I REALLY can’t catch a break here! Or a breath 😭

[Batwell]

Thank you. I know, I’m scared of that. I seen a hawk/falcon fly over the exact area I found her later on that day so that’s why I thought it was hawk or possible falcon.

We were planning on ordering some electric fencing from Premier1 but with the USPS shipping delays, why bother. I have extra bird netting I was planning to put up as well, even though it’s not 100% guaranteed to save anyone from anything but might help slow predators down. Ugh. I’m ready for spring/summer already.

Depending on the laws in your state, sometimes you can find a licensed falconer who will come and catch the hawk for you. I have done this. It is worth checking; in my experience, once a hawk starts taking domestic poultry it does not stop.

 

[CountryLivingNow]

Sorry for the play-by-play story, but the way I found her, & how she looked at me has haunted me & stuck in my brain.

Something got one of my khaki Campbell ducks the other day. my dog kept barking, I walked onto the porch to see if something was out there. I seen 3 of my ducks (1 khaki , 2 jumbo pekin) standing under their tarp cover, I waited for my other khaki to come into view, but never did. I let my ducks free range all day until night time, never had a problem until DECEMBER. So I put on my boots & went outside to look around. Didn’t see her anywhere. When I yell “duck ducks” they will come running, usually. So I yelled duck duck. Nothing. Took my dogs out of their run & out into the yard to help find her. They ran straight up the hill behind my chicken runs & along the fence line. I followed behind looking & listening. I got far back enough to where I seen a brown body lying under a tree limb. In between my sobbing & yelling NO I ran to her & seen that she was still alive, barely. She was laying on her stomach, with her neck stretched out onto the cold, snowy ground. I scooped her up & ran back to the house with her, got her inside & laid her into the hospital tub I had available. Ran back outside & put the other ducks away for the time being. By the time I got back inside, I watched her take her last breath. I checked her wounds, above her right wing was shredded, meat, bone, blood, her wing might’ve been pulled out of place ... I’m not sure. She had some blood on her neck, one puncture wound. Her neck was very limp, she wasn’t trying to move at all. My suspicion is a hawk... maybe a broad winged, or red tail. Does this sound like a hawks doing? I found where it attacked her first outside. Just blood. No footprints. Only her feathers. In the back where I found her, there’s a couple drops of blood trailing straight to where she was laying.

This is my first year keeping chickens & ducks. I first got them all back in March/April of this year. December has been awful, our first attacks, losses. I’ve lost 3 birds so far this month. 2 to predators, 1 for unknown causes. I know it’s apart of keeping chickens & ducks... but I never thought of how traumatizing it would be. I never found the body of my first loss (leghorn), finding my poor duck laying in the cold snow, scared, hurt & dying. I’m a very empathetic person (unfortunately).

RIP Duck Duck The picture with red circle is where I found her.
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I have my ducks - 5 Cayugas in a 40 X 40 pen with bird netting over the top, motion sensor lights on the center post, chicken wire over welded fencing and took landscape timbers and drilled holes in them and pounded rebar in to attach to the ground on the entire exterior of the pen, then I laid chicken wire on the ground outside the pen and took urine soaked cat litter sprinkled around the exterior of the fence. I lock the ducks up before dark in a wood A frame coop. As you can tell from my description - I am anal about protecting the ducks. I have 5 dogs that I let run the property during the day and 1 is a coon hound. We are out in the country surrounded by farms & ranches and I also have 3 cats and 1 is always escaping at night to roam (he has been neutered) & no problems. I have done a lot with solar lights around the areas where I want to deter vermin.
My advice is beef up your predator proofing. I wouldn't waste my time with traps. I can't free range - one I would be afraid of hawks and two I can't with the dogs running all over. Best of luck and my condolences on your loss.

 

[Dragonfly Farm]

Sorry for the play-by-play story, but the way I found her, & how she looked at me has haunted me & stuck in my brain.

Something got one of my khaki Campbell ducks the other day. my dog kept barking, I walked onto the porch to see if something was out there. I seen 3 of my ducks (1 khaki , 2 jumbo pekin) standing under their tarp cover, I waited for my other khaki to come into view, but never did. I let my ducks free range all day until night time, never had a problem until DECEMBER. So I put on my boots & went outside to look around. Didn’t see her anywhere. When I yell “duck ducks” they will come running, usually. So I yelled duck duck. Nothing. Took my dogs out of their run & out into the yard to help find her. They ran straight up the hill behind my chicken runs & along the fence line. I followed behind looking & listening. I got far back enough to where I seen a brown body lying under a tree limb. In between my sobbing & yelling NO I ran to her & seen that she was still alive, barely. She was laying on her stomach, with her neck stretched out onto the cold, snowy ground. I scooped her up & ran back to the house with her, got her inside & laid her into the hospital tub I had available. Ran back outside & put the other ducks away for the time being. By the time I got back inside, I watched her take her last breath. I checked her wounds, above her right wing was shredded, meat, bone, blood, her wing might’ve been pulled out of place ... I’m not sure. She had some blood on her neck, one puncture wound. Her neck was very limp, she wasn’t trying to move at all. My suspicion is a hawk... maybe a broad winged, or red tail. Does this sound like a hawks doing? I found where it attacked her first outside. Just blood. No footprints. Only her feathers. In the back where I found her, there’s a couple drops of blood trailing straight to where she was laying.

This is my first year keeping chickens & ducks. I first got them all back in March/April of this year. December has been awful, our first attacks, losses. I’ve lost 3 birds so far this month. 2 to predators, 1 for unknown causes. I know it’s apart of keeping chickens & ducks... but I never thought of how traumatizing it would be. I never found the body of my first loss (leghorn), finding my poor duck laying in the cold snow, scared, hurt & dying. I’m a very empathetic person (unfortunately).

RIP Duck Duck The picture with red circle is where I found her.
View attachment 2466329
View attachment 2466336

That's just too sad. I can't stand losing one. I'm so sorry for you and your duck friend. I let my 6 hens out to free range during the day in September, when I thought they were big enough. Bad idea. Mr. Red Tail came down and got one. She's a strong girl and got away. We spent 2 hours searching for her. The others had scurried into their house. Finally we found Josephine, huddled up under the bushes next to our house. The only blood was where Mr. RT tore her comb. She's alive and well. Years ago, we lost our whole flock to Mr. Foxy Loxy in the middle of the day. No more free chickens for me, thank you. Can't bear it, too sad for words. Luckily our chicken house is a Taj Mahal....

 

[DuckyDonna]

I have 17 ducks in a covered run about the same size as @CountryLivingNow does complete with welded wire all over the top. Hardware cloth on the sides and down into the ground along the whole perimeter. We too are in a very rural area with foxes, coyotes, hawks, falcons, raccoons roaming day and night.

I lost my favorite beautiful Daisy to a falcon in the middle of the afternoon while I was nearby with my dogs. At that time I had most of the run covered except for a small area that was big enough for that bird to fly into and get Daisy. Now I don't have to worry about anything getting in except snakes.

If I do let the ducks out into the year to forage it's only while I'm filling their water buckets before I put them up for the night and my 2 border collies are out there too watching. I never let all 17 out at once because I'd never be able to control a predator situation with that many so I split the groups and we alternate the brief outside time.

 

[Jhwetzel]

Sorry for your loss. I have lost birds to hawks and snapping turtles. It is never easy. I agree with @ChunkyBirb, figuring out what it was that attacked makes it easier to deter it from happening again.

 

[Charlenesmom]

Sorry for the play-by-play story, but the way I found her, & how she looked at me has haunted me & stuck in my brain.

Something got one of my khaki Campbell ducks the other day. my dog kept barking, I walked onto the porch to see if something was out there. I seen 3 of my ducks (1 khaki , 2 jumbo pekin) standing under their tarp cover, I waited for my other khaki to come into view, but never did. I let my ducks free range all day until night time, never had a problem until DECEMBER. So I put on my boots & went outside to look around. Didn’t see her anywhere. When I yell “duck ducks” they will come running, usually. So I yelled duck duck. Nothing. Took my dogs out of their run & out into the yard to help find her. They ran straight up the hill behind my chicken runs & along the fence line. I followed behind looking & listening. I got far back enough to where I seen a brown body lying under a tree limb. In between my sobbing & yelling NO I ran to her & seen that she was still alive, barely. She was laying on her stomach, with her neck stretched out onto the cold, snowy ground. I scooped her up & ran back to the house with her, got her inside & laid her into the hospital tub I had available. Ran back outside & put the other ducks away for the time being. By the time I got back inside, I watched her take her last breath. I checked her wounds, above her right wing was shredded, meat, bone, blood, her wing might’ve been pulled out of place ... I’m not sure. She had some blood on her neck, one puncture wound. Her neck was very limp, she wasn’t trying to move at all. My suspicion is a hawk... maybe a broad winged, or red tail. Does this sound like a hawks doing? I found where it attacked her first outside. Just blood. No footprints. Only her feathers. In the back where I found her, there’s a couple drops of blood trailing straight to where she was laying.

This is my first year keeping chickens & ducks. I first got them all back in March/April of this year. December has been awful, our first attacks, losses. I’ve lost 3 birds so far this month. 2 to predators, 1 for unknown causes. I know it’s apart of keeping chickens & ducks... but I never thought of how traumatizing it would be. I never found the body of my first loss (leghorn), finding my poor duck laying in the cold snow, scared, hurt & dying. I’m a very empathetic person (unfortunately).

RIP Duck Duck The picture with red circle is where I found her.
View attachment 2466329
View attachment 2466336

Traps won’t catch a hawk, and I agree that it was most likely a hawk. One of my hens was attacked by a hawk about a month ago, I think it snagged her and then dropped her, she got away. She also had one puncture wound on the back of her neck and it was bleeding. She had a lot of feathers lost, but she was moulting anyway, so probably looked scrawny and the easiest to grab. She survived, and is fine now. I’m sorry for your loss. My girls only free range a short time everyday now, I limit them to about an hour, hour and a half and I am checking on them constantly. Since that episode they all seem wary and stay under thick cover. Sometimes if it’s really cold or windy they are only out for the time it takes to clean their run/coop. They have plenty of room and food inside and though they love foraging, I’d rather be safe than sorry.

 

[countryladyNH]

Sorry for the play-by-play story, but the way I found her, & how she looked at me has haunted me & stuck in my brain.

Something got one of my khaki Campbell ducks the other day. my dog kept barking, I walked onto the porch to see if something was out there. I seen 3 of my ducks (1 khaki , 2 jumbo pekin) standing under their tarp cover, I waited for my other khaki to come into view, but never did. I let my ducks free range all day until night time, never had a problem until DECEMBER. So I put on my boots & went outside to look around. Didn’t see her anywhere. When I yell “duck ducks” they will come running, usually. So I yelled duck duck. Nothing. Took my dogs out of their run & out into the yard to help find her. They ran straight up the hill behind my chicken runs & along the fence line. I followed behind looking & listening. I got far back enough to where I seen a brown body lying under a tree limb. In between my sobbing & yelling NO I ran to her & seen that she was still alive, barely. She was laying on her stomach, with her neck stretched out onto the cold, snowy ground. I scooped her up & ran back to the house with her, got her inside & laid her into the hospital tub I had available. Ran back outside & put the other ducks away for the time being. By the time I got back inside, I watched her take her last breath. I checked her wounds, above her right wing was shredded, meat, bone, blood, her wing might’ve been pulled out of place ... I’m not sure. She had some blood on her neck, one puncture wound. Her neck was very limp, she wasn’t trying to move at all. My suspicion is a hawk... maybe a broad winged, or red tail. Does this sound like a hawks doing? I found where it attacked her first outside. Just blood. No footprints. Only her feathers. In the back where I found her, there’s a couple drops of blood trailing straight to where she was laying.

This is my first year keeping chickens & ducks. I first got them all back in March/April of this year. December has been awful, our first attacks, losses. I’ve lost 3 birds so far this month. 2 to predators, 1 for unknown causes. I know it’s apart of keeping chickens & ducks... but I never thought of how traumatizing it would be. I never found the body of my first loss (leghorn), finding my poor duck laying in the cold snow, scared, hurt & dying. I’m a very empathetic person (unfortunately).

RIP Duck Duck The picture with red circle is where I found her.
View attachment 2466329
View attachment 2466336

Well, here I am crying for you too. We lost a chicken to a predator about 3 years ago. It was so devastating for both hubby and me. They are like your kids. We now also have 2 ducks and a goose in addition to our hens. We've had the goose and ducks for almost 2 years. This is their second winter and now I am terrified because they are out in the day. We thought the goose would be some protection, and so far she has been. (The hens are in their run. They mostly free range in summer.) Just want to say I feel so badly for you. It's never easy to lose a little friend...
We put a leg trap in the woods at the top of the hill. Wolfe urine along the property line. We have a game cam. You do what you can. We do have a lot of brush/bushes that they can hide in if a hawk is near...I know it's not perfect. I don't want to keep the ducks and goose penned all the time as they are waterfowl and love being out in the yard. They do stay in the yard and at least I can keep an eye on them most of the time. Even though our dog is a small mutt, she goes out in back on a trolley line (she is friendly with ALL our birds), and would bark like mad and chase anything that was a threat...That helps when she's out.
No one likes to shoot anything, but we feel very strongly that we have a responsibility to our flock. I was home alone when one summer day a fox was chasing one of my hens in broad daylight and was just about on her when I ran out crying and screaming blue murder. The fox ran. I was crying and shaking, Hannah, my hen, was fine, Thank goodness. Hubby came home and went back out to Walmart for a .22 rifle. We have always shot what we trapped. THEY ARE THREATS. Do not let them go to become someone else's problem. Obviously this isn't the solution for hawks, but we know we've prevented some animals from getting our hens. In our case, because of our land situation, an electric fence is absolutely not at all possible to have. We do everything else we can to protect our girls.

 

[cmom]

I let my most special hen out one day and had in the past with no issues what so ever. I got distracted. I called for her and she would always come to me when I called her on this day, nothing. I felt something was wrong and went looking for her. I found feathers and followed them but never did find her body. I cried and beat myself up (still do) if only I had put her in her pen. It was a fox. He snatched her in the middle of the day and no sounds. I did catch the fox and eliminated it. I had been seeing it on my cameras. I have seen other fox since.

The fox that killed my Gladys was mangy and stinky.

 

[lolson69]

Electric fencing works good for coyotes bobcats etc. not so much for hawks and owls. Neighbors have had trouble with owls this year.

 

[old chickady]

I am so sorry for your loss, You could put up a trail camera to find what kind of predators are picking on your flock. Minks, and owls take off heads and feet, hawks and dogs, coyotes, foxes tear off chunks of the body. We had a neighbors husky that jumped 5' fences easily and picked up and carried off our large chicken in his mouth, chicken didn't even squawk, so now I don't free range unless I can be out with them.