Raccoon attacked our Ducks

[Annelise97]

So this morning when I was getting ready I went out to the coop to find a angry raccoon in our coop. The damage had already been done

Some of my girls were outside the pen somehow freaking out, and some of them didnt make it, My Drake Cashew included

After catching the ones that did make it I found poor little Inca, our Cayuga female, and she is missing both her eyes. I cant afford a trip to the vet, or she would for sure be there. My main concerns are if she will make it with home antibiotics and if a blind duck will be able to live out the rest of her life. She has a friend that has been leading her around, but Its just so heartbreaking to watch and i'm worried sick about her.

 

[SouthernPride]

How aweful. Hope you took care of that coon. I would think she would be ok as long as an infection does not set in. Coons have all sorts of parasites, virus and such. If she has a buddy that can help her out and she is always contained, she will be fine. Poor babies. Poor you. So sorry this happened.

 

[Annelise97]

Thank you. I flushed her wounds and wrapped her head, and have her in a quite spot to relax a little. Besides that shes blind now, she seems to be doing fine.

 

[nicole camp]

I don't mean to sound horrible, but it's best to put the duck down...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you. I flushed her wounds and wrapped her head, and have her in a quite spot to relax a little. Besides that shes blind now, she seems to be doing fine.

Go to TSC and buy Vetericyn spray for wounds and infections it can be sprayed directly into the eyes and is very safe. This duck if she pulls through will never be able to free range and you'll have to keep her feed and water in the same place so she will always be able to find them, also putting another duck with her she will bond to will help her get around better once she recovers. and i hope you have reinforced their pen and house so this won't happen again. Predators are relentless in their pursuit of our flocks it's up to us to do all we can to keep them safe. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[whiteybird]

I completely disagree, unless you can see that your duck has become depressed from losing her sense of sight, or seems off in any other way that would indicate a loss of loving life, I don't see a reason to put her down. I know this is barely tangential at least, but if you were blinded but otherwise pretty much okay, would you want to give up on life?

I had a couple coon attacks last summer, and in the last one they horribly injured one of my hens but she was still alive; had a massive neck would (bone visible on the back of her neck), a gash on one leg. I flip-flopped between putting her out of her misery and nursing her back to life...long story short she's been back out with her buddies in the run for the past 5 months, limps slightly and there's still a scab on her neck but otherwise she acts like it never happened.

It's hard to understand animals when they can't convey their feelings to you, but I vote for keeping her alive until you think she doesn't want to be alive anymore.

So sorry you have to go through this!

 

[Amiga]

I would give the duck a chance to recover. Miss Lydia has a good idea.

 

[SouthernPride]

I had a blind goose, born that way. He was fine as long as he had his buddy with him. Keep yours contained though, mine was killed by a predator because he wasn't contained.

 

[Annelise97]

Our local chicken store recommended the same spray as Miss Lydia and The vets we called suggested Benadine solution. She started swimming by herself today which was a relief on our part. The Coon didn't come back but I doubled over all our fencing so she can't get back in. Thank you everyone fir your advice!

 

[whiteybird]

what kind of fencing do you have? chicken wire, welded wire, hardware cloth, chain link? In my opinion the only one of those that will keep predators out is the welded wire, which typically is only 1/2" or 1" square. The other openings can be large enough for a baby to get in, and if it's started learning to hunt...!

does your fence go down into the ground at all or does it just meet ground level? Raccoons looove digging holes...before we built our run we just had a 2"x4" welded wire fence keeping the chickens from making the other 2/3 of our yard look like WWII, and soon after we built it we found that something (coons, possums, etc.) had dug their own entrance into the yard under the gate. where the welded wire fence went into the ground there were no holes.

p.s. they can easily rip through wooden lattice.

pps. don't know where you are but many townships allow for the killing of predators such as raccoons if they threaten livestock or pets...so if you have the gumption set a trap and get rid of it!