl. Is the top of the pen uncovered?

 

[hkisch2014]

Sounds like an owl. Is the top of the pen uncovered?

Where they walk around outaide during the day yes. But at night they are locked up in the coop.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Do you have any rats around? Can you get any pictures or set up a trail camera?

 

[GregJS234]

Raccoons will also eat the easy meat and leave you a carcass with bones and feathers and legs.

I had a similar issue - occasionally ducks would disappear without a trace, once one was dead in the coop with a broken neck but no other injuries. People here thought it could have been a bobcat. The problem stopped when I moved them from a 7' fenced and electrified run to a coop completely sealed with 1/2" hardware cloth.

 

[hkisch2014]

Do you have any rats around? Can you get any pictures or set up a trail camera?

Dont have rats that we can see. We do have a bunny thats been sleeping under the coop. Husband is going to grab another roll of hardwire cloth on his way home and we will hardwire the bottom ofnthe coop tonight. Its a brand new coop we built this summer and just didnt finish that portion of it...the outside skirting is completely galvanized steel. He is also gling to set up the trail camera. We had an issue with an owl two summers ago...and i guess with this cold ass weather for the past 2 weeks they will do anything for food at this point.

 

[hkisch2014]

Raccoons will also eat the easy meat and leave you a carcass with bones and feathers and legs.

I had a similar issue - occasionally ducks would disappear without a trace, once one was dead in the coop with a broken neck but no other injuries. People here thought it could have been a bobcat. The problem stopped when I moved them from a 7' fenced and electrified run to a coop completely sealed with 1/2" hardware cloth.

Yeah. We have two coops exactly the same.. one is housing chickens the other ducks. Its weird that only one hen out of 35 in the coop is dead with the other about 30 feet away eaten out by their water tank. Unless she just didnt go in last night with the others i dont know how she got out because the door to their coop was shut and locked. But that doesnt explain the dead one inside