Someone STOLE my ducklings!!

SmiYa0126 · Thursday at 5:40 AM

FarmerGirl1010 said:
I moved my month old ducklings closer to the pond yesterday. To get them used to the area, I put them in a temporary dog crate kinda like this:
View attachment 3159626
This morning, I went to check on them. THREE WERE MISSING!!
The door was latched.
No trace of anything.
Nothing.
Here’s a picture I took yesterday before I moved them:
View attachment 3159627
Light grey mallard- gone
Crested pekin- gone
Mallard- gone
There is ABSOLUTELY NO way a predator got it or it squeezed through the bars.

AND GET THIS:
A couple days ago, three full grown pekin ducks appears by my pond. I had assumed someone didn’t need their pekin ducks and they wanted theirs to have a nice home. So, they dropped theirs off at our pond to join my full grown flock.

Maybe this is wrong. Maybe, they thought I took three of their ducks. So, they took three of mine? (Keep in mind my pond is next to the road) they may have noticed the three ducks? And came in the middle of the night to take three of my little caged up ones?

Idk but this is just so devastating

Since your neighbor has such a watchful eye, can you ask him if he saw anything? I don't know how old he is, but I noticed that the older generations, 60 to 65 are way more observant than us "young" folks...40ish When my mom in law stayed with us she told us what the neighbors did during the day

.

Miss Lydia · Thursday at 5:51 AM

SmiYa0126 said:
Since your neighbor has such a watchful eye, can you ask him if he saw anything? I don't know how old he is, but I noticed that the older generations, 60 to 65 are way more observant than us "young" folks...40ish When my mom in law stayed with us she told us what the neighbors did during the day .

Did she have a pair of Binoculars hanging around her neck? lol

SmiYa0126 · Thursday at 5:55 AM

Miss Lydia said:
Did she have a pair of Binoculars hanging around her neck? lol

I think she carries a pair in her purse

. I love her!

Miss Lydia · Thursday at 7:09 AM

You’ll have to get her a drone for Christmas

then she can really find out what the neighbors are doing!

indianaducks · Thursday at 8:32 AM

We had a raccoon take 3 ducklings out of a temporary outdoor brooder that had smaller openings than that crate. There was no evidence, no bodies, just 3 missing young ducks (they were about 3-4 weeks old). We got game cams and saw the tracks. No latch was opened or anything, so I'd say its DEFINITELY possible a raccoon snatched yours. I know it seems impossible, but... from personal experience, I'd say its definitely possible.

Miss Lydia · Thursday at 9:08 AM

Hard for me to believe a raccoon could rip ducks out of a crate and leave no trace. I have read on here horror stories of members coming out and finding headless or riped up ducks where raccoons tried to drag them through fencing etc.
not saying it didn't happen just seems there would be traces of body parts.

indianaducks · Thursday at 9:11 AM

Miss Lydia said:
Hard for me to believe a raccoon could rip ducks out of a crate and leave no trace. I have read on here horror stories of members coming out and finding headless or riped up ducks where raccoons tried to drag them through fencing etc.
not saying it didn't happen just seems there would be traces of body parts.

I didn't believe it either until we caught the coon on a game cam. It took three young ducks, and then we moved the one survivor to a more secure area and he's been fine. Then coon injured one of my chickens through chain link so we added extra hardware cloth. Just suggesting its possible to be a predator because I had a much more secure temporary pen than that crate and still lost 3 to a raccoon. There's no way I could leave birds in a dog crate overnight and have them alive in the morning.

Miss Lydia · Thursday at 9:15 AM

Me either way too many predators around here. Actually we had a chicken leave her fenced property go out into the woods hatch 10 chicks and walk them home but that evening we put her and the chicks into a crate under the wood shed and she was mortally wounded and her chicks scattered I was only able to find 4 the next morning. This was my stupidity thinking they would be safe overnight until we secured a more temporary space for them.

indianaducks · Thursday at 9:33 AM

Miss Lydia said:
Me either way too many predators around here. Actually we had a chicken leave her fenced property go out into the woods hatch 10 chicks and walk them home but that evening we put her and the chicks into a crate under the wood shed and she was mortally wounded and her chicks scattered I was only able to find 4 the next morning. This was my stupidity thinking they would be safe overnight until we secured a more temporary space for them.

That's the worst

DuneDucks · Thursday at 9:53 AM

I probably would have agreed it wasn't possible, but after reading through the thread and then looking back at the picture of the ducklings, I'm leaning towards predator. Those ducklings are what, 3/4 weeks old? I could see them not having the strength to put up much of a fight while getting dragged through, thus leaving less evidence of a struggle, and I imagine their fuzz will leave a lot less of a trace than fully grown feathers would too.

Someone STOLE my ducklings!!

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