Neighborhood Cats Killing My Ducks?

[oliviamorris005]

I’ve been planning on getting ducks for awhile now and am getting 2 Swedish ducklings in 2 weeks. I’ve done plenty of research and thought I had everything figured out until I told my neighbors(who moved out today) that I’m getting them. They were excited but sad that they wouldn’t get to meet them. One of them mentioned how our neighborhood cats love hunting. This stressed me out a lot!! I am planning on putting the ducks outside once they reach 5-6 weeks of age. One cat weighs 16 pounds! That seems pretty threatening to a 8-9 pound Swedish duck. I’ve heard about citrus spray deterring cats but some people don’t think it works. I don’t want to harm the cats (I’m an animal lover and respect the neighbors pets) but I don’t want my ducks to get eaten! I’m planning on keeping my ducks in a gated area of my backyard, separate from my dogs. The space is simply too big to cover so they won’t have a roof(They’ll have a sturdy coop of course). Let me know any suggestions that you have!

 

[hayley3]

I would not trust a cat around immature ducks. I am not sure how old they must be before they are full grown.

My stray cat did not bother full grown chickens and now that she's in the house, she is ignoring the 4 week old ducks and chicks but if they were outside, that might be a different story.
Honestly, I would always be out there with them. But probably the thing to worry most about is your dogs. How will you keep them separate?
The reason I say this is, we have the ducklings in the house and we have had a few mishaps already where the dog was able to get to the ducklings...she did not touch them only because I went a bit nuts and went flying at her which probably scared the dog to death. I think the sounds a duck makes, sounds like her squeaky toy and she does not want to leave them alone.

 

[oliviamorris005]

I would not trust a cat around immature ducks. I am not sure how old they must be before they are full grown.

My stray cat did not bother full grown chickens and now that she's in the house, she is ignoring the 4 week old ducks and chicks but if they were outside, that might be a different story.
Honestly, I would always be out there with them. But probably the thing to worry most about is your dogs. How will you keep them separate?
The reason I say this is, we have the ducklings in the house and we have had a few mishaps already where the dog was able to get to the ducklings...she did not touch them only because I went a bit nuts and went flying at her which probably scared the dog to death. I think the sounds a duck makes, sounds like her squeaky toy and she does not want to leave them alone.

We have two separate yards (the deck separates each yard). The dogs aren’t able to get over to the duck yard since we have a gate with small gaps that they can’t get through(they’ve tried but never succeeded). We are going to monitor the ducklings pretty much all day (we’ve got the time due to quarantine). We’ll see if the neighborhood cats are interested in the ducks when they move outside and if so, I’ll try to keep them away. Thanks for your insight!

 

[DesertDucks]

I live in a real neighborhood with a lot of neighborhood cats and probably a few strays. I have kept ducks here for four years and like you they are in my side yard which is too large to cover. I have never seen a cat bother my ducks and haven't lost a duck to any predators or cats.

 

[oliviamorris005]

I live in a real neighborhood with a lot of neighborhood cats and probably a few strays. I have kept ducks here for four years and like you they are in my side yard which is too large to cover. I have never seen a cat bother my ducks and haven't lost a duck to any predators or cats.

Thanks! Good to hear.