Predator attack on my free range ducks

[KrisK]

I arrived home last night for what I thought would be a nice start to the weekend...but my friend (chicken farmer, hunter and taxidermist) was here - that's odd, I think.

Then DH tells me, that one of my ducks is dead and that 7 are missing. My friend is baffled...if it's a coyote attack, then where are all the feathers?? We searched, and searched. We found one duck in the tall grass - one of my babies. We saw another one flying like there was a demon after her....at least she's alive. The other 5 are still missing - hopefully they are hiding out.

My friend did an necrospy on Dixie..she felt she may have been shot. She now believes it was dog attack. This makes sense to me, since Dixie was dead under the only tree in our yard which is right beside the house. A coyote would have taken her to eat. Coincidentally, the neigbour's horses (this is the neighbour with the kid that threw my duck eggs) are in my field. They have a dog that attacked Don Juan a couple of years ago) The neighbour swears to DH that it wasn't his dog. I don't know what to think...sigh...I sure hope the MIA ducks return It's pouring rain now, so I'm waiting to go looking for them again.

 

When DH came home from night shift, he thinks we should look into a guardian dog. I do think one would be in order when I get some sheep...but now I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get one sooner. Any thoughts from those of you who have LGDs?

[silhouettestable]

No input on the LGD's but I hope your other ducks return unharmed. I had a neighbour's dog go after my chickens one day back in the early summer but luckily I was home and ran out and he took off. I went and told the neighbour and he's never been back. He injured one chicken bad enough that it died but when the others scattered a bunch of them went up into the bush. I didn't know how many might have been dead or missing but the rest came back okay. I hope the same happens with your ducks.

[Bill Fosher]

The wrong guard dog would make short work of your ducks, and it's pretty hard to know whether one would be okay with poultry without trying it. I'd recommend a rescue, but it seems that at least some of the guard dog breed rescues will place some pretty sketchy dogs with folks based on third or fourth-hand reports of whether the dog was good with a particular type of animal in the past. I know of more than one that was supposed to be good with lambs or chickens or whatever who ended up having to be returned to rescue (or in one case, euthanized) because it wasn't true. So caveat emptor on that one.

 

In my experience with all dogs, it would be an unusual youngster that wouldn't harass or kill ducks or chickens, so you'd for sure want an older one with experience.

[juliepoudrier]

I agree with Bill. When I got my adult rescue guard dog, the person who had her (who I knew and trusted to be honest with me) vetted her with cats and poultry, since both range freely about my property. Also note that LGDs generally require good fences or they will wander (expand their territory).

 

J.

[Jo&Tex]

My experience with an LGD wasn't a good one. It belonged to my neighbours. It never bothered my birds but it protected a 5 km radius, including 3 farms. They just couldnt keep her home. When she was home, she barked non stop. You couldn't pay me to own a Pyr now.

 

My 2 geese do a good job as poultry flock car alarms. They would never stand up to a dog attack, but I know whenever something isnt right in the yard.

[gopher girls]

We buried a quail recently that had hit my MIL's window, crashing stone dead. Within 24 hours a coyote had dug it up and we found exactly four feathers, so you may or may not see evidence if it was a coyote.

 

As for a LGD, I would advise against it, unless you want to provide all that goes with having such a dog i.e. keeping him/her busy in his profession! A better use for your money might be to get a cheap outdoor video camera trained on your duck house. That way you can monitor for a few days and know for sure what your real problem is. Your neighbor will have a hard time arguing with video.

 

In the "Hammacher Schlemmer" catalog (online?) there is a dog-repelling birdhouse for sale that supposedly emits a high pitched tone that dogs don't like. Not sure if it works, or if it would bother the fowl, but it's another possibility.

 

My aunt's MIL also kept a goose for protection amongst the chickens--the goose was a force to be reckoned with!!!

[Cynthia P]

Call me Kris; I don't need as many as I have and perhaps one of htem might work...I have to talk to my husband

 

cynthia

[KrisK]

Hi Cynthia, I'll try to call sometime this week.