addctd2plnts
Songster
Welcome, and I'm sorry for your loss. The first thing to do when you have a predator attack is to shore up your protection. How did the predator get the duck? If you are free ranging, the predator now knows where the easiest meal is and it will come back every day till all the ducks are dead. We use mobile covered walk in pens and move them every day, but they come with chicken wire and you must use hardware cloth instead on all sides and the top. We made predator aprons that we can snap up to the sides when we move it and put them down after we are done moving. It seems like this is the best of both worlds because they can still have fresh grass and bugs daily but be protected. If you don't have many aerial predators you could use Electric netting, but it needs to always be electrified and it needs to be tight without sagging. It's still helpful to have things ducks can hide under if Hawks are around.
As far as getting more ducks, I'd look on Cragslist or Facebook will have pages for the upcoming poultry shows. On those pages some of the duck breeders sell their extra ducks. There's a show in Highland Illinois coming up September 10th. You need to arrange ahead of time with the breeder if you want to buy ducks. They usually won't bring ducks to the show unless they have buyers already arranged, although you might get lucky. Here's the info. Click on the links for more info: https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Il_Mo_Poultry_Club.html Here's the Facebook page for the show: https://www.facebook.com/groups/464803170212480 Just post and ask for pet quality and the sex you want. Most reeders will only sell pairs but for pt quality they may be more flexible. They may be more expensive than Craigslist, but you'd know they were coming from people who truly care for their ducks and give them the best care, so they are healthy. I've heard horror stories about buying off Craigslist.
As far as getting more ducks, I'd look on Cragslist or Facebook will have pages for the upcoming poultry shows. On those pages some of the duck breeders sell their extra ducks. There's a show in Highland Illinois coming up September 10th. You need to arrange ahead of time with the breeder if you want to buy ducks. They usually won't bring ducks to the show unless they have buyers already arranged, although you might get lucky. Here's the info. Click on the links for more info: https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Il_Mo_Poultry_Club.html Here's the Facebook page for the show: https://www.facebook.com/groups/464803170212480 Just post and ask for pet quality and the sex you want. Most reeders will only sell pairs but for pt quality they may be more flexible. They may be more expensive than Craigslist, but you'd know they were coming from people who truly care for their ducks and give them the best care, so they are healthy. I've heard horror stories about buying off Craigslist.
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and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
lots of useful knowledge and advice on here and everyone trys to assist with any questions or queries. I'm sorry yo hear about your duck ul find another but doesn't matter if takes a bit of time ur duck maybe grieving but she shouldn't die
