Pekin ducks died a gory and unexplainable death.

[JaciAlyssa]

I hatched two Pekin ducks. They were kept inside a cardboard box inside a large dog kennel with a square of wire over the box. In a cardboard box next to them was a chick who was older and bigger than the ducklings. They were fine, sometimes the chick would push the wire square into the box and he'd get in with the ducklings but nothing ever went wrong. I went in today and the wire is pushed in to the box and both ducklings are dead. One has a large opening in his abdomen and his intestines are string all over the pen. The other ducklings bill is a red/purplish hue but he has no wounds to indicate why he died. They have a heat lamp on them. I have absolutely no clue as to what happened unless this chick killed them. Any ideas?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Where were they located? Coop, your house, barn, garage....

 

[citymeetscountry]

Did the square of wire have sharp edges?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

How old were the ducklings? How old is the chick?

 

[JaciAlyssa]

Did the square of wire have sharp edges?

It did.

 

[JaciAlyssa]

How old were the ducklings? How old is the chick?

The chick is about a month old. The ducks were maybe a week and a half.

 

[JaciAlyssa]

Where were they located? Coop, your house, barn, garage....

In the house

 

[-Clementine-]

Is it possible that the one of the duckling cut itself on the sharp edges? If the cut was deep enough, the blood would have made the chick go and peck it until it died. Is there blood on the chick's face/neck/beak area?

 

[JaciAlyssa]

Is it possible that the one of the duckling cut itself on the sharp edges? If the cut was deep enough, the blood would have made the chick go and peck it until it died. Is there blood on the chick's face/neck/beak area?

Not that I noticed, and he's white so it would be noticeable. The start of his intestines was in the chick's box and was wrapped throughout the wire. I have absolutely no clue how that makes sense. And even if it was the case that the wire caused it, what happened to the other duckling? This is such a crazy situation and it's frustrating

 

[-Clementine-]

Not that I noticed, and he's white so it would be noticeable. The start of his intestines was in the chick's box and was wrapped throughout the wire. I have absolutely no clue how that makes sense. And even if it was the case that the wire caused it, what happened to the other duckling? This is such a crazy situation and it's frustrating

Could the other duckling have killed it? Do you have any cats?