Pekin Ducks and Rooster missing

[Acantrell4311]

I have had 2 ducks disappear one at a time the past couple of days. It has happened during the day. Today I have a rooster missing but this time there was a pile of feathers by the coop. They free range so they run around the yard. Any guesses?

 

[Chookchicken]

Sounds like a hawk (I could be wrong). Most other predators I know will kill more then just one bird per visit. If the predator knows it can get an easy meal it will most likely continue returning. For your chickens I’d start by building them a covered run. They’d need to stay in there until you can be sure that the predator has left. As long as it knows there is food it will keep returning. I’m not sure what to do about the ducks since I don’t keep any and don’t have any experience keeping them safe from predators, there are plenty of members who can help you with this though.

 

[Acantrell4311]

Sounds like a hawk (I could be wrong). Most other predators I know will kill more then just one bird per visit. If the predator knows it can get an easy meal it will most likely continue returning. For your chickens I’d start by building them a covered run. They’d need to stay in there until you can be sure that the predator has left. As long as it knows there is food it will keep returning. I’m not sure what to do about the ducks since I don’t keep any and don’t have any experience keeping them safe from predators, there are plenty of members who can help you with this though.

We are going to leave them in their run and set some traps. I turned the sensitivity up on our game cameras.

 

[McChooky]

My guess is you have a fox nearby. Hawks can carry their own weight but anything any much heavier would probably be dropped . Roosters can weigh 7-12 lbs. It wouldn't hurt to do a search in the area. A Red Tailed Hawk can carry off a small chicken but a large bird like a rooster would have to be eat on the spot or carried off in pieces. A search will give you clues to whats getting your birds . A fox carries their prey back to the den.

 

[McChooky]

My guess is you have a fox nearby. Hawks can carry their own weight but anything any much heavier would probably be dropped . Roosters can weigh 7-12 lbs. It wouldn't hurt to do a search in the area. A Red Tailed Hawk can carry off a small chicken but a large bird like a rooster would have to be eat on the spot or carried off in pieces. A search will give you clues to whats getting your birds . A fox carries their prey back to the den.

PS. I could be wrong too.

 

[Acantrell4311]

PS. I could be wrong too.

It was a young lavendar orphington Roo. The Pekin ducks are super fat and waddle. They seem to look heavy but I've not ever picked one up. We will find out what it is soon enough. We are surrounded by cow fields. It's hard to canvas the surrounding area.

 

[McChooky]

It was a young lavendar orphington Roo. The Pekin ducks are super fat and waddle. They seem to look heavy but I've not ever picked one up. We will find out what it is soon enough. We are surrounded by cow fields. It's hard to canvas the surrounding area.

A Coyote or Bob cat either one would have no trouble carrying off either the ducks or the rooster.A fox would have to eat some as it if it had to carry it very far...it couldn't climb over any tall fences with anything that big.

 

[McChooky]

Found this on another thread and took a screenshot !Hope it helps!

Hawks , how much they weigh and how much they can carry.

 

[Acantrell4311]

Found this on another thread and took a screenshot !Hope it helps!

Hawks , how much they weigh and how much they can carry.

I'm going to nix the whole hawk idea. Literature says those ducks weighed 7-9lbs. They just vanished. Nowhere for them to go with any predator other than under or over a barbed wire fence

 

[McChooky]

Hawks would return several times in order to carry off a Pekin Duck or Rooster
(piece at a time)