What would you do?

[dermefel]

So I had 7 Buff ducks (5 females, 2 males) that had been raised together since December. Things were going great, eggs were dropping, one had gone broody, and was sitting on some eggs that would have hatched this Wednesday. Yesterday morning everything went pear shaped as we awoke to find that a raccoon had gotten in the pen overnight and killed 5, ate 3 of the eggs, and wounded one of the remaining 2. It was carnage to say the least. I had to put the wounded male down as he was badly injured, So now I am left with one very lonely female, who I think was able to hide during the attack, as she is unscathed except some scrapes on the top of her head, which I think came from her crawling under a wood ledge that was in the coop.
She is clearly looking for her flock and is wandering around fairly dazed. She has eaten a little, and I added some electrolytes to her water.
My question is, what do I do with her now. I have a few 12 week old Welsh Harlequins in another pen. Would you add her into their pen? I also have a few week old ducklings that I wondered if I could try and put with her.
What do you think would be the best option? Thanks for any assistance.

 

[PeanutnCashew]

oh no!! I am so sad for her

I would predator proof asap..

maybe put one of others with her at first, let them bond.

I am no expert, but prob what I would do.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

What PeanutnCashew said. Are your other pens better predator resistant than the one the raccoon already got into? If not, you had better get them that way in a hurry. If that raccoon knows it can get an easy meal at your place, it will be back.

As to your lone duck, I would put her in with the juvenile Welshes and watch to see what happens. If chaos and confusion happen and do not cease, I would try the buddy system that Peanut suggested. Or, you could use some wire and give the Buff a small area of her own where they can all see one another. It takes a few days sometimes for things to iron themselves out...so be watchful for anyone being hurt, but patient at the same time.

Good luck getting rid of that raccoon and integrating your duck into a new flock.

 

[dermefel]

Thanks for the info. Honestly, we work pretty hard to predator proof all of our pens. These ducks are out in our fields in hoop house style tractors wrapped entirely in hardware cloth. The ground got a bit wet in one area, and the ground wasn't entirely level which gave the predator an opportunity to dig in.

I will try and see if I can get her to merge into the other group entirely over the next few days.

 

[PeanutnCashew]

If you dont mind, post your story here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ks-save-somebody-else-from-the-bad-experience


it may help someone to know how the " predator" got in , sound like you had really tried to keep them safe..