Sorry about your ducks, that is an awful feeling finding them missing in the morning. I started my hobby farm last September with 11 Cayugas and by December was down to 2. I had to learn the hard way about coyote, bobcat, and raccoon here in rural Florida. I absolutely agree with PurpleSquirrel, keep trying. I have learned alot and have ordered another 20+ ducklings scheduled to arrive from Metzer Farms next week.
Here is what I had to learn the hard way:
I researched the footprints of the predators in the area and know exactly what coyote, bobcat, and raccoon footprints look like. From there I can tell the paths they take around the property, where they jump over or dig under the fence into my property, who comes around the most and at what times.
Coyote and bobcat grab a bird and go leaving nothing behind. I lost my last duck to a raccoon that was able to reach in through a gap in the door to the duck house and eat the parts he could pull through the gap. I have rebuilt the door of the old house and since have built a bigger pen for the 20+ ducklings on the way.
Speaking of this new quack shack, the bottom 2 feet are wrapped in 1/2" galvanized metal mesh with metal poultry netting higher up and out of coon reach. It is somewhat mobile and sits on the ground, so I stack landscaping timbers and stone around the bottom edges to at least deter anything from digging underneath.
I can tell from the way my Golden Retriever acts each morning (smells, marks his turf) if something was on the property recently and where it was.
What the wife calls "leftovers", I call "bait"! I have a handful of snares and coil spring traps set in places where I find the footprints. Coil spring traps are nasty, probably going to snap the leg of the coon or coyote. I'll feel bad about it, but not as bad as losing a duck. I have yet to catch anything, but after leaving some old meatballs out recently, saw coyote footprints within inches of one of the traps. It's only a matter of time. Here in Florida, coyote are pests and legal to kill all year round.
I don't leave the ducks out after dark. I used to put them in their house late evening, around 11pm, but found that the coyote would adjust their schedule as well. The good thing is, the ducks know their curfew and are near their house by dusk.
I plan to have all ducks trained to be at or near their pen by the time dusk rolls around, that way I'm not herding them from far and wide. I also call my ducks when I feed them to train them to come when I call. My duck call sounds like this, "Where's them ducks?" and they quack and come running. Silly, but it works. The city folk side of my family think it's hysterical.
I expected to lose a few ducks from time to time, I just didn't expect to lose so many this past Fall. Hopefully as the females mature, they will provide replacements for any future losses.
I also expect 20+ ducklings are going to draw the predators, so I have to be extra cautious until they are full grown. I don't plan to let them wander the acreage during the day like I do with the adults. Maybe include a few late night/pre-dawn perimeter patrols. I'm told if I can kill a coyote (and other predators I assume), it may be months before another moves into it's territory.
I'm still new at hobby duck raising as well, so if anyone has any suggestions I may have missed, please let me know.
Rich
Here is what I had to learn the hard way:
I researched the footprints of the predators in the area and know exactly what coyote, bobcat, and raccoon footprints look like. From there I can tell the paths they take around the property, where they jump over or dig under the fence into my property, who comes around the most and at what times.
Coyote and bobcat grab a bird and go leaving nothing behind. I lost my last duck to a raccoon that was able to reach in through a gap in the door to the duck house and eat the parts he could pull through the gap. I have rebuilt the door of the old house and since have built a bigger pen for the 20+ ducklings on the way.
Speaking of this new quack shack, the bottom 2 feet are wrapped in 1/2" galvanized metal mesh with metal poultry netting higher up and out of coon reach. It is somewhat mobile and sits on the ground, so I stack landscaping timbers and stone around the bottom edges to at least deter anything from digging underneath.
I can tell from the way my Golden Retriever acts each morning (smells, marks his turf) if something was on the property recently and where it was.
What the wife calls "leftovers", I call "bait"! I have a handful of snares and coil spring traps set in places where I find the footprints. Coil spring traps are nasty, probably going to snap the leg of the coon or coyote. I'll feel bad about it, but not as bad as losing a duck. I have yet to catch anything, but after leaving some old meatballs out recently, saw coyote footprints within inches of one of the traps. It's only a matter of time. Here in Florida, coyote are pests and legal to kill all year round.
I don't leave the ducks out after dark. I used to put them in their house late evening, around 11pm, but found that the coyote would adjust their schedule as well. The good thing is, the ducks know their curfew and are near their house by dusk.
I plan to have all ducks trained to be at or near their pen by the time dusk rolls around, that way I'm not herding them from far and wide. I also call my ducks when I feed them to train them to come when I call. My duck call sounds like this, "Where's them ducks?" and they quack and come running. Silly, but it works. The city folk side of my family think it's hysterical.
I expected to lose a few ducks from time to time, I just didn't expect to lose so many this past Fall. Hopefully as the females mature, they will provide replacements for any future losses.
I also expect 20+ ducklings are going to draw the predators, so I have to be extra cautious until they are full grown. I don't plan to let them wander the acreage during the day like I do with the adults. Maybe include a few late night/pre-dawn perimeter patrols. I'm told if I can kill a coyote (and other predators I assume), it may be months before another moves into it's territory.
I'm still new at hobby duck raising as well, so if anyone has any suggestions I may have missed, please let me know.
Rich
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