Please Help--Our Ducks Were Attacked-2 Dead, 1 Injured

[chickensioux]

Quote:
We bought our hot wire from Lowes. It works well on raccoons. If your little girls touch it, it hurts!!!! Really bad. I accidentally grabbed ours and my hand felt like it had been hit with a hammer for about 15 minutes afterward.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Bananarose24]

Update---Went to Lowes, bought everything we need to make them a 12ft x 6ft enclosure. Wood, The hardware cloth that is galvenized metal. Their house will go inside. There will be a top on it. The fence will go 6-12 inches deep into the ground. It should wind up being pretty safe. We spent more than we really could, but, we need to make them safe or neither of us will be able to sleep at night.

And we will be getting electric fence tape to electrify just part of the fence at night time. We have to order it online since the stores here do not carry it, though we will try the tractor supply store tomorrow.

We brought the injured duck inside earlier, cleaned her wounds with iodine, put on some neosporin and wrapped her broken wing. She is definitely resilient if she has lasted this long! Her break is EXTERNAL, the bone is sticking out, so, I dont know how well it will be able to heal. I really think it needs to be amputated, but, we cannot afford to take her to a vet so I'm not sure what to do. We will check on her tomorrow and see how she is doing.. The other duck is just fine with No Injuries. So, we have 2 ducks remaining.

I'm worried about the injured duck, she is very unbalanced and falls over very easily, but, she seems to be doing alright considering everything she has gone through..

My husband and I are both feeling better, emotionally drained after lots of crying and such..but we are over the shock of the whole situation..
I did wind up telling my daughter what happened, though she did not fully understand. But, that is fine.

Thank you for all the help and suggestions, please keep them coming.. We are learning as we go.. and we are definitely very attached to these 2 girls and I want to make their lives safe from here on out as best I can.

 

[pascopol]

It is also important to take an offensive stance against predators, if there is an overpopulation they will get hungrier and sooner or later they will find their way to get your birds.

Set traps, and take care of'em. I cleaned my area from most vermin in last few years, and even there was no signs of breaching security of my property this season, I always keep a set trap with tasty bait in case some marauding traveler will try to get taste my birds.

 

[chickensioux]

Regarding the broken wing, if there is any way to gently manipulate the wing and get that bone back under the skin it has a better chance of healing. Clean the wound and then rewrap. If you think it needs to be amputated, there is plenty of help with that you will be able to find in the injuries section. People can walk you thru it if nec. Watch for infection (swelling, smell, pus, etc.) You can also go online and order Baytril which is an excellent antibiotic but pricey.
Good luck with your new enclosure and the injured baby.

 

[Bananarose24]

The wound is clean--we used Iodine and wrapped it up. It has been 6hrs since then, and the bandage has stayed on with no trouble.
She is calm in her house with her sister, I got them both to drink some water from a syringe earlier..

Thank you for the suggestion Chickensioux--I just put a post up in the injuries area. I didnt even know that area was there!
We also found a rescue that we are going to call in the morning to see if they can offer any help, maybe look at her, etc...

Also---we are located just outside of BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. If anyone lives within an hour and a half of us and has FEMALE MUSCOVIES they are selling or giving away--- Please let me know.

We would like to get 4 more so we have 6 total. I think this would be best for warmth in the winter and general companionship.
PLease Please contact me if you have any!!! Thank you for all the help!!!

 

[chikky]

Lots of great safety ideas already posted. One thing we had happen when using a chain-link dog kennel was that the bend in the door area was large enough (appx. 2" or a little less) that a small coon could slip in. We made a custom door (rectangular, no curved edges) that fit much tighter to the kennel. Made from hardware cloth and chain-link fence posts. Our entire poultry area has no holes larger than 1/2" (after several losses, I got really paranoid).

Exception being that the top of my enclosure has chicken wire (ugh) covering it all (overlapped) with tarps on 2/3 of it. I'd like to replace it all with hardware cloth but will probably tarp the entire top for this winter and make the wire replacement a project for spring.

 

[maralynn28]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, I can imagine how heartbroken you are. My ducks were attacked this weekend by a roaming dog (no idea where it came from). They are badly injured but have survived so far. I am also new to this and don't know how to care for their wounds. I just keep telling myself that I am lucky they are alive, I'm sure you feel the same about your survivor. I wish the best for you and your ducky, I hope you are able to get your baby some company.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
I'd use the cattle-strength charger myself...if anything wants in, it can ride the lightning.

 

[tia]

So sorry for your loss. I hope your little one heals okay. It sounds like you have a secure home in the making - that is good.
We don't have too many small critters around town here... but I worry about black bears a lot.

 

[jacyjones]

You have received a lot of help since I posted - we use chicken wire here very successfully but I know you need more extreme protection than we do in the UK. I hope your duck survives and you get a really strong set up. My husband is in the local shoot here and they use electric fencing to protect their pheasant pens very successfully from foxes - they use a battery as it is away in field. I am crossing my fingers for you.