What killed my ducks????

[hartjurney]

On Tuesday I came home to a horrible sight! I had three dead ducks and three injured ducks!
I live in the country... but in a neighborhood.
It happened in daylight... and I have a small dog...
The ducks have an enclosed pen... but they have the run of the backyard during the day...
I can not figure out what got them... Their injures were not all the same... I have an enclosed
yard with a 6 foot privacy fence... I know about flying prey... but... I just don't think that was it...
None of the birds were taken away...
I have a plan for the future... but I really would like to know what happened... Raccoons? (I know they are in the neighborhood... but I have never seen them. I have neighbors on both sides and behind me... No one saw a thing or heard anything...
Worried for the future!

 

[esther5]

poor you. do you have foxes? when foxes come to my garden in broad daylight even, the dogs who bark at visiting dogs and humans, remain silent. foxes kill a bunch then leave them and return to collect the kill later. i too thought i was safe with my 6 ft fences but if you look at you tube you can see how they climb fences like cats. it is so upsetting. just happened to me again too.

 

[hartjurney]

I have never heard of us having Fox in the area/neighborhood... I am in Western Washington!

 

[GryffindorChick]

Your problem may be a coyote. They can jump really high and climb the rest of the way up a fence, and they do live in Washington, so that may be him. Sorry about your Ducks I have a few myself and I would hate to loose them.

 

[hartjurney]

We do have coyotes in our neighborhood... I have never seen them on my street... But neighbors always post when they are seen... and this was done during the day!
My next door neighbor just told me that she was painting an upstairs bedroom and looked out several times... and saw the ducks... but nothing going on! She did hear my dog bark... but not a warning bark... Would coyotes come out during the day? And why would they leave 3 alive????

 

[GryffindorChick]

Unfortunately I have seen them out during the day, as for why they left three alive I don't have a good guess. They may have just been playing with them, but I am not sure. Were there any tracks around your run or their pen?

 

[Ducklover2]

We had a coyote in our backyard in broad daylight once. They are bold.

 

[hartjurney]

Unfortunately I have seen them out during the day, as for why they left three alive I don't have a good guess. They may have just been playing with them, but I am not sure. Were there any tracks around your run or their pen?

I did not see any tracks!

 

[RatchetRev]

Coyotes come out all times of the day and chances are it was a lone Male, of it was a coyote. Not being in a pack they tend to be a bit more bold when they hunt. As for as why not all got killed or there bodies taken away? Idk. Could be that it got spooked and some birds were faster then others, hard telling.
Sorry for your loss tho. I had a fox reak havoc on my last flock.

 

[hartjurney]

Well... I wish I knew for sure... Whatever it was... it left 3 injured ducks in plain sight...
They are on the mend... Thanks for info!