Duck attacked by racoon! Help?

[sharpiewashere]

Tonight my four American Pekins were attacked by a family of racoons. This is the second time this has happened, and we finally caught the little monsters in the act and took care of them. However, we lost one of our males, and our other male had his eye gouged out. It's just hanging there and I'm not sure whether to leave it or take him to the vet. What should I do?

 

[Orca5094]

Absolutely take him to the vet! Poor guy needs medical attention right away.

Also, have you fixed whatever the problem was that enabled the raccoons to get to your ducks? That also needs to be done right away to prevent this from happening again. I know you said you took care of these particular raccoons, but that doesn't mean more won't get in the same way in the future.

Sorry about your losses, but please do get that injured male to the vet asap.

 

[Buck Oakes]

Raccoons are evil and so are foxes, if you see them in the road just steadily press the gas all the way to the floor

 

[Buck Oakes]

Were they up like in a pen or coop for the night, or do they sleep like outside, and if they sleep in a pen make sure to have a chicken wire roof and chicken wire the sides all the way up to 5 feet

 

[Orca5094]

Tonight my four American Pekins were attacked by a family of racoons. This is the second time this has happened, and we finally caught the little monsters in the act and took care of them. However, we lost one of our males, and our other male had his eye gouged out. It's just hanging there and I'm not sure whether to leave it or take him to the vet. What should I do?

How is your duck doing now? Were you able to get him to a vet?

And just to add to what Buck Oates said, I use electric fence around my duck enclosures and have never had any predators get in.

 

[Amiga]

I have half inch metal hardware cloth on the veranda - the night porch for the duck house - and electric fence, two strands of equine tape - all around the house and porch.

 

[sharpiewashere]

So sorry for the late reply.

They are doing fine now. I was wrong about the eye. He has both of his eyes. He had this eye goo and I thought it was a dangling eyeball, but it wasn't. Bad lighting and I couldn't catch him. He had bloody eyes and I washed them with lukewarm water. Right now he is fine. Happy and normal as he used to be. Eyes seem totally fine.
The pen issue was mostly my fault. That coop has been there since before I was born and the wire was never changed. For about ten years or so, nothing lived in there. Before I moved the ducks to that coop when they were little, I checked it and patched up any hole I could find. The raccoons had torn through the chicken wire to get in. They had been living in a log pile right next to the coop. I should have removed that a long time ago, but like I said, we had never planned on raising ducks or even chickens again. That all has since been taken care of. I am putting up new wire. Half inch metal cloth. It's a work in progress. Right now they are staying in a big metal workshop we have. They have their water, nests, food, and a fan and lighting. It's not that hot in there, but they're as safe as they can be.
I will be looking into the electric fence. Right now I'm working on patching up everything. Washing the raccoon blood out. Getting a lock on the gate. Getting some sort of lighting situation out there. It used to have electricity, but it doesn't at the moment. But they're all fine. We're getting some new babies soon, so I'm trying to get everything varmint proof now.
Thanks for all the helpful tips and suggestions. I appreciate it.

 

[sharpiewashere]

They were in their coop. They have almost a house. Sheet metal wall, sheet metal roof, and the rest is chicken wire. Soon to be metal cloth. They raccoons tore through the old wire and killed the main male and took him up into the old nest boxes mounted on the wall.

 

[Orca5094]

Thanks for the update! So glad your duck's eye is ok now. And great job reinforcing your pen! I can't stress enough how well the electric fence works to keep predators out. Also, make sure there are no trees close to (or growing over) your pen where raccoons could climb up and drop down on your pen from above. Good luck with your new little ones on the way!

 

[Amykins]

I hate raccoons...I hate raccoons...I hate raccoons...I hate raccoons...