Thanks. Yeah, I was pretty shocked, although it does seem like this past couple weeks we've had an increase in all kinds of birds of prey. I figure they're either nesting or migrating. As a card-carrying Audubon member I love to see them, but I've always worried our pets would be too tempting. The duck was about five months old - bigger than a lot of my chickens.
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I'm sorry you lost one! I had a visit from two hawks yesterday and was wondering how many Florida members have suffered losses. So far the hawks in my area haven't been bold, or hungry, enough to attack. I did have one once that dived into the paddock and freaked everyone out but he took off empty handed. It seems like my hawks are pretty small and so I'm wondering how big your poor duck was.
A small dog is what I thought at first. I was scouring the neighborhood for the offender, but then the neighbor came over and told us she saw the small brown hawk. My guess is the hawk was smaller than the duck, so ate what it could and then got scared off. We're hoping this was a one-time, unusual occurrence - our chickens only go out with supervision, but the ducks live to roam from here to the lake and back.
Well...she doesn't realize her eggs aren't fertile.
She's so spoiled, I think she'd have a heart attack if we put a rooster in with her - or she'd beat him up! We get fertile eggs from our other Frizzle, Turken, Cochin and Amerucana hens, so we'll just put those under, although this week it seems like the girls are taking a hiatus from laying. I love to hear that little clucking sound broody hens make!
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I lost my first one to a hawk 2 weeks ago. She had no hatchmates, 11 weeks old, and was real attached to me. I put her out in a pen for a while, when I came back the hawk was finishing his meal.
I have since bought deer netting to cover some pens. I cried all night. I know how you feel,
Oh gosh, what a terrible scene to return to. I'm so grateful the duck we lost wasn't one of the kids' favorite, named ones...we've cried enough times this year over our feathered friends. I'll be watching the skies more closely from now on.