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Oklahoma | I am in the same boat. Lost 13 Muscoveys ducklings in the last two weeks same exact description. Ran out one night when the dogs were barking and couldn't find anything anywhere. Penned up the remaining 8 on Friday night so I would have some to sell on Sat. Sat morning got up and in the pen were 2 that were dead and 3 had the neck wounds. Sold the 3 healthy ones and have been working to keep the remaining 3 alive. I have been setting a big livetrap and "rigging" it so it is more sensitive. Two nights the varmit has gotten in the trap and got the bait but not tripped it. My parents lost several call ducks in the same manner a couple years ago. They said it was skunks reaching through the fence and killing them. I haven't smelled a skunk yet. I am just about convinced that mine is a racoon since it had to climb in the pen to get these and there isn't a skunk smell. It isn't anything flying because my experience is that owls/hawks carry off the carcass (we have had several just dissappear during the day and I think that is flying critters). I also have my pen set up where nothing can fly into it. I have searched for tracks but have yet to find any that are recognizable.
What has me puzzled is we have chickens and ducks running together, as of yet we haven't lost a full grown duck or any sized chicken to the predator, only ducks that can't fly. Reason I say that, a friend once killed a fox that was getting in the duck pen by feeding a chicken strycenine gopher bait and the fox eating the chicken. Apparently chickens won't die but will keep the poison in their crop. I can't even do that because this isn't killing the chickens.
The only answer I have is try to pen up the ducks in a house of some kind every night. Since Sat. I have locked ours up in the chicken house and haven't lost any more. Problem is that last night I couldn't find two of them at dark to pen them up. I will almost bet that they had a run in with something last night. | |
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ducks are getting killed
