Talk about bittersweet...

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you. Not a single thing, frankly it was a dog after exhaustive research on foxes no way could one have grabbed the 1yo drake, he was huge the distance traveled to great and the fact "whatever" it was led clear back to my neighbours across the river.

The ducks are all in the dog yard which is um, interesting to say the least.. I open my back door and there is a duck! We did have the yard partitioned but with the girls they just flew up & over to see what was on the other side. It's risky with the dogs in there, i know but they just aren't interested they have seen them on the other side of the fence forever and had many a duck fly in and toddle about the yard, honestly they are at less risk in here than out there...

Of coarse none of this will work long term, it's awful moving the birds.. they want out, they want in their barn.. i could go on but yeah, you get it

I need to sell off some birds and try and figure out some sort of fencing to go 'round their barn and to give them some room of their own without dogs as companions lol

I hope you can do all the above,. But I hope you can find homes and get your fencing up and get back to normal some what. Maybe when your outside you can let them out a bit. I know since the hawk made himself known to me anyway the other day I am much more cautious about letting mine out. I know I'll still let them have foraging time but I will supervise. If you have tracked it down and know it's a dog, can you talk to your neighbors and be honest with them? Maybe they really don't know their dog did this and will make sure he is kept up from now on. Some folks just don't care but hopefully most do and will make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[Going Quackers]

I hope you can do all the above,. But I hope you can find homes and get your fencing up and get back to normal some what. Maybe when your outside you can let them out a bit. I know since the hawk made himself known to me anyway the other day I am much more cautious about letting mine out. I know I'll still let them have foraging time but I will supervise. If you have tracked it down and know it's a dog, can you talk to your neighbors and be honest with them? Maybe they really don't know their dog did this and will make sure he is kept up from now on. Some folks just don't care but hopefully most do and will make sure it doesn't happen again.

I can't really risk them being out even if were there, as they tend to separate and scatter about... We did speak with the neighbour after the first drake disappeared, even if it was one of theirs no way would they admit it. We are barely acquaintances despite living here 20yrs. Sadly, it will be on us to fix the issue.

For this year we will fence an area around the barn coming up to the garage so it includes the cedars and apple tree area they adore.. perhaps next year we can afford to do more.. as it is this will be a struggle to come up with, i have a lead on some fence but i have to wait till we get paid and then see if it's still available.. I'm going with a classic farm fence and then we will use boards around the bottom and some cheap wire to reduce the size of the squares.. i am checking a used classified daily to see if a better deal comes along, i have to grab hay on Thursday so i may even ask my hay guy if he knows of any used fence, he is a beef farm.

I hope i can find good homes for the remaining boys, i feel bad but they cannot stay .. sigh, it'll get sorted somehow but what a hassle.

I'm sorry a hawk has 'found you' that would be quite worrisome, that is why my chickens are penned to light and small they'd be gone in a moment sadly, fortunately they know nothing else the ducks know just the opposite.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I can't really risk them being out even if were there, as they tend to separate and scatter about... We did speak with the neighbour after the first drake disappeared, even if it was one of theirs no way would they admit it. We are barely acquaintances despite living here 20yrs. Sadly, it will be on us to fix the issue.

For this year we will fence an area around the barn coming up to the garage so it includes the cedars and apple tree area they adore.. perhaps next year we can afford to do more.. as it is this will be a struggle to come up with, i have a lead on some fence but i have to wait till we get paid and then see if it's still available.. I'm going with a classic farm fence and then we will use boards around the bottom and some cheap wire to reduce the size of the squares.. i am checking a used classified daily to see if a better deal comes along, i have to grab hay on Thursday so i may even ask my hay guy if he knows of any used fence, he is a beef farm.

I hope i can find good homes for the remaining boys, i feel bad but they cannot stay .. sigh, it'll get sorted somehow but what a hassle.

I'm sorry a hawk has 'found you' that would be quite worrisome, that is why my chickens are penned to light and small they'd be gone in a moment sadly, fortunately they know nothing else the ducks know just the opposite.

Sounds like a good plan for starters, believe me ducks adapt. and you'll be able to have peace of knowing they are safe.

 

[Going Quackers]

Sounds like a good plan for starters, believe me ducks adapt. and you'll be able to have peace of knowing they are safe.

This is true, cruddy part my fence lead fell through, they sold it.

so now i'm looking again.. i swear i may become desperate and have to strip the fencing off my one side.. i just don't think we can come up with the cost of brand new fence(hundreds) at least not this month.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is true, cruddy part my fence lead fell through, they sold it.

so now i'm looking again.. i swear i may become desperate and have to strip the fencing off my one side.. i just don't think we can come up with the cost of brand new fence(hundreds) at least not this month.

Aww thats a bummer.

 

[Going Quackers]

Aww thats a bummer.

Thanks, i just used binder twine(1001 uses there) to map out the area that we want to fence.. basically 150ft is needed... that is using part of our dog yard fence... and part of the garage... this would cover a decent area and give them the access to their barn and behind the chickens run which is behind cedars that tower into the sky.

Now how to find affordable fence. I can get 21 gauge 1" chicken wire that is 5ft tall... Although i know the evils of this stuff i wonder if it would be enough to keep out a dog, it's tall enough to keep the birds in whereas farm fence averages only 4ft which is NOT enough plus the squares/openings are too big and would have to be reduced... I am desperate lol

 

[LydiaB]

Full size ducks can use sheep/goat fence. We got 330' of Red Brand new for $200. It is 4' high with 4" square holes. With fence posts we ended up spending $300. I put it up for goats, but it holds the ducks too. Just not the MSA's. You will have to make a gate, it should be cheaper and the ducks can't get out.