Raccoon attacked our Ducks

[whiteybird]

p.s. did they recommend benadine or betadine?

 

[Miss Lydia]

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!

That's great she seems to be doing so well, infection is the main thing to worry about and making sure she can find her way around, How many of your ducks survived the attack?

 

[Mell62]

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(Annelise97's Mom)

We have a dog run, but not secured enough around a tree, where I had to replace some tarp for winter protection. They live in a converted play house, which is completely critter proof. We lost Penelope about two weeks ago and thought the dog had done it by mistake, she is the chicken guard. I didnt put 2 and 2 together and realize it was the raccoon. Sage was the one who brought it to my attention. Anyhow, we are in the the foothills of Colorado, you cannot kill them, or trap them as they may have a litter. I sprinkled cayenne pepper all along the fence, as recommended by animal control. I had done this at a previous house and the coon never returned. I just acquired another dog run, and weather permitting we will be getting this fully secured. Inca is still hanging in there, M (007) is doing well but is limping, can't find anything wrong, so I figure muscle sprain. The girls were outside in the duck yard and that's where the attack happened. They are locked in the duck house before dusk, and I don't let them out until I've checked the yard and I ensure its all clear and the morning darkness is gone. It was at 630am when this happened. Unless I see that she is unhappy, We will give her the best life she can have. M, her sister is still a little unsure, she had a couple of scratches on her neck, which are healing nicely. This raccoon was just awful, I fully understand nature,however she just full on murdered them, not taking anything with her. Now on a happier note, we have some ducklings getting ready to hatch any day now. We'll have something to make up for the two we lost. You'll like this one, our cochin, fluffy is the one in charge. She is kept in the greenhouse with the duck eggs. Fluffy was always being picked on by Cashew, so we gave her a place of her own, Then one day we found her nesting on the duck eggs, so we let her keep them.​

 

[Mell62]

We lost 2 ducks out of four, Cashew was the drake. The previous week we lost Penelope, the RID

 

[brood mother]

This had lead me to ask questions!!! I have four ducklings that are 2.5 weeks and still in a brooder in my living room. We have been trying I decide how we wanted to build their house area. We have a good size pond about 100-125 feet from our front deck. We hope they will call this pond theirs.

My husband wants to build their house out in the middle of pond above water? Said that is safer from predators??? Is that true? I was thinking that they should have an enclosure.

Would they automatically go to bed when it started to get dark? Would a raccoon or fox or opossum swim out there to get them??

Would love for them to have there own "pond" front property if they'd be ok

 

[Miss Lydia]

This had lead me to ask questions!!! I have four ducklings that are 2.5 weeks and still in a brooder in my living room. We have been trying I decide how we wanted to build their house area. We have a good size pond about 100-125 feet from our front deck. We hope they will call this pond theirs.

My husband wants to build their house out in the middle of pond above water? Said that is safer from predators??? Is that true? I was thinking that they should have an enclosure.

Would they automatically go to bed when it started to get dark? Would a raccoon or fox or opossum swim out there to get them??

Would love for them to have there own "pond" front property if they'd be ok

Training them to come off the pond at night would be best so they can be locked up for protection, alot of preds swim and for duck dinner they would probably do the back stroke, raccoons, foxes, coyotes ,bobcats etc all swim also before you let your ducks out on the pond make sure there are no snapping turtles in there because they will bite off feet and even eat ducklings.

Build you pen and ducks house on land and teach them to come in before dark by training them with tasty treats that they only get at that time of day, and always feed them their feed inside their fenced pen so they have to go in there to eat.

 

[Mell62]

Its Povidone iodine, the generic for the betadine, or whatever its called. Its day five since the attack. M is getting back to normal, and is quacking and chattering again. Inca is doing great, though she probably will never quack again as I'm sure this is instinct since she cannot see. I give them a nice sponge bath in the tub and they are very happy for that. We have trees in their yard, which makes it a bit tricky to secure. I'm going to Habitat and look for metal pieces that you use for heating ducts. I'm going to cut them so they look like a flower with the sharp ends pointing up. This way I can secure the wiring around the tree without hurting the tree. We have a 1500 gallon pond , and the ducks took to it right away. The little pond in the pictures is for winter, since the big one freezes up. The ducks and chickens always put themselves to bed. However right now, we shoosh them in earlier just to be safe. We realized the raccoon had opened up the duckhouse door the wednesday before the attack I thought my husband had let them out when he went to work, but he didnt. We now are wiring the switch latches closed in the lock position. I'm going to get a second more secure lock on all the doors. yesterday, 3 of the eggs Fluffy has been sitting on hatched. She became a "Dexter" when they first started to peck their way out so we put them in the bator to hatch. They are doing great and have a stuffed animal with them for "momma" comfort. I will get some pictures up on everything when I get a chance.