What is killing my ducks?

[Oblio13]

Happens at night:

 

[sourland]

I've had kills like this carried out by Great Horned Owls.

 

[Oblio13]

Just found another dead Muscovy. The head and neck were missing, and everything else was pretty much just a skeleton, eaten except for the wings and feet.

 

[Oblio13]

Update. Big massacre last night. 11 ducks missing, 6 dead with injuries to their necks.

There are ten survivors, and every single one has an injury to the back of its neck. I'll be surprised if all of them recover, a couple are in pretty bad shape.

Three of the dead ones were stuck in chain link fence where something tried to drag them through.

I don't think an owl would kill that many in one night. I don't think it was a critter that climbed over the top of the fence, because it's now got a hot electrical wire along the top. I don't see anywhere where something dug under the fence. I think it was a critter that went through the chain link.

I'm thinking mink. It would fit through a chain link fence, and it would be strong enough to drag a duck. I've seen weasels around, but I don think one would be strong enough to drag ducks. We have fishers, too, but I don't think one would fit through chain link. Ditto for raccoons.

 

[ikoCRO]

Mink 100%

 

[McChooky]

You need to put all live birds in a safe place & set a trap! Whatever it is will be back.Sorry for your loss!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

To have so many missing and killed or injured in one night, is it possible the original predator came back with reinforcements and this was the work of multiple perpetrators? I've heard tales of entire flocks being wiped out, which gives rise to the idea that mink, weasels and the like go on killing sprees, killing "for fun," when perhaps such mayhem is actually the work of several animals, not just one crazed individual?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I’m sorry for your losses
Do you have a secured building to put them at night ?
If not I would recommend putting hardwire cloth around the chain link
This way they couldn’t fit through
Adding hot wire to the ground
Just a few suggestions to maybe keep any more birds left safe
Nighttime is the most scary for predator attacks and the ducks can’t see as well at night

 

[Oblio13]

Update: it was indeed a mink. He came back for seconds and I caught him.

Also, I got my favorite drake back. A neighbor down the street told me there was an injured "Canada goose" under his deck. I went and looked, and sure enough. He’s pretty beat up and he was very hungry and thirsty, but he’s recovering.

Now my problem is that I lost all my hens but four, and I have four drakes.

 

[McChooky]

Update: it was indeed a mink. He came back for seconds and I caught him.

Also, I got my favorite drake back. A neighbor down the street told me there was an injured "Canada goose" under his deck. I went and looked, and sure enough. He’s pretty beat up and he was very hungry and thirsty, but he’s recovering.

Now my problem is that I lost all my hens but four, and I have four drakes.

Congratulations catching the mink before it killed them all! We have weasels that'll do the same thing.