I just found all 26 of my ducks headless!?!?

[CindyinSD]

I agree. Please anyone, if you catch a predator, ask the landowners permission before releasing. We are on a dead end road and people have released their catches around here. Often times when the predators are released they become someone else's problem.

VERY true! Think of your neighbors, folks.

 

[50-45-1]

I am still waiting for a description of the set up, what type of fencing, is the coop closed at night, does the run have a cover over the top???? Pictures would help us with this also. .
What ever it was racoon, possum, skunk, owl, weasel, rat, whatever...something is wrong with the coop or run.
The coop i have today is a direct result of different preditors showing me where the weakness were in my coop and run.
everyone here has had losses and will be a great resource for you if you will show us what you have, and once you do we can maybe help you not to have any more horrible losses like you just suffered.
you will always have preditors.
You can not rehome them all.
More just move in to take their place.
good luck! And again, sorry about your ducks.

 

[hayley3]

you will always have preditors.
You can not rehome them all.
More just move in to take their place.

Exactly! The coop's purpose is to protect them when they are in there.

 

[aart]

Eating heads is not typical of a skunk. I have never had issues with skunks ever but then my coop is locked at night.

yeah not s sure it was skunks that killed 26 duck in on night and only took all the heads...not even one mama and a bunch of 'large babies'.

Because no matter what some people will tell you, predators 1.) Enjoy the hunt 2.) Love to kill 3.) Don't particularly care about eating everything they kill.

Whoever says that animals kill only to eat has obviously never watched a barn cat set loose in a grain bin.

Wild animals kill can many in the 'frenzy' and usually cache them if they can before something interrupts them. It's about survival economics, not sport or enjoyment.
Cats not so much, especially if they have kibble somewhere.

I am still waiting for a description of the set up, what type of fencing, is the coop closed at night, does the run have a cover over the top???? Pictures would help us with this also. .

Another thread gone way 'off' topic and an OP not finishing up the story.

 

[Annastin]

Don't do that. You just move the plague to another location to kill other people's livestock. Maybe someone else already did that to you and now your ducks are dead. I would be angry if someone did that to me. People live out in the country too, even WAY out in the country, even if you don't happen to drive by and see their houses.

No I will be relocating with my local wildlife fish and game to a reserved wildlife acreage. Were the wiesle, Momma skunk and her babies will live with trackers and all that jazz. But thank you for considering others☺

 

[sylviethecochin]

Wild animals kill can many in the 'frenzy' and usually cache them if they can before something interrupts them. It's about survival economics, not sport or enjoyment.
Cats not so much, especially if they have kibble somewhere.

The thread's already beautifully off-topic, so I'll ask:
What makes you think that cats are different from other predators? By all accounts, they're not terribly domesticated.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Why the Hell would they just eat the heads??

In nature... something else would come behind and eat the parts it specializes in. Nothing goes to waste.. Even flies and maggots or other things on a much more microscopic level.

We had that happen to 31 geese. Turns out it was a great horned owl. There is a grease in the brain they crave according to the fish and game. Idk if ducks also have it but it’s possible.

GHO took 31 geese in a single night?!

Sorry for your loss!

 

[Cherishedchicks]

This happened to my 2 ducks. One dead and headless in it's pen, and one 40 feet away. There was a fresh snowfall and not a single predator footprint in the entire area. My guess is possibly an owl, which I read, will only take the head.

 

[Smurfnibble]

I have mink that live in the brook that goes through the middle of my property. Once, when I used to allow my chickens to free range unattended, I caught the little stinker eating the neck out of one of my hens. He didn’t chew the entire head off. He also just yoinked one chicken.
Foxes are very wasteful and really big jerks when it comes to taint livestock. My guess would be fox over raccoon or weasel. What state do you live in?

 

[aart]

The thread's already beautifully off-topic, so I'll ask:
What makes you think that cats are different from other predators? By all accounts, they're not terribly domesticated.

Cats and dogs still have the instinct to 'hunt', or at least grab and kill a moving animal.....but they get fed so it's quite not as driven in most of them.