Predator proofing duck pen

[Sue S]

I'm getting ready to start predator proofing my duck pen again, I thought I had it well protected before but something ( we think a raccoon ) was able to get to my 2 ducks & kill them so i'm putting up extras this time so nothing can get to my littles ones once I put them in there. I'm putting up hardware cloth & i'm looking into buying the NiteGuard Predator Lights has anybody ever used them do they work?????

 

[llombardo]

Were they in a run or in a house? I'm getting ready to get this all together and I'm gathering ideas to incorporate into my plans.

 

[Sue S]

both we have a little house attached to a completely fenced in run, we had chicken wire around the run & the top, the ducks liked to sleep along the sides of the run instead of sleeping in their house & it looked like the raccoon ( were thinking that's what is was ) reached threw the chicken wire & got them cuz they were pulled half way out of the wire. My advice get 1 inch hardware cloth, it's thicker & the holes are a lot smaller. i'm putting this over the chicken wire as double protection.

 

[llombardo]

What I was considering was hardware cloth around the bottom of the run and house plus another wrought iron fence with hardware cloth on that around the house and enclosure. I will have enought wrought iron pieces to go around the whole run(chickens/ducks seperated). I will put that hardware cloth on both sides of iron fence plus on the enclosure if need be. I am hoping that will be to much work for them. Ducks will always be locked in house at night.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Use as much hardware cloth as you can afford. That's all I can say. Chicken wire sucks. The one thing it can be useful for is adding a predator apron on the ground around the perimeter of your run and or house so it is harder for anything to dig in. It is safer to lock them up in their house at night if that is something you can manage. If you do this consistently they will learn to go in on their own eventually But it sometimes takes a while. And if you stop doing it for a while they will start sleeping outside again

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I'm getting ready to start predator proofing my duck pen again, I thought I had it well protected before but something ( we think a raccoon ) was able to get to my 2 ducks & kill them so i'm putting up extras this time so nothing can get to my littles ones once I put them in there. I'm putting up hardware cloth & i'm looking into buying the NiteGuard Predator Lights has anybody ever used them do they work?????

As far as the predator lights are concerned. . they may deter predators for a while. . but my guess is that they will just get used to it.

 

[Sue S]

Has anybody ever used nite guard predator lights????

 

[skywen135]

I have lost 6 of 7 ducks within the past 2 weeks.....been an awful experience !! Just as you think you've got it under control, they find another way !! We have buried wire around perimeter of cage so nothing can tunnel under. Treated 6x6's on ground with dog kennel legs drilled into 6x6's. Had to put 2ft chicken wire around bottom perimeter as one duck last year got pulled through the kennel wire so now that is impossible. Also have netting covering entire top. Was good for a year until the raccoons figured out how to squeeze between the kennel and the netting as I left too big of a gap. So now got 1/2" hardware cloth and attached all the way around top perimeter, leaving approx. 6-8 inches overhanging so they can't get on top of the cage and bite through the netting. I still plan on putting chicken wire all the way across the top of the kennel over the netting as extra protection !! Keeping fingers crossed that this will be enough.

 

[llombardo]

Geez, I never thought they would be this bad.

They bit through the netting?

I'm really considering putting one of my dogs right in the pen after they are locked up. Someone mentioned getting those silhouettes that look like coyotes? I was considering getting owls to keep skunks away.

 

[skywen135]

Geez, I never thought they would be this bad.

They bit through the netting?

I'm really considering putting one of my dogs right in the pen after they are locked up. Someone mentioned getting those silhouettes that look like coyotes? I was considering getting owls to keep skunks away.

They haven't bit through it yet but I'm not going to take the chance !! They squeezed between the top of the kennel wall and the netting I zip-tied around the top...left too big of a space between the zip-ties...now rectified !!! Caught one of the buggers !!