The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We do, like I wrote, we just don't have raccoons... Or I thought that we didn't, @WannaBeHillBilly is suggesting otherwise and he may be right. Which is troublesome. Because in my view a raccoon is more stealthy and more dexterous than a drunk village boy causing trouble on a dare, and probably also more than a sober one.

Raccoons are stealthy and intelligent opportunists. And they have the tools to put their intelligence to use, their paws have thumbs, which allows them to open simple bolts and locks for example.
Raccoons are of greater concerns to me that foxes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good morning / evening folks

Spend a few days in the hospital and come back and be 20+ pages behind.

Happy Birthday @Canadian Wind have a wonderful day!

Sorry to hear you were in the hospital Bob sure hope your okay and enjoying good health moving forward.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Arr sorry brain read it wrong. Foxes here will snatch and run if they know they may get caught staying too long. They are scarely smart. Only takes a week for them to work out a dog on a chain can't stop them.

I have seen a fox here only once, early in the morning before i let the ducks out. Tried to scare it away by yelling, whistling, obscene gestures and throwing sticks and rocks at it. Just stood at the rim of the forest and stared at me…
But when i picked up a broomstick and aimed in its direction it turned around and ran. They know what a rifle is!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We use to be covered up with Raccoons even in the daytime they would come around then about 10 yrs ago we had a rabies epidemic and wiped out a big majority and so far they haven't made a big comeback. It was so bad that the gov dropped bait with the rabies vac in it. Did it again last year too.

Good Sunday Morning and Evening to each and every one of you.
Pouring rain here.

That is one of the reasons why i do not want to have any raccoon around here!
Raccoons are infectious before the typical rabies symptoms (strange walk, excessive salivation, aggressive behaviour, …) appear.

I need to fix my perimeter fence asap!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Good morning / evening folks

Spend a few days in the hospital and come back and be 20+ pages behind.

Happy Birthday @Canadian Wind have a wonderful day!

I hope nothing serious?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh yes we had rabid raccoons here my dh had to shoot one in broad daylight very scary. Then another time a deputy sheriff was called because of a break-in down the road from us and he had to shoot one.
We even had rabies in cows not far from here never heard of that before. Ground hogs and coyotres too.

I am hoping they never come back like before the rabies epidemic.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Soo...

** A story about xenophobic ducks **

Since one of our ducks was taken by a mysterious stranger in the night we went out to get another one.

Had 6, then down to 5, we now have 8. This must be the duck math I hear so much about.

The breeder that we got the new 3 from is not such a boutique operation as our original source... He keeps about 200 ducks of 5 breeds. We did not get a bunch of sisters like originally. Instead the 3 ducks seem to be of different ages with the older two being likely 3 to 3 and a half months old vs. our main flock of 4 and a half. The smallest youngest new duck is maybe 2 months old... Confirmed later on.

We asked specifically whether any trouble was to be expected when joining up the ducks. Naaaah no problem said the guy. Okay.

We originally wanted the new and the old group to spend half a day next to each other but separate. But both groups upon hearing and seeing each other immediately wanted to come together.

However, when we opened the gate between paddocks, there was immediately a problem with all our older ducks ganging up on the poor junior - jumping over her, pecking at her, even sitting on her... We packed her back into the transport cage (very roomy, intended for large dogs).

She was very stressed, spent an hour or two just lying down not doing anything. Eventually she recovered, drank some, washed her head, ate some soaked grain and lettuce, checked and rearranged her feathers... We then let the other ducks approach the cage while keeping watch.

This seems to work - while they occassionally peck at her through the bars, she does not seem to be bothered; continues to stand up, drink, eat, fluff her feathers... Event wants to squeeze through the bars to join the flock and peeps at them to call them close.

We don't think this is a good idea today since the first contact went so badly - we'll keep her in the cage inside the house tonight. Tomorrow we plan to make a small wire enclosure and keep her in there over the day, then maybe over the day retry the contact. In the evening we take the measure of the situation and decide whether another day like that is warranted or do we risk putting everybody in the duck house overnight.

The other two new ducks were bullied to some extent (pecked at, hopped over, pushed away from water / grain) but nothing to that degree. The older one even started pecking back. I rearranged water and grain containers in such a way that there were 2 of each at every "feeding station" throughout the orchard - so that if the old guard crowded out the newcomers, they would still have an option while staying with the flock. This worked fine.

Since the junior seems so young and we are not sure what to believe about the level of care she received so far we will be adding peas and brewer's yeast to her meals and see how far we can come on that.

It takes a couple of days for the flock to establish a pecking order and usually the smallest duck draws the short straw.
Offering water and food at multiple stations is the right way to go and don't show the flock that Junior receives special treatment. Ducks have a long memory when it comes to treats…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh yes we had rabid raccoons here my dh had to shoot one in broad daylight very scary. Then another time a deputy sheriff was called because of a break-in down the road from us and he had to shoot one.
We even had rabies in cows not far from here never heard of that before. Ground hogs and coyotres too.

I am hoping they never come back like before the rabies epidemic.

Crossing fingers!

Rabid cows? - Don't cows go mad? - I know another story… Never thought that cows can catch rabies, but they are mammals after all. No idea how a rabid cow would behave though and i'm not making rabid jokes. That disease scares the carp out of me! No cure! ☠

 

[Supercow]

It takes a couple of days for the flock to establish a pecking order and usually the smallest duck draws the short straw.
Offering water and food at multiple stations is the right way to go and don't show the flock that Junior receives special treatment. Ducks have a long memory when it comes to treats…

In your opinion, should the junior stay separate for a while or not? Maybe not over the day / but yes overnight / any other combination?

We were really worried that she would get hurt with everbody ganging up on her. She's just that much smaller and not even fully feathered in the way our original ducks are. Let's say she has a "hatchback tail"

 

[Supercow]

Oh yes we had rabid raccoons here my dh had to shoot one in broad daylight very scary. Then another time a deputy sheriff was called because of a break-in down the road from us and he had to shoot one.
We even had rabies in cows not far from here never heard of that before. Ground hogs and coyotres too.

I am hoping they never come back like before the rabies epidemic.

Wow. When was that? Zombie apocalypse for animals