OMG! My duck has been mutilated!

[SouthernPride]

Loosing your ducks to predators is heartbreaking but when we allow them to free range then it's going to happen. I let mine out during the day and lock them up at night. I have lost 6 so far this year but I know it's going to happen. I know that sounds cruel but keeping them penned up is cruel as well in my opinion. In the past it has been raccoons, coyotes and fox. This summer my nemices is bobcat!

 

[coolguy221822]

Loosing your ducks to predators is heartbreaking but when we allow them to free range then it's going to happen. I let mine out during the day and lock them up at night. I have lost 6 so far this year but I know it's going to happen. I know that sounds cruel but keeping them penned up is cruel as well in my opinion. In the past it has been raccoons, coyotes and fox. This summer my nemices is bobcat!

They free range during the day and go in the pen at night. Its just to protect them from what ever killed my Rouen. But they were terrified the other night.

 

[Tinque]

It is not a waste of time to do anything positive in this world !
As has been suggested and I want to repeat, pallets are amazing. If you look on You Tube you will find information on how to build an enclosure very easily. I apologize for not mentioning this earlier. The items you have purchased will be perfect along with the pallets and I also recommend hardware cloth for the bottom couple feet. I actually dug down a couple of feet and buried my chicken wire because as I have seen ,yes, they come up from under. ( I frequently have to secure areas around perimeter because they are hard at work at night trying to get in and they come back until they are in or you detour them and keep closing it up with "do not enter" cement path pavers or whatever. They do get it , but perseverance is big with the lovely predators...
Big Rocks work great around perimeter to keep animals out as well.
There are LOTS of how to videos on You Tube.
I also suggest you do not leave food out to entice any unwelcome guests.
One other thing is, out of empty cans or whatever, you can make some dangling noise deterrents around the area.
Just read they had a good night..How nice..
Now you probably need a nap !

 

[Tinque]

Yes the Bobcat..
Ours has taken 2 of my flocks.. I agree, to keep the animals in ,is , in my opinion as well, not where I would want to be.. I free range when someone is home , but still have lost a couple. Our Bobcat actually knocked me out of my chair while I was hanging out with the geese . It was like the big tumbleweed black and white Charlie Brown thing all fast and spinning.. He has looked me straight in the eye not more than 5 feet away and showed me his prize of the day..my hen and I swear , smiling. I have tried to tell him that I would happily give him some food if he would leave my girls alone , but no.. not as much fun.
The drought has really caused a lot of predators to come and help them selves. It is devastating for sure. I woke up on the day of my birthday ( which we had set tables and decorated with white table clothes and flowers ) to a complete massacre of my flock. I forgot to lock the pen the night before.
I cried and surely did not look my best for my party but life goes on and hopefully we learn from our mistakes.. Luckily lots of other people have made them and can advise us so we can avoid a few..

 

[SouthernPride]

A bobcat that is so comfortable being around humans like that needs to be dealt with. I'm a Wildlife Rehabilitator and if we get in a wild animal that has been desensitized to humans like this we are encouraged to put the animal down. Wild animals need to remain wild for their own safety and that of our domestic animals and children. I'm not telling anyone that they need to kill it, but you need to encourage that animal to go somewhere else. We have only seen this bobcat once and had an opportunity to shoot it but the sight on the rifle was off so we missed it. Everyone in the house breathed a sigh of relief but we don't want him coming back for more.

 

[Tinque]

I did call the local animal control and the wildlife preserve. I was told if they come get it, they will kill it not relocate it.
I live on a 45 acre wildlife preserve. I just need to keep on top being with them when they are free ranging and keeping things secure at night.
This bobcat is very young and bold. Beautiful. Looks like my domestic cat. We had a a mountain lion on the compost pile for a while, a few years ago had a cougar in the tree and the fox sunbathe on the down trees right off the driveway..
Its a menagerie.Beautiful...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I did call the local animal control and the wildlife preserve. I was told if they come get it, they will kill it not relocate it.
I live on a 45 acre wildlife preserve. I just need to keep on top being with them when they are free ranging and keeping things secure at night.
This bobcat is very young and bold. Beautiful. Looks like my domestic cat. We had a a mountain lion on the compost pile for a while, a few years ago had a cougar in the tree and the fox sunbathe on the down trees right off the driveway..
Its a menagerie.Beautiful...

Sounds lovely, I like the thoughts of living with nature and still keeping my flock safe after all we all belong here.

 

[coolguy221822]

A second egg was laid, and they survived! Are the eggs safe to eat?

 

[microchick]

So people live where predators abound and show no fear of humans as they randomly decimate your livestock (and yes, chickens and ducks around us are considered livestock) to the point that they come around you in broad daylight and you let your birds free range because from what I've read it would be cruel to lock them up in a pen?

Freaking amazing, IMHO.

Bobcats and cougars that do not fear humans are not something you want around your property. Reserve or not, you do not want a wild animal not to fear you. It will eventually figure that it is okay to attack humans, pets and other livestock because it has not developed a healthy fear of humans. This is why the game wardens will destroy the predator rather than relocate it. Relocated it will just resume it's 'normal' behavior of feeding off of what ever livestock it can find.

Around us, everyone, even the Amish, have at least a 30 caliber or a shot gun sitting by every outside door of their house and they are prepared to use them if a Bobcat, cougar or other predator has the bad sense to go after any of their live stock. Not keeping your birds, sheep, cattle, horses, or what ever you have safe from harm is like taking a toddler out of a play pen and letting it play unsupervised next to a busy freeway.

We have a two story coop that has cost us the whole sum of 25 dollars, that amount being in hardware and nails. It is otherwise 100% repurposed material that we had on hand from other building projects. We built it off the ground, no chance of anything digging in, surrounded it with kennel panels and hot wired the run to keep predators out.

I would much rather spend money to build a cheap coop out of pallets and whatever I can find laying around to keep my birds safe and keep them penned up than suffer the horror (not to mention the terror and pain the animal suffers in an attack) of finding one of our flock torn to pieces by a predator.

Sorry for the rant and if I stepped on anyone's toes, but this kind of stuff just ruffles my feathers the wrong way.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So people live where predators abound and show no fear of humans as they randomly decimate your livestock (and yes, chickens and ducks around us are considered livestock) to the point that they come around you in broad daylight and you let your birds free range because from what I've read it would be cruel to lock them up in a pen?

Freaking amazing, IMHO.

Bobcats and cougars that do not fear humans are not something you want around your property. Reserve or not, you do not want a wild animal not to fear you. It will eventually figure that it is okay to attack humans, pets and other livestock because it has not developed a healthy fear of humans. This is why the game wardens will destroy the predator rather than relocate it. Relocated it will just resume it's 'normal' behavior of feeding off of what ever livestock it can find.

Around us, everyone, even the Amish, have at least a 30 caliber or a shot gun sitting by every outside door of their house and they are prepared to use them if a Bobcat, cougar or other predator has the bad sense to go after any of their live stock. Not keeping your birds, sheep, cattle, horses, or what ever you have safe from harm is like taking a toddler out of a play pen and letting it play unsupervised next to a busy freeway.

We have a two story coop that has cost us the whole sum of 25 dollars, that amount being in hardware and nails. It is otherwise 100% repurposed material that we had on hand from other building projects. We built it off the ground, no chance of anything digging in, surrounded it with kennel panels and hot wired the run to keep predators out.

I would much rather spend money to build a cheap coop out of pallets and whatever I can find laying around to keep my birds safe and keep them penned up than suffer the horror (not to mention the terror and pain the animal suffers in an attack) of finding one of our flock torn to pieces by a predator.

Sorry for the rant and if I stepped on anyone's toes, but this kind of stuff just ruffles my feathers the wrong way.

What you said makes alot of sense it is our responsibility to protect what we have . I love the fact that we have Blk bear, bobcat, raccoon, mink, coyote etc but I do not want them killing and dismembering my flock or my dogs so I have made sure we have sturdy fencing and secure housing for everyone. If one goes after my flock or pets then I will take care of the problem I am not going to leave my flock out thinking just because I haven't seen evidence of preds they aren't here. Why they have coyote in New York city.