Email. The female duck is spending some time in a cage to protect her from abusive males. Possums can hiss and look scary, however they do sometimes not Electric fences can be used to protect eggs of ground-nesting birds from mammalian predators (Sargeant et al. Save. Related Info. Gather your wood duck box, predator guard, and tools then use our tips to find the right place to install. She'd taken the duck home as a pet after a number of weeks and was keeping him in a large cage the family had built and put in their garage. Is there any way we could move the egg into a pile of straw or a box for additional protection? The egg is in no way in a nest as you can see by the photo (the egg is the white thing next to the skimmer cover). Print. Build a Wood Duck Box Whether any of the first batch of eggs hatched, I can no longer recall, but there were more. Clean out the duck house once a week. 3 provide predator proof enclosures for your ducks to keep the preditors out. A broody duck on a nest of eggs is, well, a “sitting duck” in the eyes of a predator. 3. Duck eggs are fantastic! 1974, Forster 1975, Patterson 1977, Minsky 1980, Lokemoen et al. The entire yard is surrounded by a six foot fence, so I guess the egg is better protected from predators than anywhere else it could be. Your ducks might be having their eggs stolen by predators like foxes or rats. In all cases, the eggs were destroyed, and in some instances, even the hens were killed. 2 Kill all the predators. 1982). Share. The shock from an electric fence elicits a be- 1 gather all the predators up and give them a good talking to. 0. Tasty little eggs, some predators discovered: the eggs became fewer very quickly. Follow. Flag. BTW whole book chapters have been written on the third way, i suggest you read at least one. Neither 1 nor 2 ever worked for me but you are welcome to try them. Lokemoen (1984) determined that such use ranks among the most cost-effective means of producing ducks on managed areas. Your ducks also might be laying their eggs in nesting areas that you are not aware of – go on an egg hunt to make sure they aren’t weaseling away their eggs on you! By venux83 [1 Post] I have a couple of Mallard ducks, they have never left my backyard since we have a big pond. 3). The key to successfully rearing ducks is to give them regular fresh water and protect them from predators. The mom is a science teacher at a school up the road, and the Buff had been the sole duck that had hatched successfully and survived, in an incubator-and-eggs project she'd done with her students last Spring. In addition to examining the condition of your flock, you may be able to identify tracks of a predator that is a mammal. This information has been compiled from the nest box guide for waterfowl by Ducks Unlimited and the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada; and a conservator article by Mearl Ronney (Vol. 19, No. Guidelines. Read our article: 17 tips to keep your ducks safe from predators . All necessary for Pest Control https://amzn.to/2rLU5CG-----How to Protect Duck Eggs From Raccoons. If your mother duck is outside on a nest, make certain she’s in a predator-proof coop and/or run. A possum we by accident caught in a lure supposed for a groundhog. Protecting Mallard Duck Eggs from Predators? If eggs are missing, one of several predators—including skunks, snakes, rats, opossums, raccoons, blue jays, and crows—may be at fault.