Men will be men? Graphic talk!!!!

[terrilhb]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
Relocating only puts your problem onto someone else. I live in town and I plan to dispatch any raccoons that mess with my hens.

Well you can't "dispatch" a raptor (hawk, owl, etc.) I think you have to call the fish & game to have THEM relocate for you.
Plus, it's not the animals' faults. They're doing what's natural to them, not their fault you have a "Mcdonald's" in your backyard

We ask around and some of our neighbors don't mind coons & badgers, etc. in their yard (no chickens) so we move them there (farm land areas)
If you live in the city, you can call animal control & they'll relocate 'em for ya!

Best bet is to coop the birds up & build fort knox lol

Here if you trap them call animal control they will euthanize them. Relocating an animal to a new place means that animal is out of its territory into to someone else which means it has to fight for everything. No I can't shoot a hawk or owl, But I know fish and wildlife won't release a raccoon any where they will kill it. Why they carry diseases and they are over populated I live in a town and we have so many raccoons. If I catch a stray cat it takes a trip to the animal shelter also. Just the way things are handled here.

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

I don't really know much about ducks, but perhaps you should put the Muscovy somewhere else and see if more dead ducks turn up. Perhaps he's innocent. Maybe he looks proud because he fought something off

 

[little_grey_bantam]

You said you CAN shoot a hawk or an owl? Better check that or you could be in trouble. Last I check, you can't shoot raptors, let alone own feathers, etc. etc. etc.

For me, I wouldn't hesitate to kill a FERAL cat. Why? They're invasive, overpopulating and can also carry disease? Why waste the money & gas to bring a feral cat up to the pound where it'll probably be put down anyways?

Coons are a bit different, they are overpopulated in town.

I guess we live on farmland. I still think the best way is to build fort knox. The only way you as a human can really protect your birds. lol

 

[sawmane1]

Why did you name this "men will be men"? Did i miss something?

 

[mtngrl812]

Quote:
I don't know what part of the country you live in but it sounds like you have a fox and she might have kits or kits on the way. Once the easy ground targets are gone she/he will start on the small chickens then move on to the larger fowl. Your guard dogs must being taking too many coffee and donut breaks

Are they being so active during the day they are sleeping too much at night? Maybe your dogs are getting older and you need some younger dogs added to you mix?
At a boarding stable that I worked at we had a large fox wipe out a flock of nine chickens in 2 days, then 4 ducks were gone in another two days. The ducks were hard for the fox to get because they only came on shore to eat as far as I could tell and I would feed them during daylight hours. Once some else start feeding only ever couple days and they had to forage more they started disappearing. The chickens were kept in a "coop" made of wire and a wood top. The wire had holes big enough for the goats to fit through. I could fix it all I wanted but with out the correct material the goats would just destroy it again. We know it was a fox because more than one person saw it at night. They reported it as a big fox, the same size as my miniature schnauzers, which are not very small dogs. I wouldn't find a feather one unless I went out searching far off in the pasture, then maybe I would come across a few feathers and bones.

Your sudden onset of a critter killing off your flock is probably someone dumping off a pest in your area, relocating! If you do trap and relocate, by sure to take the critter far from others, in an area where it can survive; IE wetlands, forest, fields .... something similar to your place with wild flocks, otherwise it will only come back to your area. If it is a momma, you need to find the kits, cubs, hatchlings... what ever they are so they don't die off too. Maybe it would be better the get a more active dog, build a safe coop, or bring everyone in the house at night

(Now there's an idea!!)

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Bobcats prefer ducks over chickens or guineas as well

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
Meant can't missed it on proof reading my grand daughter fell while I was typing. I never said I would shot I said dispatch which means call animal control living in town I can not legal fire a gun. The animal control officer can have a police officer shoot the raccoon. That is what they do here. I have to trap the feral cat and have it taken to the pound its the law. I did built a fort knox pen and coop I have not lost any to predators except my sons new puppy our fault not the dogs. I am also making plans for when I have my farm I don't want someone relocating a animal to my area why would I do that to someone else plus once a raccoon is caught they are trap smart which makes them much harder to catch if they get into someone else's birds. I have read as many threads on this topic and see that people throwing animals into an area that they don't know can harm the animal just as bad if not worse then just shooting the animal. I figured it was better to have a plan in place instead of waiting until it happens and not know what to do. JIMO

 

[neenerbutt92]

As far as the relocating....I live in the middle of nowhere, woods around our about 200 acre farm. There are plenty of places I could take whatever it is that would be very far away from human interaction. I've been coon hunting and well that completely changed me! Awful stuff, like catching a raccoon letting dogs bark at it for hours then letting them go (then they think they are free), then shooting the poor thing in the foot so they fall out of the tree and letting young dogs "try" to kill it. Needless to say that changed me sooo much!

The name comes from the drake, wondering if he killed the hen.

The problem with building a pen, is I'd have to get my dad to do it....and knowing his fencing a mouse could touch it and knock it down! Plus he would never build it big enough. I guess I'll just start penning them at night.

This should be fun since they've never been penned before and hate being near people!

I'll also try to trail cam and if I see the culprit I'll try live human trapping and relocating to a place it will be happy and far away from humans, then I'll let the birds free again and put up the trail cam every few weeks to keep and eye on my duckers.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I seriously doubt the muscovy drake had anything to do with the hen's death. Much more likely he was trying to protect her after the predator left.

In some states it is illegal to relocate a predator. Even if legal, many have a territory FAR larger than you might imagine. For example, a coyote's territory is at least a 20 mile radius; that is over 1200 square miles! You would need to reocate it at least 50 miles away, and even that may not be enough. A permit to shoot or relocate raptors is VERY difficult to acquire.

Since you don' yet have pen building skills, and you say your father's are poor, it sounds like time to find someone who can build a strong, sturdy enclosure and have htem teach you. One of the first requirements is adequate materials.