Fox attack, duck hasn’t pooped in over an hour?

[ruthhope]

Okay so the fox is back and nearly took my other female this morning, must’ve just pounced on her as I can’t find any puncture wounds at all but she’s limping on her foot. What on earth can I do to deter them. I’ve read so much and people have just said that’s it now, you won’t get rid of them so I’m stressing about this as I want them to have a quality of life. Myself and my partner were up and about the house I just feel like it’s going to be relentless now.

With a predator that knows you have ducks coming back, be assured the fox (and others) will continue to return while you have ducks.

For their safety, your ducks need confining to a predator proof run. They cannot be allowed to free range. You need to construct a run that has a strong frame and at a minimum chickenwire on the sides and top. Duck coups require hardware cloth for the first 3ft height and under ground extending 18" all round. But that may not be necessary for a daytime run. That depends on whether your predators will come and dig during the day

Confining your ducks to a secure run is the only way to protect them from that fox and it's family and friends

 

[Flutterbudget]

With a predator that knows you have ducks coming back, be assured the fox (and others) will continue to return while you have ducks.

For their safety, your ducks need confining to a predator proof run. They cannot be allowed to free range. You need to construct a run that has a strong frame and at a minimum chickenwire on the sides and top. Duck coups require hardware cloth for the first 3ft height and under ground extending 18" all round. But that may not be necessary for a daytime run. That depends on whether your predators will come and dig during the day

Confining your ducks to a secure run is the only way to protect them from that fox and it's family and friends

I can send a photo across they’re in a big run with the reinforced thick metal wire they can’t bite through and their base is concrete and nothings ever gotten into it. I just now worry about their quality of life if they have to be inside that every single day. Will my dog deter them at all? It’s so upsetting when I’ve not had one problem with foxes for over three years and now it seems like I’ll never get rid of them

 

[Flutterbudget]

Are your ducks inside fencing or a run? I had a fox running the fence here a couple weeks ago trying to figure out how to get in thankfully I heard the ducks making their warning call and went up and scared him off. If I hadn't had them inside of fencing I am sure I would have lost one since this fox was by itself And it would have kept coming back . I know fencing will not always deter a predator but it does help. The only other thing is to build a huge run and keep them inside of it. And let them forage when you can be out to watch them.

Are your ducks inside fencing or a run? I had a fox running the fence here a couple weeks ago trying to figure out how to get in thankfully I heard the ducks making their warning call and went up and scared him off. If I hadn't had them inside of fencing I am sure I would have lost one since this fox was by itself And it would have kept coming back . I know fencing will not always deter a predator but it does help. The only other thing is to build a huge run and keep them inside of it. And let them forage when you can be out to watch them.

Here’s their run, just snapped a quick photo. I feel thats going to be the only way now if I or my partner is outside and the dog too. Could I potentially extend this out onto the grass with wire so they could forage when we are in but not looking directly at them?

 

[ruthhope]

I can send a photo across they’re in a big run with the reinforced thick metal wire they can’t bite through and their base is concrete and nothings ever gotten into it. I just now worry about their quality of life if they have to be inside that every single day. Will my dog deter them at all? It’s so upsetting when I’ve not had one problem with foxes for over three years and now it seems like I’ll never get rid of them

Yes, please share a photograph.

I was in suburban northern Virginia for 11 months last year, with my ducks. They slept in a secure shed and free ranged in a large, fully privacy fenced, backyard. But unlike in my own neighborhood in NE Florida, a mama raccoon with 4 kits, and a red fox started coming into the back yard in the late afternoon and evening. I could not build a secure run there, and my beagle cannot be trusted to be in the yard unsupervised with the ducks, so I had to resort to getting the ducks up onto the patio every afternoon (by regularly offering treats and then giving the evening feed on the patio) and letting my dog out to run round the garden and bark at the raccoon and kits in a neighbor's tree on the boundary, and fox whenever it appeared. The fox never came up to the patio, only ran across the bottom of the yard, and stopped doing so after an encounter with a barking beagle. It was really after the cottontail bunnies in the backyard. The raccoon mama was very angry when her 4 kits came down onto the privacy fence and set off beagle barking ++ As far as I know, neither fox nor raccoons returned during the daylight when the ducks were out, but I know the fox was around at night from the muddy paw marks on the shed door. I was very stressed out with anxiety from the first time the fox crossed the back yard in daylight until we returned home to NE Florida at the end of November!

So your dog will likely deter a fox in your yard while your dog is out there. But an entanglement between your dog and a fox is undesirable as foxes carry mange and can infectious with rabies before they hsve symptoms

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here’s their run, just snapped a quick photo. I feel thats going to be the only way now if I or my partner is outside and the dog too. Could I potentially extend this out onto the grass with wire so they could forage when we are in but not looking directly at them?

That is a very nice enclousure is it completly enclosed? I don't see why you couldn't extend that out onto the grass and give them more room.

 

[ruthhope]

That's a great enclosure. You say the base is concrete. Is the floor concrete? If it is, I would cover with rubber mats or a very deep layer of bedding to protect the ducks feet.

Extending over the grass would be great. Alternatively, or temporarily until you extend the enclosure onto grass, you could let the ducks out onto the grass in a temporary dog pen or similar, while you or your dog are out and about in the yard each day.