I lost 5 ducks last night and have 3 wounded, help with predator ID

[suenotto]

Hello everyone,

I lost 5 ducks last night and 1 chicken. I'm trying to figure out what might have done this, I will describe and maybe you can help with the ID.

I found 1 duck with no visible bite wounds, but his neck was broken. I found one with a minor wound but was having problems breathing and she died shortly thereafter. I am missing 3 ducks and 1 chicken entirely and did not find the bodies. The 3 recovering have very little damage as far as open wounds or bites, but they all are unsteady on their feet like they were shaken. The one duck has some tiny wounds, nothing ripped open or anything. The one with the broken neck is very baffling..is this a dog that picked him up and shook him but didn't do anything else? But then took 3 other birds with him? One of my own dogs grabbed a duck once and it had a huge gash on its back (that dog has since passed away, and all my other dogs were safely locked inside the house), none of the wounds looked like that. There are some feral cats around, but could 1 cat do this kind of damage? I mean, who ever heard of a pack of cats!

Please help if you have any ideas.

Very sad.

 

[chicks4kids]

I"m thinking that it was a dog. I had a dog take a duck once. I woke up to 2 missing but it turned out that the one flew away and came back about a week later. Unfortunately, the pekin, who couldn't fly never returned

The wounds that you describe don't sound like a coon to me.

Hopefully, they will return for you.

 

[Bleenie]

One of my rescue dogs once killed one of my birds out of jealousy, she didn't leave a mark on it but broke it's neck and left it by the driveway for me to find when i got back home.

The attack sounds like it could have been a dog but dogs are usually messy and will leave feathers behind from where they chased the birds before they caught them. I have had problems with Raccoons though and they will just TAKE the whole bird and leave barely a trace of it. I have even had a coon pull one right from her nest. It is also common for raccoons to tear the bird all up, eat what they want and leave the body behind, a friend of mine just lost his whole flock to a coon that did just this. They're nasty little critters.

 

[suenotto]

What kind of animal just kills and leaves the birds there? Do foxes do this kind of thing? Will they kill multiple birds? or coyotes?

 

[flnatv]

I had a dog attack a few days ago... NO blood.. just dead chickens.
Sounds like dog to me.

Edited... One of the chickens was missing for a few hours and finally showed up. There is hope!!

 

[chickchickgirls]

I lost a chicken last week. Second time in three years so pretty good luck so far. It was the same way, though. It looks like whatever it was ate the internal organs (through the hen's bum) then left the rest intact. Is that a rat?

 

[dumb_cluck]

Check the necks carefully. Could be a mink. They like to bite, suck blood and leave the carcass (if they can't move it easily).

I lost all my mallards in one night to a mink. They were INDOORS, in CAGES and still got killed. Be careful!

 

[animalpro24]

Sounds like a dog. so sorry.

 

[stormylady]

I love to blame raccoons for everything! but in your case it sure sounds like some type of Canine to me. Im so sorry for your losses and hope you figure it out soon. Sandy

 

[Bnemeth]

Weasels will eat the internal organs and not show much damage to the bird - nasty things that can sneek in the coop.