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Help: I have no idea what predator is ravaging my flocks. Two weeks ago, I had 4 Khaki Campbell ducks, 7 young pullets, and then my flock of full-grown hens and roosters (they haven't been affected though.
The ducks are in a huge area with a pool and 6-7 foot tall fence and posts. It's an orchard-type area, and they have a small fenced area, which is covered on both sides and on top as extra security in the far-side with a little hut. I put them in the small fenced area at night for security. I've had raccoons get into their feed and eggs and had to deal with that, but nothing has ever bothered my actual ducks for years. I usually assumed they were too big for predators to bother with, or too sheltered.
The young pullets I have are a few months old. I have some fully-sized sex-links, and then some young looking white leghorns and a Welsummer. They are in an area down by my house, with a fence that is 4 feet high and a coop. They'd recently started to fly out, and I was planning to put netting up, but because they could fly in and out with ease, and were usually sheltered from predators in the woods, I didn't worry too much about it.
About a week and a half ago, on Wednesday, June 6th, one of my female ducks disappeared. I was shocked, not only because nothing had ever bothered my ducks before, but also because it was like she just vanished. No feathers, no footprints, no blood. The predator must have come from above. Twice, I thought I heard her quaking, but I never found her, no matter how hard I looked. I again planned to put netting over the ducks but hadn't gotten to it.
From June 10th - June 16th, I was gone for a seminar. My sister took care of my chickens and ducks. Apparently, on June 13th, exactly a week after my duck went missing, one of my Leghorns disappeared. Those were the ones that were always jumping out, so I assumed something got it in the woods. Again, no trace of predators. My sister then put them all in the chicken tractor for safety. They were in there for two days, day and night, with no problems.
When I came home two days ago on Saturday, June 10th, I took them out of the chicken tractor and watched them closely. I put them away in the coop one night when I spotted a raccoon, but I concluded the raccoon was just after the eggs in the coop.
Last night:
I put the ducks away as usual in their enclosed area. The young chickens had put themselves away in the chicken tractors, and because it was late at night, I just secured the chicken tractor and called it good.
I woke up this morning when my sister came in saying only two of my young chickens were in the area. They must have found a way out of the chicken tractor because the two Sex-Links left were in the area, not the tractor. The four gone, it was like they just vanished. It was hard to believe they were all gone, they are so hard to catch and skittish, so it's hard to believe that a predator got all of them. Maybe they, at least a few, were just lost. So I started looking around for them.
I went up the hill to where my ducks and my older chickens were located. I saw a duck inside the large area, and thought that was odd, since I put them in the smaller enclosed area. They had been known to escape the small area before, but very rarely, so I wasn't too concerned. But upon closer inspection, I realized that there was only one duck in the area. Two of my ducks were gone! Again, no trace of the predator.
6 birds gone in one night! That seems unbelievable. I almost called the police to report a kidnapping it seems to weird. I'm relocating the duck to another home since she's the only one left, and the pullets will move in with my other chickens I guess.
Any experience with a predator like this? I can't believe it's the same one, in two different areas, that can get over fences and leaves no trace. I put the chickens and ducks away at about 9:30 last night, didn't realize they were missing until 10 this morning.
We're located in the wildness of east-central Minnesota on the border of Wisconsin. with a ton of different predators - coyotes, raccoons, hawks, owls, etc. This is the first major problem I had with this big a number of birds. I've had a rooster taken, tons of feathers left behind, and a chicken taken out of a chicken tractor with the head left behind. But nothing like this, so sleek and silent.
Anyone care to guess what the heck is going on?
Help: I have no idea what predator is ravaging my flocks. Two weeks ago, I had 4 Khaki Campbell ducks, 7 young pullets, and then my flock of full-grown hens and roosters (they haven't been affected though.
The ducks are in a huge area with a pool and 6-7 foot tall fence and posts. It's an orchard-type area, and they have a small fenced area, which is covered on both sides and on top as extra security in the far-side with a little hut. I put them in the small fenced area at night for security. I've had raccoons get into their feed and eggs and had to deal with that, but nothing has ever bothered my actual ducks for years. I usually assumed they were too big for predators to bother with, or too sheltered.
The young pullets I have are a few months old. I have some fully-sized sex-links, and then some young looking white leghorns and a Welsummer. They are in an area down by my house, with a fence that is 4 feet high and a coop. They'd recently started to fly out, and I was planning to put netting up, but because they could fly in and out with ease, and were usually sheltered from predators in the woods, I didn't worry too much about it.
About a week and a half ago, on Wednesday, June 6th, one of my female ducks disappeared. I was shocked, not only because nothing had ever bothered my ducks before, but also because it was like she just vanished. No feathers, no footprints, no blood. The predator must have come from above. Twice, I thought I heard her quaking, but I never found her, no matter how hard I looked. I again planned to put netting over the ducks but hadn't gotten to it.
From June 10th - June 16th, I was gone for a seminar. My sister took care of my chickens and ducks. Apparently, on June 13th, exactly a week after my duck went missing, one of my Leghorns disappeared. Those were the ones that were always jumping out, so I assumed something got it in the woods. Again, no trace of predators. My sister then put them all in the chicken tractor for safety. They were in there for two days, day and night, with no problems.
When I came home two days ago on Saturday, June 10th, I took them out of the chicken tractor and watched them closely. I put them away in the coop one night when I spotted a raccoon, but I concluded the raccoon was just after the eggs in the coop.
Last night:
I put the ducks away as usual in their enclosed area. The young chickens had put themselves away in the chicken tractors, and because it was late at night, I just secured the chicken tractor and called it good.
I woke up this morning when my sister came in saying only two of my young chickens were in the area. They must have found a way out of the chicken tractor because the two Sex-Links left were in the area, not the tractor. The four gone, it was like they just vanished. It was hard to believe they were all gone, they are so hard to catch and skittish, so it's hard to believe that a predator got all of them. Maybe they, at least a few, were just lost. So I started looking around for them.
I went up the hill to where my ducks and my older chickens were located. I saw a duck inside the large area, and thought that was odd, since I put them in the smaller enclosed area. They had been known to escape the small area before, but very rarely, so I wasn't too concerned. But upon closer inspection, I realized that there was only one duck in the area. Two of my ducks were gone! Again, no trace of the predator.
6 birds gone in one night! That seems unbelievable. I almost called the police to report a kidnapping it seems to weird. I'm relocating the duck to another home since she's the only one left, and the pullets will move in with my other chickens I guess.
Any experience with a predator like this? I can't believe it's the same one, in two different areas, that can get over fences and leaves no trace. I put the chickens and ducks away at about 9:30 last night, didn't realize they were missing until 10 this morning.
We're located in the wildness of east-central Minnesota on the border of Wisconsin. with a ton of different predators - coyotes, raccoons, hawks, owls, etc. This is the first major problem I had with this big a number of birds. I've had a rooster taken, tons of feathers left behind, and a chicken taken out of a chicken tractor with the head left behind. But nothing like this, so sleek and silent.
Anyone care to guess what the heck is going on?
