Did I seal their fate?

[member 569347]

I decided to give my 4 Pekin ducks a larger space and built them a new run. During the first week in it, something had been entering their run and consuming nearly ALL their feed (their feeder holds about 3 days' worth) with an obvious digging behavior. It had dug under the fence and dug out their feeder. Since the ducks were unharmed, I assumed it was a groundhog because paw prints it left behind were too large to be a squirrel but not the paw print of a fox. I decided to "fence" the fence with 1/2" weld wire fencing and go into the ground about 6". It was a project that took a few days because of the limited time and good weather I had. Thursday night I completed all but a 2' stretch which was the gate that entered the run.

Friday morning, not even 24 hours after my NEAR completed project, I went out to find one of my ducks dead and all 3 others with injuries at their necks, and my drakes wing tips were severely shredded. Saturday night I set a live trap an caught a juvenile raccoon. My questions are these:
1) Was I better off NOT securing the fence more? That coon now had only ONE 2ft space to go in and out when before it had 30 FT of escape option.
2) Was my drake and/or hens protecting themselves all week when the coon was entering, and now without escape route options, it retaliated? (The hen I lost was the Alpha hen)
3) Am I better off leaving the extra fencing off so when they attempt to protect themselves a predator has a way to get out??

Any HELPFUL advice would be much appreciated.

 

[DuneDucks]

1. No, you were right to secure the fence. The raccoon wasn't defending itself like some trapped animal. It was preying on your ducks. They aren't going to respect you leaving them a bigger opening; they're going to take advantage of it.

2. I wouldn't think so. Did it still have access to the feeder? Seems more likely that it was just looking for a different food source and your ducks fit that bill. It was bound to eventually happen as long as it was able to get in with them.

3. No, you'll be much better off fully securing the area. Raccoons will dig, climb, open latches, and anything else they can to keep getting in, so you have your work cut out for you. Your ducks will be much safer for it though.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Make sure to cover the top too securely they also climb real good.

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

Though they sure are cute, raccoons are my least favorite predator to deal with. They're smart enough to get into things that would stop anything else and they'll pull things to eat through fencing if they can reach in but not enter.

 

[Silexian]

It was probably malnourished and took an easy meal. Until it got it’s strength up by eating the ducks food. Once it did. It went for the ducks.

 

[ruthhope]

1. No, you were right to secure the fence. The raccoon wasn't defending itself like some trapped animal. It was preying on your ducks. They aren't going to respect you leaving them a bigger opening; they're going to take advantage of it.

2. I wouldn't think so. Did it still have access to the feeder? Seems more likely that it was just looking for a different food source and your ducks fit that bill. It was bound to eventually happen as long as it was able to get in with them.

3. No, you'll be much better off fully securing the area. Raccoons will dig, climb, open latches, and anything else they can to keep getting in, so you have your work cut out for you. Your ducks will be much safer for it though.

As DuneDucks has written in all 3 answers

Sorry for your loss and injuries to the surviving ducks