I'm thinking about getting 4-5 Kaki Campbell ducks but we have two cats and one dog (terrier). I know as ducklings they are in danger but what about full grown? Will we need to keep them fenced in all the time for their own safety? They will be living in a very large, fenced backyard in town.

-- Denise (vdcjm5@aceks.com), June 04, 2001

Answers

Only the bravest of house cats will mess with a full grown duck. Your terrier should be trainable with some common training techniques, but if he shows a tendancy to prey on the ducks, then you should never leave him unattended with them. In an urban setting, I would keep them fenced to keep other animals away. Clip their wings so they can't escape.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), June 04, 2001.

We had a terrier we ended up giving away because of the poultry issue. She simply could not be called off, and the minute she grabbed a chicken, it was dead. Not like the sheltie, that, if she did catch one, wouldn't hurt it. I believe that terriers have an instinct to catch and kill birds. Maybe others will say I'm wrong, but I would plan a way to keep them separate.

-- mary, in colorado (marylgarcia@aol.com), June 04, 2001.

Some terriers, depending on the type, have an instinct to catch and kill ANYTHING small. My Cairn will dispatch a mouse or vole or budgie ( <:-( ) incredibly quickly. Snap, chomp, chomp, spit, and it's good and dead, instantly. But I made a really BIG impression on mine with the budgie, and she's NEVER gone near another bird of any kind, chick or adult. I even had another budgie who got loose during the day, and got stuck and spent a couple of hours fluttering wildly at dog-nose level. The dog never touched a feather. (The budgie was fine in the end.) So, IMHO, terriers can be trainable, but you might lose a critter or two waiting for the training to take hold.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), June 05, 2001.

We have pekins, and one Lab, and an old sheltie. The sheltie is in lala land most of the time, as she is almost blind and deaf, so she doesn't bother the ducks, but the lab used to sit outside their pen and just tremble, she wanted to get them so badly! She learned not to bother them eventually, even if they are out browsing in the grass, however if one takes off running, she just cannot resist the temtation to chase them. She's never hurt one, but the chance is there. I know that doesn't answer your question as far as terriers go, but being a bird dog and being trained to leave them alone, gives me hope that maybe, just maybe other breeds could too. Maybe not, though, given the previous responses! Good luck! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), June 05, 2001.

Funny I should see this query today... We have 9 adult ducks of various sorts, one cat, one Aussie & one bear/lion/Samoyed mix. One of the Blue Swede ducks just hatched out 8 little ducklings this morning. I went off to the city, and when I came back in the early evening, one little ducky was missing. Was it the cat? Was it the Aussie? Surely big Augie Doggie wouldn't hurt them...Well, I found Shona the Aussie tossing the little limp ducky around. I "BAAD DOG!!!"ed her right into the ground. When I went to try & collect the little guys to help them into the duckhouse, I managed to nab one and the feisty mother duck flew at me, so I said fine, take care of 'em yourself! In general, ducks are too big for cats to attack. If your dogs understand that they are part of the household, then they should protect them rather than attack them. I guess the little guys were just too much fun. I think if I had been around all day today, I could have warned off any of my furry fellows and they would all have understood that the newies are part of the household and not to mess with them. But a terrier is a very excitable critter. Doggedly hunting small things is their business, is it not? Still, full grown, your ducks should be OK. Watch out for the newies, though.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), June 05, 2001.

Hello Denise,

I have an 18 year old rat/fox terrior mix, who is farm rasied. She has never messed with any of our fowl (then or now), but I think it's because they were here first. I think if you can get your dog familiar with the ducklings early, so that it realizes they are under your care, and thus pack members to be protected, it'll work out.

Never trust the cat until the ducks are 3 monthes old, and too big for a kill. Otherwise, that cat'll nab 'em before you can smack her out of the way. My cat spent hours on top of the brewder, looking in with longing. I've even seen her reaching through wire mesh with a paw to try and snag an older chick.

Best of luck (duck luck?)

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), June 05, 2001.

We have two cats, a Black Lab, and a Pug, along with 17 layers, 10 Cornish X, and 4 Pekins, one Rouen-looking (wild, adopted us), and a black duck with a white ring (dunno what kind). The cats leave them all alone, they've been trained they are not to be touched, same with the pug. The Lab has been a bit harder--she just wants to play with them, not hurt them, but 100# dog, and a 7lb duck...well :) Water has killed more of our ducks than the dogs prolly ever will by accident.

-- Brendan K Callahan (sleeping@netins.net), June 05, 2001.

We have an outdoor(indoor) 3 yr. old cat Gemini. When we brought the (2) baby ducks home, he watched as I hovered over them, kept him away from them and generally acted very protective. I talked to him about them in front of them while they were still living in our kitchen, and when I put them into the yard. I allowed him to approach them and me very slowly, meanwhile with a hawk eye he was paying attention to. I let him sit down near us and I motioned away from them and toward him (i.e., stay back from them). I hardened my voice as a warning of my anger if he ever did anything. To my amazement, he has never stepped foot into the back yard ever since, and seems to be cool with leaving it to them. They have their run of the yard, now with a pond in it I dug for them. Happy ducks love that water!

-- Kristina Jordan (jordan-banks@anet.net), July 06, 2001.