# Five dead ducks inside my smoking hot electric poultry netting



## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

I've always thought that this fence was great. We've had no problems since we put our birds (chickens, ducks, and at night, geese) in it in the early summer. 

Then, last week, something got into it and decapitated 2 of our five ducks. That was our fault, because there were a couple of problems with our fence setup and a lot of the power was grounding out. We worked our butts off to fix everything, and with our solar charger there was over 7000 volts pulsing through it. I've been checking it nightly with my new fence tester and sleeping well, seeing that the voltage is maxing out the tester.

This morning, I went out - the fence is working at max capacity still with 7000 volts - and yet the remaining three ducks are decapitated, one head missing, the other two heads still rolling around in the pen. GAH!!!!!! So something somehow breached this fence that should deliver a very painful shock upon contact. It either jumped over (fox?) or just slipped underneath it the mesh, ignoring the voltage. 

What do you think it was and how did it get in? 

Our chickens are locked into a box at night, but now I don't even think our giant Emden geese are safe. I'm so very bummed. Any advice?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Owl. No doubt in my mind.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I agree, it was an owl.


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## Delinda (Dec 5, 2005)

Yep, probably a big owl.


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## boundarybunnyco (Sep 7, 2011)

oh that really sucks. so sorry!


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

My guess was also going to be an owl even before I read any of the other posters guesses.

Sounds like time for a duck house that you can lock them all up in at night?


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## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

I really don't think it was an owl, and I didn't give enough info in my first post, clearly. Within the electric fence, the ducks were in an enclosure that was chicken wired all the way around, including the top. It's not predator-proof - it has a floppy chicken wire door - we just use it to keep the ducks and geese apart because the geese were disturbing the duck eggs - but it was solid enough to keep ducks in and I don't see how an owl could get into it as it was covered on top. A predator on the ground could easily crawl under the chicken wire.

Anyway, I was thinking a raccoon, but I'm unable to see how he could have breached the electric fence. In that way, an owl makes a lot more sense, but would an owl crawl under chicken wire and then drag the ducks out?


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

We had a mink get into our duck house early this spring. There was a 2 1/2 to 3 inch space at the bottom of the door. Never had a problem before until that day & I went out to find one of my Trout Runner drakes & a Trout hen dead. He actually left the head attached but had cleaned all the meat, etc. right down to the bone all around the neck.

We used a peice of one of the dead ducks the next night in a live trap & caught a male mink which of course dh killed!


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

Get you a set of FRS/GMRS radios with the voice activated feature, set one on voice activated and put as close as possible to the animals you want to monitor. Sleep with your clothes on for a night or two, shotgun loaded, light ready. As soon as something grabs one of your animals and it hollers out it will transmit to the radio on your night stand---grab gun, light and move fast. You will eliminate "it" soon.




Millroad said:


> I've always thought that this fence was great. We've had no problems since we put our birds (chickens, ducks, and at night, geese) in it in the early summer.
> 
> Then, last week, something got into it and decapitated 2 of our five ducks. That was our fault, because there were a couple of problems with our fence setup and a lot of the power was grounding out. We worked our butts off to fix everything, and with our solar charger there was over 7000 volts pulsing through it. I've been checking it nightly with my new fence tester and sleeping well, seeing that the voltage is maxing out the tester.
> 
> ...


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Possibly a weasel. I had a family of them that lived here for awhile, and they breached my very secure chicken run (not the hen house, but I was integrating 2 flocks at the time). They kill for sport, so perhaps that's what it was?


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I agree with weasel.
As I was reading the post that was my first thought.
It was the sheer number of dead birds that clued me in.
And owl is going to do one, a weasel is a spree killer.
It will take as many birds as it can and then eat at his leisure.
It has eyes bigger than it's stomach and leave dead or injured birds uneaten.

It is so teeny tiny that it can just walk right through a hot net fence witout touching the sides at all. 
I hate a weasel. I really do.


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## Dazlin (Nov 26, 2007)

Set a trap!! Put it right outside the coop.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I doubt that a weasel would take the heads off and completely consume or carry one off.


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## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

I'm not even sure if we have weasels around here. We have a trap set, and we also trained our wildlife stealth camera on the pen. Problem is, we're now out of ducks to chum them in with. The chickens are locked up tight as a drum, so that leaves only the geese.

It really seems like a raccoon-type killing pattern, and god knows we have hundreds of them around here, but I have heard that they are really sensitive to electric fences. So I'm stumped. 

Thanks all for your input and suggestions. PD-Riverman, I took your advice and bought a voice-activated 2-way radio - I think it will be useful.


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## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

Yeah - looks like we do in fact have long-tailed weasels around here. . . still not sure it that's what it was though.


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

Millroad said:


> PD-Riverman, I took your advice and bought a voice-activated 2-way radio - I think it will be useful.


Good, I still always set a trap too, buy my voice activated radios has help eliminate several "critters" that did not visit the trap. When the killing problem is solved I then use the radios around the farm. They have alot of use, traveling, some one sick in bed can contact you instead of hollering, shopping so many ways you can use them. I bought the longest range they had(35 mile) so we can use mine a few miles apart if needed(not near 35 miles as stated).


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## mpete (Mar 4, 2008)

from http://icwdm.org/inspection/Livestock.

Signs of Mustelid Predation: Weasels and Mink
Weasels and mink have similar feeding behaviors, killing prey by biting through the skull, upper neck, or jugular vein.
In poultry houses, they often kill many birds, eating only the heads of the victims. Predation by rats usually differs in that portions of the body are eaten and carcasses are dragged into holes or concealed places.
While eating large muskrats, make an opening at the back or side of the neck. As the mink eats away flesh and pieces of the adjacent hide, the ribs, head, and hindquarters are pulled out through the same hole and the animal is skinned. Similar feeding behavior by weasels occurs when they eat small rodents.
Weasels eat eggs by breaking in at the ends. (openings 1/2 to 3/4 inch (1.5 to 2.0 cm) in diameter). Close inspection of shell remains frequently will disclose finely chewed edges and tiny tooth marks.

Signs of Raccoon Predation
Eat mice, small birds, snakes, frogs, insects, crawfish, grass, berries, acorns, corn, melons &#8212; the list is almost endless. Garbage cans and dumps can be a major source of food in urban areas. Field crops or gardens near wooded areas may suffer severe damage from raccoons. Ripening corn is frequently eaten and much is wasted. They raid nesting cavities of birds. They will on occasion kill small lambs, usually by chewing the nose.
Raccoons enter poultry houses and take several birds in one night. The breast and crop can be torn and chewed, and the entrails sometimes are eaten. There may be bits of flesh near water.
Eggs may be removed from poultry or game bird nests and eaten away from the nest, usually within 28 feet (9 m) of the nest.
A distinctive five-toed track that resembles a small human hand print. Tracks are usually paired, the left hind foot beside the right forefoot. Raccoon and opossum tracks can be difficult to distinguish in soft sand where toes do not show.


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## FarmerGreen (Dec 11, 2007)

The raccoons here ignored the solar charged netting and harvested most of my corn this season. They got it all last year. I did manage to trap 6 of them in the process. I haven't lost any chickens to predators yet. Bears have been in the chicken yard 3 times in the last couple of weeks, but they haven't tried to breach the coop.


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