What predator would kill ducks, but not eat them??

[Katsbaloo]

Thank you! Now that I have a better idea, I'll set some traps.

You can trap and kill all night long but more will move in! The only way to keep animals safe for both owned and wild is to fix your coop or cage to where they can’t get in.

 

[Karsak]

I would guess pretty much any predator.

That's helpful

 

[Karsak]

I would guess pretty much any predator.

That's helpful, how about some useful information next time.

 

[mcdze]

its nice to know what it is, but truth is, at night, it really could be several things ..ive had possums kill chickens and not tear them up .. dogs will do that but not likely they would go after roosting chickens .. most everything else will tear them up even if they leave them laying there .. bottom line is you need a plan to deal with night predator problems once they surface, because likely theres '10' predators hanging around for every one you think there is .. ive shot over 20 possums at my coop just this year, lost several birds to them as well, true story .. think- night vision and motion detectors

 

[landgirl1775]

martens , fishers, minks in upstate NY beheaded all my ducks, the neighbors show chickens (very expensive), a friend's ducks. All to show dominance and to say "our turf". none of the dead were used as food. Came home today and a pile of feathers under a bush was all that remained of 1 of my female mallards. Looked as though she was completely defeathered. No body to be found. A teaspoon of blood. My African geese have stopped the foxes from wiping out the ducks this year. 2 adult geese are fabulous watch dogs and very very protective. A contingent of turkeys (20) has been sharing the ducks food for a couple days. Today 3 turkeys were on the deck and a pile of feathers on the ground. I tend toward a turkey or 2 killing the mallard. Will send a message to the turkeys in the A.M. Have a good evening.

Hi, this post is old so I hope you get my reply. Would you say this is common in upstate NY? My duck was just killed in central Indiana. My mom (in upstate NY) says her friend has kept ducks for years and has never lost one. I suspect she's the exception to the rule.

Also however, I'm planning to move to upstate NY to be closer to my mom so I'm also interested in husbandry tips for that area. What did you wind up doing about the terrible slaughter you described above? Thank you!

 

[landgirl1775]

its nice to know what it is, but truth is, at night, it really could be several things ..ive had possums kill chickens and not tear them up .. dogs will do that but not likely they would go after roosting chickens .. most everything else will tear them up even if they leave them laying there .. bottom line is you need a plan to deal with night predator problems once they surface, because likely theres '10' predators hanging around for every one you think there is .. ive shot over 20 possums at my coop just this year, lost several birds to them as well, true story .. think- night vision and motion detectors

What have you done to fortify your coop -- do you do the buried wire and electric fences etc? I don't have these. Getting ready to move soon so I will look into that at the next location.

My duck was just killed, but I hadn't "put her in" yet for the night. I had given up on trying to make the duck go in before sunset, and would just put her in after dark, when she would be more agreeable about it.

I'm starting to wonder about an extended enclosure with netting over it, and only letting the birds out when I'm 100% around up to duck bedtime. I had always thought of this as overkill.