What bites heads off baby ducks?

[BayBay Peepers]

Do you have a trail cam you could put up?

 

[desertdarlene]

Ducklings are extremely vulnerable to predators, it's always good to put them in a safe location at all times. I don't know chickens as well, but I've seen where chicks seem to feather out and have some flying ability at a young age. Ducks can't do any flying at all until they're almost two months old. So, all they can do is run away. If they get caught by surprise, they might not be able to get away.

In the wild, the mother duck keeps extra vigilant and will warn her ducklings of danger or even try to defend them. Even then, most ducklings will die unless she's very alert and protective. Since you are now mama duck, you have to protect them and make sure you bed them in a safe place.

 

[Amykins]

Pretty much any predator can and will bite the head off a duckling. It could even have been an ungulate like a deer, cow or goat.

Now that I think about it that may even be a higher likelihood, since a normal predator would simply snatch the duckling away. Baby birds are often a favorite target of hooved herbivores. They crave the fatty acids and other proteins that are in brain matter and since baby birds are about the only things they can catch....yeeeeaaah.

 

[Onlyducks]

I had about sixty baby ducks and now I'm down to about sixteen. Almost all the babies I've found have had their heads gone. A few were even skinned and gutted but not eaten have found a couple that were half grown. What would do this? Some are just tiny and I would think anything would be able to carry them off. So frustrating!!!

Sounds like a cat. They do the same thing to rabbits. You may have to build a pen with multiple sections. I keep having to add "compartments" to my pen due to sitting females, adding ducks, etc. It's a pain, but it can preserve the duck herd.

 

[Amykins]

Sounds like a cat. They do the same thing to rabbits. You may have to build a pen with multiple sections. I keep having to add "compartments" to my pen due to sitting females, adding ducks, etc. It's a pain, but it can preserve the duck herd.

Or maybe even a hawk or owl? I've seen them eat the heads off of adult ducks and leave the rest of the carcass. Either way, you need to protect your ducks!