A coyote ate one of our ducks and a chicken while we were away last week. Normally they don't free range at night, only during the day, but we were out of town and my 71-year-old mom was housesitting and she couldn't shoo the ducks into the coop each night. So first a white pekin disappeared, then the lone chicken that we had wandering about. (It had been severly pecked while in the coop, so we didn't want it to be alone with our flock of chickens while we were away. It would have definitely been killed had we left it with them.)
Well...I say coyote, but I don't have absolute proof of the predator. What do you guys think? The white pekin duck was six months old, so full grown in size, practically. She was already laying giant eggs. Seems like she'd be too big for a hawk, although we have those around here, too.
I have seen two coyotes in broad daylight in recent weeks, so they're definitely around. The first was on our street, about a half mile from our property, and the second was on an ajacent road, about 3/4's of a mile from our property. Both definitely within running distance. I'm not used to seeing them in the daylight. Usually they're seen more around dusk.
We live in a rural area filled with farmland and trees.
As for the carcass, we found the area where the struggle began, and it went on for about 200 feet, with feathers strewn about in three main areas. In the final area, near the fence, there was also, strangely, a duck egg laying there. That's where my husband found the breast plate and rib cage, shiny and clean of any meat, as well as a feathered wing still intact.
Sound like a coyote to you guys? Or something else?
Well...I say coyote, but I don't have absolute proof of the predator. What do you guys think? The white pekin duck was six months old, so full grown in size, practically. She was already laying giant eggs. Seems like she'd be too big for a hawk, although we have those around here, too.
I have seen two coyotes in broad daylight in recent weeks, so they're definitely around. The first was on our street, about a half mile from our property, and the second was on an ajacent road, about 3/4's of a mile from our property. Both definitely within running distance. I'm not used to seeing them in the daylight. Usually they're seen more around dusk.
We live in a rural area filled with farmland and trees.
As for the carcass, we found the area where the struggle began, and it went on for about 200 feet, with feathers strewn about in three main areas. In the final area, near the fence, there was also, strangely, a duck egg laying there. That's where my husband found the breast plate and rib cage, shiny and clean of any meat, as well as a feathered wing still intact.
Sound like a coyote to you guys? Or something else?
