# Help.. my indian runner ducks are mysteriously disappearing!



## Crispie (Jul 19, 2011)

I have (or had) 6 Indian Runner ducks, 5 females and 1 male.I am now down to 4!
They are put in their shed every evening but are out in the garden throughout the day. I started with 1 duck 6 years ago and have added to them over the years. I have never had any problems at all until 10 days ago when 1 of the ducks mysteriously disappeared. We were in at the time and did not hear any commotion, all the other ducks were calm and there was no mess at all.
Today, my favourite duck (who I reared as an orphan and was extremely fond of) disappeared in exactly the same way, and again, we were at home.
We have ruled out theft as they are not easy to catch and make a noise if you try and there is no way they can get out of the garden, so I am at a loss as to what is happening.
Can anyone suggest what may be taking them please? Surely a fox would have distressed them all and I have thought about hawks, as there are a couple about at the moment, but surely they would struggle to pick up a fully grown runner duck?

Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.


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## chickenrun (Jan 31, 2010)

Hi welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear about your ducks 

If it was a fox it would of had them all and you would of heard plus have feathers everywhere.

Is your garden easy to get into from the outside? If i was sitting in my living room and door shut i proberly wouldnt hear them being nicked. 
So i wouldnt rule that one out.

Other than that i really havnt a clue seems strange tho.

really hope you find them

mitch


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

do you live in a relatively rural area? because we have a lot of buzzards about 5 miles away from my house and I worry constantly that my ducks will get snatched by them :/

because I imagine they could easily swoop in, grab one and go :/

in a way I hope it is someone stealing them though because at least they would then still be alive :/


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## AlexArt (Apr 25, 2010)

Definitely sounds like a fox!! A fox can carry a full grown goose - so a little runner is not going to be a problem!! I had some off heat aylesbury, almost fully feathered, ducklings in my garden one year until they were big enough to go out with the adults, and the fox jumped over the wall middle of the day while I was standing in the doorway and grabbed a duck and legged it - luckily a shout and a well aimed shoe made it drop the little duck - which did survive!!!
Now that the fox knows your ducks are there and are an easy tasty source of food he will be back everyday until they are all gone, or if feeling really confident he will kill the lot and retrieve them one by one in one day - I lost 14 hens in one day like that!! It's either a young fox that is really hungry and has left the den now to fend for itself or a vixen feeding cubs. You need to get either a secure fox proof pen or some electric poultry tape, in the meantime I'd only let them out while supervised!! 
I doubt it's a buzzard as they usually eat their kill on the ground, only the very biggest females maybe able to get a small duck off the ground and up into a tree - they are not very big birds and usually make a mess too - if it were a duckling maybe. 
Good luck and I hope you don't loose anymore!!


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

I would definitely get them in somewhere like a run or something and only let them in it when supervised (because foxes are so sneaky they would end up in the run with them. . .) then build a big run with the electric poultry tape as mentioned above and bury some of the wire underneath the soil around the run so he can't dig down and get in. . . we used that green plastic covered thick wire to make a run. .. it wasn't very expensive from B&Q and we used old pieces of timber we had in the garden (fortunately in good condition) ours went in there until they were old enough to clip their wings. . . but this thread is making me think twice about keeping them in the garden now I think I'll be building a bigger run now


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## alandbailey (Jul 28, 2010)

I found 8 bodies ( runners & KCs) and 4 others missing. Only a pair of Muscovies survived and the drake had suffered a lot in protecting his lady.
The fox returned in the night and took another corpse. I put the remaining 7 bodies in a secure shed.
Before I restocked I devised a foxproof wall to be erected my side of a chainlink fence and farmers hedge. It comprises of a long 2' deep trench this side of the fencing, with 400mm square paving slabs inserted vertically and bolted together at the top with wooden battens; then an equal amount of slabs resting on the top and leaning againtst the fence (on battens).
No problems so far and even the rats find it difficult to get in. 
I'm glad I paid a friend to dig the trench and set up the B&Q paving - it would have killed me to do it!!!
Please advise me if you do the same. This method also provides a nice windbreak for the ducks.:smilewinkgrin:


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## zootycoon (May 15, 2012)

Hi, sorry to hear about your ducks, I understand the feeling as we just lost two of ours last night  Usually our Indian Runners (one male and two females) are secured in a large wooden shed at night, but over the past few weeks one of the females began nesting outside and refused to leave her eggs, so we took an unfortunate gamble to leave them out at night with one door unlocked to allow them to enter freely in and out of the barn. When we woke up this morning the two females had totally disappeared, there was no sign of any struggle, feathers or blood in the garden and the females eggs (which were very soon to hatch) were completely untouched. The only sign was a little blood on the back of the males neck (although he had no injuries himself) The garden is surrounded by a 6 ft. fence and usually we would hear the slightest commotion made by the ducks, but last night no sound was heard. The strangest thing is that the dog did not bark, where usually he is out there at the first sign of trouble. This morning he also did not appear to get excited as if following a trail, which he usually does when another animal has been in the garden. We dont live in a massively rural area but there are a few foxes around, but surely they would have made some mess or left some trace especially considering the height of the fences and the weight of the females. Also the male seemed to be untouched where surely a fox would have killed him too? We found the male this morning literally standing in the middle of the paddling pool and not moving, he has not been right since and appears to be in shock. He is not physically injured however. He is usually extremely feisty and attacks everything as he is extremely over protective of his females. He has previously frightened off cats, but surely whatever took the females must have been bigger and stronger than a cat. We do have many red kites that were brought into the area but doing research on them they are no way strong enough to carry away the ducks and also they tend to pray on dead animals or small animals, such as mice or baby rabbits. Any help identifying the predator would be appreciated please. We will be locking the male up at night but I just want to check there is no threat during the day from the animal or maybe even a human could have taken them? I dont want to lose our male as well  Also sorry about the essay. Thank you xxx


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## AlexArt (Apr 25, 2010)

Ducks and poultry can't see in the dark at all and just freeze, so a fox is then free to come and go as he pleases picking the ducks up with no fuss at all as they can't see him - hence the reason your dog was not alerted and you didn't hear anything - they are just as stealthy as a cat. 
A 6ft fence is no barrier to a fox at all - I have 6ft fencing and know for a fact the fox can climb up it - they are very good climbers, so my money is on Mr Fox I'm afraid zootycoon - it's also that time of year when they are feeding cubs so they will remember where they have seen a food source and will constantly check it to see if it is available ie. left out. 
We don't have any birds of prey really in the UK that can physically carry a carcass of anything but the smallest animals or a half eaten ones let alone a duck/chook - eagles are about the only ones and they're not very common!! Most birds of prey will sit on the ground and eat what they've killed where they killed it - they spread their wings over it so no other arial predators or carrion feeders see it and pluck all the feathers off first, so you can tell if it's a bird of prey as they make a mess!! 
Stoats/ferrets/weasels can drag prey away but you'd usually see a trail or drag marks/blood/feathers if you know what to look for and there would need to be a hole big enough at ground level in your garden for them to drag it through. 
Rats tend to just eat bits off after dragging part of their kill down a rat hole or just stripping the carcass where they lay.


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## zootycoon (May 15, 2012)

Hi AlexArt, Thank you for replying to my post. We took the last duck to the vets as we found what seemed like puncture marks and the vet also believes that it was a fox attack. We are making sure to lock up the male securely tonight and every night from now on, as we are sure the fox will be back. Thank you again xxx


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## bluegirl (May 7, 2012)

My garden is secure and I've never had a problem with foxes, but my hubby is an electrician and our garden is lit up with a large halogen light (like a street light) that is on a dawn til dusk sensor and we also have 2 others that are motion activated. The ducks have light throughout the night and we also have CCTV set up so that we could identify what happened.

My money is also on a fox.


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