We definitely have good sized snapping turtles on our lake. I wouldn't say huge- medium maybe? We are getting a few Pekins and when they are adults they are going to be free to swim on the lake (yes, neighbours are fine with this lol) Do I really have to worry about snappers getting them? At night they will be in a secure coop, never even thought to worry about turtles til I read a thread in this section. Also- who has successfully kept chickens and ducks together?
Yes, snappers will kill ducks. I think a few BYC members have had ducks killed by snappers. And if your ducks are on a pond all day, it may be very difficult to herd them into a coop at night. I have 1 chicken that I keep with 5 ducks. It only works because the chicken acts like a duck. Ducks are so messy with their water that it really isn't a great idea to keep them with chickens. The ground (and the feeder!) is always wet, and you can't keep water or food inside the coop, it all has to be outside.
I lost one of my buff ducks to a snapping turtle 2 weekends ago. We had a fence set up in the stream, the snapper stuck her head through the fence, grabbed the duck by the leg, dragged her down and drowned her - we never saw so much as a feather left. I think some people use turtle traps, but if you're talking about a lake, it's going to be difficult to keep snappers out of an entire lake. On the other hand, I may be unlucky.
