Ducks and poultry netting

[DebFR]

Yesterday one of my ducks stuck her head between the wires in the electric poultry netting and ended up dying. It is just such a drag when you go to lengths to protect creatures and then something like this happens. I have poultry netting from Premier - good stuff - and it has kept our chickens safe from predators for years. I just added ducks in the last couple months. After seeing how this accident had happened, I am actually surprised it hasn't happened sooner. Ducks, with their long bills and slim necks can get their heads and necks in between the poultry netting wires in their search for greens and if they don't pull back in carefully they are in trouble. I spent my morning attaching some plastic 1" grid plastic fencing to the inside of the electric fence. I extended the plastic fencing down 1" past the bottom 'hot' wire and wove some plastic weed whacker line through the 2 fences to connect them together. Then at the top I used some nylon zip ties every 3' or so. This will keep the ducks from sticking their heads through the openings. It is still electrified from the outside for protection from predators and you can hardly see it, so it looks tidy. I called and had a good talk with someone at Premier about ducks, their ability to get their heads through the openings, and this addition I made to protect them. They only have one size openings in their electrified poultry netting. and were interested in my addition as a possible product. I just thought I would share this so others can avoid this sort of accident.

 

[Amiga]

Thank you for sharing this sad story. Ducks can indeed get themselves into the most unexpected trouble, and it can be fatal. I have had two ducks weave their heads through 2x3" woven wire fence. I believe they had "help" from a drake on the other side of the fence, by the way. Still, they got their necks stuck in the fence.

 

[Debs Flock]

Thank you for sharing this sad story. Ducks can indeed get themselves into the most unexpected trouble, and it can be fatal. I have had two ducks weave their heads through 2x3" woven wire fence. I believe they had "help" from a drake on the other side of the fence, by the way. Still, they got their necks stuck in the fence.

@Amiga - do those 2 ducks survive?

 

[Amiga]

Yes, @Debs Flock they are fine. Acht sustained a tiny shoulder injury, Romy is none the worse for wear. I was beyond upset, but I have to tell myself what I tell everyone else - we do all we can to anticipate and protect, and sometimes we are surprised by something we could not foresee.

 

[Debs Flock]

Yes, @Debs Flock they are fine. Acht sustained a tiny shoulder injury, Romy is none the worse for wear. I was beyond upset, but I have to tell myself what I tell everyone else - we do all we can to anticipate and protect, and sometimes we are surprised by something we could not foresee.

Whew! That's good. Loved the video you shared...examples of happy ducks! First time I've seen runners in action. They're talkative!

 

[DebFR]

Yes, my long time duck and chicken care friend said - we do all we can, we learn as we go along, and we have to let the past go. Still working on that last part...

 

[Kimmyh51]

I am about to install sheep netting to protect my ducks from dogs, predators and drakes in breeding season

I was wondering if there is any reason I cannot attach wind break (which looks to be made of a sort of plastic) directly to the sheep netting to avoid this sort of thing?

How long for those of you whose ducks have sadly gotten hurt or killed in electric netting, had the ducks been in the enclosure with the netting before this happened. Had you recently installed it, or used it for ages with no problems then suddenly this happened?

I worry about a duck getting caught in chicken netting because of how flighty and panicky they can be, hence why I thought sheep netting might be better as the holes are larger.
But I see one duck died on a simple horizontal wire....