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Do Possums Eat Ducks? (Quick Answers)

Possums are not predators to poultry, but they can damage or detach your pet’s head from the body. It’s a dangerous hunter that can eat the eggs and insides of your pet birds and other animals. They are not like the hawks or raccoons who eat birds and other animals.

If you have duck or chicken coops and are afraid of nearby possums, you should be careful and repel them from the surroundings. If the possums get any chance or opportunity, they will run through the coops and damage their health.

Do possums eat ducks?

Possums don’t eat ducks, but they will not let the ducks survive if they get a chance. You might get the duck’s head in one place and the body in another. Although it’s not eating your ducks, it will detach the head and body and eat the inner ingredients and eggs. Possums will eat duck eggs.

Possums are not ducks & chicken predators. They can damage their health but will not eat the duck’s meat. At best, they will eat the breast meat of your duck and the inner ingredients. Possums will destroy the duck’s health to get these components from the ducks.

So, if you have the duck’s coop and the possums are nearby, you have to take precautions to protect your pets.

If the opossums feel hungry and don’t find any proper food source, they will chase the ducks and hunt. Whether they eat entire duck meats or only eggs, they will not let the duck survive.

Small ducks:

If you have small or baby ducks in your coop, you cannot let them freely play while the possums are nearby. The small ducks are an exciting meal for the opossums. They can eat the small and baby ducks and their eggs as well.

One of the main reasons possums can eat small ducks is that they are easy to hunt and digest.

Although possums are not duck predators, they can eat the baby ducks if they have the opportunity. They are likely to damage the health of the fully grown ducks and eat the small ducks.

Do possums mess with ducks?

Possums do mess with ducks, although they are not duck predators. Possums try to catch the duck quickly and remove their heads from the body. They love to eat the breast meat & and the belly parts of the ducks. They leave the rest of the duck and eat only certain parts.

What if you have small or baby ducks, and you want to protect them from possums? You can do that because the possums will mess with your baby ducks since they don’t typically love to mess with the fully grown ducks.

It’s their general habit to mess with other birds and pets. They do it for two reasons. First, they are hungry and don’t find suitable food to fill their stomachs. Another reason could be their habit of hiss and scary looks.

Your duck will inevitably be scared of the possums for their scary look. It is also true that the possums will damage their health and will not let them survive in the long run. That’s how the possums will mess with your ducks.

“3” reasons why possums do not eat ducks

Possums are not the natural predators of ducks. But they do hunt them down. Let’s get to know why they do not eat the ducks.

Not Predator:

Possums are not ducks or chicken predators. They love to eat the eggs of birds. Therefore, they don’t eat the ducks but damage their health by various means.

When the possums find enough opportunity and a lonely duck, they will chase and try to hunt the ducks.

It’s their natural habitat to hunt the birds and destroy their life within a while. They remove the heads from the body and mess with the duck. So, you have to take steps against the possums and get your ducks to live happily.

Can’t digest the Meat:

Meat is not the ideal food source for possums. They don’t like to eat duck or chicken meat; instead, they love the duck’s egg. So, if possums find duck eggs in the coop, they will go and eat them within a while.

But they don’t eat the ducks because of their digestive system and eating habits. They don’t love to eat hard flesh; they detach the head from the body and get the soft inner components of the duck.

Eating Habit:

Birds and their meats are not the ideal food for the opossum or possums. They don’t like to eat live animals or meat.

They are fond of eating rodents, birds, and insects which are not breathing anymore. Also, they can eat fruits, eggs, frogs, and similar foods.

Duck is not in possums’ eating habits. They can run after the ducks and kitchen to destroy their lives, but they won’t eat the meat. They only take the soft inner parts of the ducks and don’t let them survive in the long run.

How to protect your ducks from possums?

You can protect your ducks by repelling the possums from nearby. You can follow the below tips and get the job done.

Garlic Scent:

Some natural scents can repel the possums from the surroundings. Among them, the garlic scent is one of the most effective ones.

You can slice some garlic cloves and scatter them around the duck coops. It will spread the strong smell in the air and eventually repel the possums.

You can also make a spray using garlic and hot water. The mixture will contain the strong smell of the garlic and deter the possums and other predators from the surroundings.

Possums dislike the garlic smell and leave the area as soon as they smell it.

Ammonia & Mothballs:

You can protect your ducks from possums by using ammonia & mothballs. Ammonia is an excellent repellent to most predators.

Possums and opossums also don’t like the smell of ammonia; they can’t breathe normally and leave the place quickly.

If you want to use direct ammonia, it might be dangerous for your duck’s health. You should make a mixture of ammonia, mothballs, and hot water.

It will be the best repellent spray to protect the ducks from possum’s chase. You can spray all around the coop or where the ducks play most.

Enoz para Moth Balls with No Clinging Odor: Kills Clothes Moths, Carpet Beetles, Eggs, and Larvae, Use for Storage, 20 oz Bag

Possums Repellent:

You can do it if the previous tips are difficult to follow and you want to purchase the readymade repellent. You have to go to a local pest shop or Amazon to buy the possums repellent. They will cost you some bucks, but they are worth it.

You need to be sure that the pesticide or the repellent comes with a strong odor that repels the possums.

Bonide (BND2362) Animal Chemical (2362) Number-6 Repels All Granules, 6 Pounds, (6 lb.)

Fence:

Possums cannot break the strong fence and hunt your ducks. You have to make a safety fence around the duck coops or where they play most. It will save them from the possum’s chase, and your duck will survive.

If you don’t like the repellent and want to deter the possums naturally, the fence is the best option. You can use both the bamboo fence and the plastic fence around the coops to make them safe. Possums won’t penetrate the fence and hunt the ducks.

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Do possums eat duck eggs?

Possums eat duck eggs. Duck eggs are the most attractive and easy to digest food for possums. So, they will eat whenever they find the bird’s or duck’s egg on the go.

It would be better to collect the duck’s egg soon after breeding or repel the possums from the surroundings.

Duck eggs are soft and enriched with protein and other minerals. They help the possums and other duck predators to grow fast and meet their hungry stomachs. It’s your duty not to let the possums come to the ducks and eat the eggs.

Apart from the duck eggs, possums can eat other soft ingredients of the duck. If they find any chance, they will hunt the ducks and eventually destroy their lives. So, it’s your job to protect the ducks and their eggs from possums.

Final Thoughts

Possums don’t typically eat ducks. They are pretty much fond of baby ducks and eggs. But, they become the duck’s predators if they fail to find any good food source. They will chase the duck and not let them survive. First, possums will detach the head from the body, then eat the duck’s inner side.