How to Prevent Hawks From Getting Baby Ducks

Ducklings can make lovely pets for families and classrooms. They are interesting to watch, soft to touch and not aggressive toward children. However, along with their cuteness comes helplessness -- baby ducks cannot fly, and they are small enough that large, predatory birds, such as hawks, can carry them off from the air. Ducklings with a mother duck to raise them spend most of their time huddled beneath her, where they are safe from aerial attacks. If you are raising baby ducks, the only way to protect them from hawks is to keep them under cover.

Things You'll Need

  • Duck house
  • Duck feed
  • Fence
  • Netting
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Instructions

    • 1

      Build or buy a covered house for your ducklings. Make sure it is big enough for all the ducklings to fit inside. Periodically, scatter duck feed on the floor of the house to keep it appealing to the ducklings.

    • 2

      Design your duck house to float if you have a pool or pond in your yard. Ducklings often prefer to be in or on the water, so a floating duck house may be more appealing to them than a land-locked one.

    • 3

      Fence your ducklings into an enclosed area if they are resistant to the duck house or you do not want to build or buy one. Cover the enclosure with bird netting to keep hawks out.