Fox attack, help please

[WinstonDuck]

Hi, this has probably been asked a lot of times before but i can't find anything to really help me. Last sunday evening, like an idiot i didn't lock my duck away for the night. During the night Mr/Mrs fox arrived and caused mayhem. Killing 5 and wounding and totally traumatising the other 3. Day one [monday]after the attack the ducks just sat and did nothing. Tuesday they drank a little water and moved about slowly but hid in corners and under things[ this i can fully understand]. Wednesday moving a tad more and drinking small amounts of water, but walked to end of garden, and today the same. 2 females and 1 male have survived. None are eating, but the females seem minutely better each day , but obviously a shadow of there former selves.The male has not sat down since the attack but has waddled slowly to get water. He seems to have trouble lowering his neck so have raised the water for him and he is at least drinking. Obviously they are all traumatised and battered and bruised and need time to recover. But today even though they are not eating, they have green/turquoise poop. What can i do to help these poor birds, am i being cruel keeping them alive and not putting them to sleep, or should i give them time to recover, as they are drinking.
I am devastated as this was because of my own stupid lay actions, or lack of them in this case, Mr fox didn't even eat any of them, just killed as many as he could. which to me makes the whole thing so senseless.
Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Buck Oakes]

Okay I have some advice to get rid of any predators in the area

 

[Buck Oakes]

How to get rid of predators:

1. I you want to get rid of predators but dot have enough time to stay up at night with a shotgun I have a few tricks

First , start by putting dog food out away from the ducks probably by some woods where they come from, make sure the dog food has a good meaty smell , make sure it's one piture full

Second, repeat this for a couple of days 3 weeks top, it's a process , you'll realize a decrease in danger towards your flock

Third after 3 weeks put out some sardines with the dog food with a pungent smell so they can really get the wiff of it there

Fourth soon only put out sardines and still make sure u spread around the juice so they can really get the smell

Fifth , I have this spice from a zatarans jar that my grandmother bought a long time ago, it's so hot that an once can make a human have indigestion, I'll find out the name of the spice later, but get a lot of sardines and put them in several places spread around the juice but don't put the spice on the juice just the fish, put about 4 piches or until u can almost smell it but if the smell of the spice is to strong on the fish u put to much , so make sure u put jut the right amount , when the predators eat it they will either find something to drink but leave the territory due to uneatable food or dehydrate and maybe die

I know it's a long process but it works

 

[Buck Oakes]

Now to make the birds better, 2mml of honey boiled into a gallon of water or more honey if needed and let set cool, then give it to them, medicated start and grow, neosporan works for them as well, go by none stinging cut solution for them and make sure it's safe just incase they ingest it, and I never take mine to the vet but u should

 

[ShadowQuackers]

I feel your pain. I had a dog attack a while back in which i lost all but one duck. I was able to bring her inside the house. (at the time it occurred there was about 12 inches of snow on the ground) It has now been about 9 weeks and she is doing much better. She had 3 bite marks I could find - on the breast under a wing and at the base of a wing. Mostly it was surface bites.

If you can I suggest getting them into clean clean water - let them have the bath in the house if you have to. Then have someone help you and get your hands on the ducks and find out how bad the bites are. I have a fleece lap blanket I use to catch my girl with. (toss it over her body and head then grab her) You want to look for how deep the bites are, if they are still bleeding a lot - feathers will be bloody from the water and red if still wet at first- and where they are at so you can monitor them. I give my girl a bath a week and check her bite marks every time.

My girl would not eat for about 5 days (normal feed and mush and special house food). I bought a bag of meal worms and dumped them in. still no luck. Bought a bag of grasshoppers and live worms which finally that did the trick. She would only eat live meals for about a week then started eating her normal feed in small amount.

For about 5 weeks she was losing what I thought to be a lot of feathers just pulling them out.(still not sure why) she has since stopped doing that and the wounds look clean and healing. I can tell she is finally feeling better because of the eggs I have been finding.

I was told by others on this site to use apple cider vinegar in the bath water and drinking water that it would help her heal faster. I have no idea if this helped her out or not but I did it anyway. about a tablespoon vinegar to gallon of water.


A few predator lights can help as well with wild animals:

http://smile.amazon.com/Best-Predat...2-catcorr&keywords=night+guard+predator+light

Best of luck and I hope they are ok.

Oh If you are lucky enough to find a vet that will look at your ducks they will cost you a fortune (or at far as I can find)

 

[Amiga]

Give the ducks a chance to recover. You might want to bring them into a different but still very safe shelter for at least a few days to get them away from the scene of the attack. Vitamins with electrolytes is a good idea, and yes, a vet would be good if you can.

There could be internal injuries. Take a close look at each. I find putting them in the tub, I can get a better look at everything, and it cheers mine up to be in the lukewarm water.