TheWimmah
In the Brooder
- Dec 23, 2022
- 7
- 24
- 29
Hello all, had to deal with a predator recently and wanted to make a post about it. All the ducks are currently ok! Not even a scratch by the grace of God. In any case, reading through years and years of "duck wisdom" and new duck owners' experiences has been invaluable to my wife and I as we have raised our 5 ducks, and I want contribute to that.
I'll keep it relatively brief.
The wife and I currently both work. After work, we had been coming straight home to put up our ducks; but the earliest we could get home was after sunset. Following advice I found from many posts on this forum, I (1)- installed a motion detector light on the front of the coop (2)-brightly lit the rest of the backyard. I had been planning to build a predator proof run at some point, but we don't live in a rural area and thought getting home an hour after sunset was unfortunate, but it seemed like the best we could do at the time.
Even with a well lit backyard, motion light, and dog in neighbor's backyard, I found a possum in the very well lit doorway of the coop when we got home around 7pm (we are in TN, in early February). The ducks were on the other side of the yard, staying clear of said possum. I dispatched it immediately and checked the ducks for injury (again, no injuries.)
I called off work the next day and set up a very rough, but predator resistant run over the weekend. It is built with pallets, wrapped with machine fabric, and has a perimeter with an electric fence around the outside. I also leave a small radio playing talk-radio when we will be home late, and recently have setup some traps. Squirrels keep eating the bait without setting off the trap, I will have to figure this out soon... And I intend to build something more permanent asap.
Hope that will be useful information for some of you, also happy to hear any advice you might have.
I'll keep it relatively brief.
The wife and I currently both work. After work, we had been coming straight home to put up our ducks; but the earliest we could get home was after sunset. Following advice I found from many posts on this forum, I (1)- installed a motion detector light on the front of the coop (2)-brightly lit the rest of the backyard. I had been planning to build a predator proof run at some point, but we don't live in a rural area and thought getting home an hour after sunset was unfortunate, but it seemed like the best we could do at the time.
Even with a well lit backyard, motion light, and dog in neighbor's backyard, I found a possum in the very well lit doorway of the coop when we got home around 7pm (we are in TN, in early February). The ducks were on the other side of the yard, staying clear of said possum. I dispatched it immediately and checked the ducks for injury (again, no injuries.)
I called off work the next day and set up a very rough, but predator resistant run over the weekend. It is built with pallets, wrapped with machine fabric, and has a perimeter with an electric fence around the outside. I also leave a small radio playing talk-radio when we will be home late, and recently have setup some traps. Squirrels keep eating the bait without setting off the trap, I will have to figure this out soon... And I intend to build something more permanent asap.
Hope that will be useful information for some of you, also happy to hear any advice you might have.
